5. Everybody Hates Chris
Sep 22, 2005 • Rated TV-PG
Motivated by his childhood experiences, Emmy Award-winner/actor/comedian Chris Rock, narrates this very hilarious & touching story of a teenager growing up as the oldest of three children in Brooklyn, New York during the early 1980s. Uprooted to a neighborhood and bused into a primarily white middle school two hours away by his strict, hard-working parents, Chris (played by Tyler James Williams) struggles to find his place, all while keeping his younger brother & sister in line at home and surmounting the tests of junior high school. This dependable, resilient teen brings a unique, comedic spin to his everyday trials & upsets in UPN's new single-camera comedy, "Everybody Hates Chris." The year that Chris turned 13 was 1982. Filled with dreams that being a teenager would be really cool, Chris' entry into adolescence is turning out to be less pleasant. Moved from the projects to the tough "Bed-Stuy" neighborhood of Brooklyn, Chris is still stuck in his big brother role. As the family's "emergency adult," he's accountable for taking care of his younger brother Drew (played by Tequan Richmond), and his younger sister Tonya (played by Imani Hakim) while his parents are working; Drew, although younger, is taller and more confident than Chris, while Tonya is the baby of the family, who gets all of the attention from his parents. Chris' rough, cost-conscious father Julius (played by Terry Crews) works numerous jobs in order to properly support his family. Meanwhile, his very strict, sassy mother Rochelle (played by Tichina Arnold), who works part-time in a small real estate office, runs the household on a very tight budget, while demanding the best for her children. With his mother strong-minded to see him in a good school, Chris reluctantly faces multiple bus transfers each day to attend Corleone Junior High School in the fiercely Italian neighborhood, South Shore. Although being an immediate target for bullies, Chris' innate charm and sharp wit enable him to make new friends at school, such as Greg (played by Vincent Martella), another smart, nice kid...who can't fight, by the way. As Chris Rock pointedly looks back, his younger self is set to find what his family already knows: Chris' sharp, scrappy character is going to take him places. But first, he's going to have to think, talk or run his way through one growing experience after another at both home and school, and on any number of buses along the way. "Everybody Hates Chris" is produced by 3 Art Entertainment and Paramount Studios.
