Line #16 Trivia/InLivingColor


1	* ActingForTwo: Obviously, the actors played multiple characters in a single episode, but occasionally they would play more than one character in a single ''sketch''. The ''[[Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos America's Funniest Security Camera Videos]]'' skit had Creator/JimCarrey play both host Creator/BobSaget and the convenience store robber while the "2 Sold Out 2 Quit" video had Tommy Davidson portraying both Music/MCHammer and Music/MichaelJackson.
2	* AdoredByTheNetwork: Zig-zagged as far as Creator/{{Fox}} was concerned. While the show got a lot of advertising and airtime, the fact that it constantly had to battle the network due to censorship undermines this quite a bit. Played straight in syndication however, as the channels that have aired it over the years such as Creator/{{BET}}, Fusion, FX[[note]]the first channel to air the series in syndication and one of the first "modern" shows on the then-fledging network[[/note]], FXX and Aspire Network have given it plenty of airtime and an all-day marathon or two.
3	* ApprovalOfGod: Creator/SamKinison ''loved'' the show and Kelly Coffield's portrayal of a female version on himself named Samantha Kinison, so he guest-starred on the show twice; his first appearance had the two of them (in character) as a [[AwfulWeddedLife unhappily married]] and [[ClusterFBomb highly vulgar]] couple.
4	** [[Series/{{Maury}} Maury Povich]] ''loved'' Creator/JimCarrey’s spoofing of him in the “Me Want Maury” music video, citing it as his favorite parody of himself.
5	* CreatorBacklash: Kim Wayans later admitted in an interview her dismay and regret at the Creator/OprahWinfrey skits (particularly the first one centered on Oprah's weight issues, where she kept eating throughout her interviews and got so big that she exploded) and felt bad about Oprah's own negative reaction to the parodies, even apologizing to her for them.
6	* EditedForSyndication: Despite the Wayans' siblings objection to have the show censored in reruns, there have been some cuts done to ''In Living Color'' in reruns and on DVD:
7	** On Creator/{{BET}} and Aspire, such epithets as "bitch" and "ho" are edited.
8	** The DVD version has the language intact, but some sketches have been pulled or edited to remove all references to pop songs (including the music video parodies) due to copyright and licensing issues.
9	** The fourth episode in season one originally had a parody of the Colt .45 commercials with Creator/BillyDeeWilliams (played by Keenan Ivory Wayans) making his date (played by Kim Coles) drink until she passes out with Williams moving in on her unconscious body. FOX didn't like the BlackComedyRape punchline to the sketch, so it was replaced in all reruns (including cable reruns and on the DVD) with a sitcom sketch called "The Exxxon Family," about a clumsy Exxon ship captain and his wife (played by token white cast members Jim Carrey and Kelly Coffield). Thanks to the magic of Website/YouTube, you can now see this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlR-I57nmr4 lost sketch]] and judge for yourself if FOX was right or wrong to remove it.
10	** In 2014, the show aired on FXX (FX's sister channel), with most of what was cut on TV intact (the words "bitch" and "ho" are reinstated, as are all the pop song and music video references. The Colt 45 commercial parody, along with a part in the "Men on Football" sketch where Damon Wayans and Creator/DavidAlanGrier ad-libbed a suggestion that Richard Gere and track and field star Carl Lewis were homosexuals), have been edited from all reruns. Also edited in reruns is a line from a season five Fire Marshall Bill sketch that made reference to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which [[HarsherInHindsight thanks to the more well-known September 11th attacks]], makes the line less dated.
11	** The skit of Anton at the Army recruiting office had the last line ("Be all that you can be: get an ugly wife and a messed-up life in the Army!") cut on the [=DVD=] release, most likely due to it coinciding with then-recent [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents Iraq War.]] However, the line is retained in syndicated airings.
12	* EnforcedMethodActing: In the first Ugly Wanda skit, where she was on "The Dating Game", no one informed Creator/JimCarrey, Tommy Davidson, David Alan Grier or Shawn Wayans of Creator/JamieFoxx's appearance, so their reactions to seeing Foxx in drag for the first time--ranging from from horror to bursting out laughing--were genuine.
