Television series

Living Single

Name: Living Single
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1993
Cast: Queen Latifah, Kim Coles, Erika Alexander, T.C. Carson, John Henton

Comedy
Light-hearted

Before Friends borrowed its blueprint, Living Single did it first: six adult friends, one Brooklyn brownstone, and a magazine called Flavor to argue about. Queen Latifah anchors as the no-nonsense editor holding her chaotic friends together, while Kim Coles and Erika Alexander bicker their way into one of sitcom's great odd-couple dynamics. Warm, quick, unapologetically Black, and funnier than its reputation as 'the other one' ever suggested.

TVMaze rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a hangout sitcom where friendship and banter carry the show, and the romances are a pleasant side course rather than the main event.

Skip it if you need sharp, fast jokes and a tight plot, since this is a gentle, loose sitcom where scenes wander and the laughs come from familiar character habits more than setups.

What it asks of you: Thirty minutes an episode and five seasons to get through, so it wants patience while the household settles in and its routines accumulate.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Girlfriends2000

The clearest heir to Living Single's throne — four Black women navigating careers, romance and friendship with the same rhythm of loyalty and roasting, updated for a new decade.

But Eight seasons is a lot to commit to, and the later years wobble tonally as the cast and network change.

Martin1992

Same network, same era, same electric ensemble chemistry — Martin Lawrence's sketch-heavy chaos is the loud cousin to Living Single's cooler confidence.

But Broader and more slapstick, and some of the gender politics have aged rougher than Living Single's ever did.

A Different World1987

The show that helped build the audience Living Single walked into — college-age Black friends figuring out life, with the same mix of comedy and real stakes.

But Campus setting means younger characters and storylines; it's a different life stage than Living Single's twenty-something professionals.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Living Single

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show1970

Same structural bet: an unmarried professional woman anchoring an ensemble of friends and coworkers instead of a husband — Khadijah is Mary Richards' spiritual granddaughter.

Two decades earlier, Mary Richards was already proving a single woman's career and friendships could carry a sitcom without a husband in sight — Living Single's premise, in miniature, a generation before.

But Minneapolis newsroom energy is gentler and whiter than brownstone Brooklyn energy, and the pace is very 1970.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air1990

Contemporary, Black-led, and just as quotable — trade the brownstone for a mansion but keep the family-you-choose warmth and the killer theme song energy.

But More family sitcom than hangout comedy, and Will's fish-out-of-water premise is a different engine entirely.

Friends1994

The one everyone already knows, worth revisiting to see how closely it echoes Living Single's setup — six pals, two apartments, endless couch time.

But Whiter, cosier, and considerably more sanitized; some of the edge and cultural specificity you loved won't be there.

Sex and the City1998

Same DNA — professional women, terrible dates, brunch-table debriefs — just older, richer, and set in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn.

But Considerably more explicit and fashion-obsessed, and the show's blind spots around race are a real drawback.

New Girl2011

A newer spin on the mixed-gender apartment sitcom, with the same loft-living, will-they-won't-they hum that Living Single perfected first.

But Zooey Deschanel's whimsy is a very different flavor of charm, and it leans further into quirk than realism.

Insecure2016

The modern, prestige-TV descendant — Black women's friendship and romantic chaos, but filmed with an HBO budget and a much more melancholic streak.

But Slower pacing and more drama than joke-per-minute; it's a mood piece as much as a comedy.

Desmond's1989

Same idea, different postcode: a hangout comedy built around Black friendship and one central gathering place, made the same year Living Single's world was taking shape across the Atlantic.

A South London barbershop instead of a Brooklyn brownstone, but the same beating heart — a Black community's found family trading jokes, romance and gossip in one tight space.

But British sitcom rhythms and accents take adjusting to, and episodes run shorter with a scrappier, lower-budget look.

Do the Right Thing1989

Same Brooklyn, same ensemble-of-neighbors format, but where Living Single offers community as refuge, Lee shows what happens when that close-quarters community reaches its breaking point.

Same Brooklyn block, same ensemble-of-neighbors structure, but Spike Lee turns the temperature up until the block itself becomes the story — a furious counterpart to the brownstone's comfort.

But It's a drama building toward tragedy, not a laugh-track hangout — expect confrontation and heat, not jokes and comfort.