13	* FollowTheLeader: The season after the show premiered, ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' hired Creator/ChrisRock, its first black cast member in four years (its previous black cast members were Creator/DanitraVance and, ironically, Damon Wayans, during the 1985-1986 season). By the following season, Creator/EllenCleghorne (herself an extra on ''In Living Color'') and Creator/TimMeadows had been hired by ''SNL'', giving the show the most black cast members they had ever had at that point. It's hard not to think the success of ''In Living Color'' had something to do with that.
14	* FriendshipOnTheSet:
15	** In spite of their friendly "rivalry" on the show over who could one-up the other in making people laugh, Creator/JimCarrey and Creator/DamonWayans became very good friends while working together. Carrey also became a close friend of Music/TupacShakur after he guest-starred in the series, even writing the latter in jail to cheer him up.
16	** Creator/DavidAlanGrier and Creator/TommyDavidson also became friends while on the show (and often appeared in sketches together).
17	* HeyItsThatSound: The game show parodies sample sound effects from ''[[Series/TheOneMillionChanceofaLifetime The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime]]''.
18	* InMemoriam:
19	** The second episode was dedicated to comedian Robin Harris (who died a month before the show first aired) and actor Jesse Aragon (who was featured in the 1987 film ''Hollywood Shuffle''.)
20	** A season three episode was dedicated to Creator/SamKinison (who had appeared on the show twice, having been a fan of Kelly Coffield's GenderFlipped parody of him) and the show's hairstylist Troy White.
21	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Since reruns and DVD versions have been edited, many rely to older recordings to watch the shows exactly as they were aired.
22	* LeslieNielsenSyndrome: Before the show existed, David Alan Grier was primarily known as a dramatic actor in roles such as ''Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}'' and ''Theatre/ASoldiersPlay'' (as well as [[Film/ASoldiersStory its film adaptation]]). But after joining the series, Grier had been reinvented as a comedic actor, which he's mostly done ever since.
23	* MissingEpisode: For some reason, some of the episodes (particularly the {{Clip Show}}s) are not aired in syndication and several episodes have been removed from rotation on Aspire Network.
24	* ParodyAssistance:
25	** Classic ''[[Series/TheHollywoodSquares Hollywood Squares]]'' host Peter Marshall hosts ''East Hollywood Squares''.
26	** Ray Combs hosted the series' ''Series/FamilyFeud'' sketches.
27	* RomanceOnTheSet: Original cast member Kelly Coffield later married Steve Park, a cast member for the third season.
28	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The series became popular due to its edgy humor -- the Season Four premiere has all of its skits involve the Rodney King riots and their aftermath, for instance -- so naturally FOX decided to clamp down on content, driving away the show's creative team in the process and leading to SeasonalRot in its fifth and final season.
29	* ShortLivedBigImpact: The show lasted for only four years from 1990 to 1994 (and the last season might as well not exist, as far as fans and modern-day relevance are concerned), but still served as a SpiritualPredecessor to ''Series/MadTV1995'', inspired rival show ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' to bring in more minorities and not underuse them and launched the careers of several of their cast members and writers, such as Creator/KeenenIvoryWayans, Creator/DamonWayans, Creator/TommyDavidson, Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JamieFoxx, Creator/JenniferLopez, Creator/DavidAlanGrier, Creator/KimColes, and Creator/LarryWilmore. As noted on the main page, the show was also directly responsible for the modern UsefulNotes/SuperBowl halftime shows that are headlined by A-List popular music acts.
30	* SpecialGuest: The final season had a lot of celebrity cameos (some of which appeared in sketches), like Chris Rock, Tupac Shakur, Biz Markie, Peter Marshall (as the host of ''[[Series/TheHollywoodSquares East Hollywood Squares]]''), and Nick Bakay (a show writer who was the host of ''The Dirty Dozens''). Ed O'Neill (from ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'') even appeared in an installment of ''The Dirty Dozens''.
31	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
32	** Keenan Ivory Wayans claims that he passed up on having Creator/MartinLawrence, Creator/JohnLeguizamo, and Creator/ChrisRock as cast members (Rock would later guest star on the show during its final season).
33	** Music/JenniferLopez tried out as a Fly Girl for Season Two, only to be rejected. She eventually got her wish in Season Three and remained for the next two seasons.

Context Trivia / InLivingColor