One of the Most Underrated ’90s Sitcoms Just Premiered on Netflix

Already home to classics like Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, and revivals like That ’90s Show and Fuller House, Netflix has just added a highly underrated sitcom from the ’90s to its streaming platform. The series, which ran from 1996-2002, for a total of six seasons was a fan-favorite at the time, but has now become something of an underrated gem. Luckily for anyone that hasn’t seen it, you can dive in to every episode on Netflix right now.

The series in question is The Steve Harvey Show, The sitcom starred, who else, Steve Harvey as Steve Hightower, a former funk star, who enlists as a high school music teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Chicago. While working at the school, Hightower ends up reuniting with former classmate, Principal Regina Grier (played by Wendy Raquel Robinson), and developing a close bond with his students. The long-running sitcom originally aired on the WB.

Along with starring Harvey, the series included an impressive cast that included Cedric the Entertainer as Cedric Jackie Robinson, Merlin Santana as Romeo Santana, William Lee Scott as Stanley ‘Bullethead’ Kuznocki, Wendy Raquel Robinson as Regina ‘Piggy’ Grier, Terri J. Vaughn as Lovita Alizay Jenkins Robinson, and Lori Beth Denberg as Lydia Liza Gutman. The show aired one-hundred-and-twenty-two episodes over the course of its six-season run. Harvey initially wanted the show to end with its fifth season, but Harvey agreed to return for a final, shorter season after coming to an agreement with the folks at the WB.

The series was a hit for the network and helped to round out the WB’s offerings at the time, which included 7th Heaven, Sister, Sister, Dawson’s Creek, Charmed, Felicity, Roswell, Angel, and Gilmore Girls. For the network, The Steve Harvey Show offered a chance at offering more diversity on the small screen at a time when it simply wasn’t common. The final episode of The Steve Harvey Show, titled “California or Bust-Up,” aired on February 17, 2002, and featured Steve Hightower and Regina Grier, as Regina mulled over a job offer she received to be a principal at a private school in California.

The Steve Harvey Show received plenty of praise during its time on-air, not only for its diversity, but also for its humor, acting, and chemistry among its cast. Over the course of its run, the series was nominated for plenty of awards. It was nominated by the ALMA Awards multiple times, with Merlin Santana being nominated for the award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series in both 1999 and 1998. While Tracy Vilar was nominated for the ALMA Award Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series award in 1998. The series also received countless Image Awards (NAACP) nominations, including Outstanding Host in a News, Talk, Reality, or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble for Steve Harvey in 2017, and even winning 2002’s Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

These days, Harvey is best known for hosting Family Feud, rather than acting. That said, Harvey still occasionally appears in projects, with the comedian having appeared in 2012’s Think Like a Man, based on his own best-selling book, and other films like Johnson Family Vacation and Love Don’t Cost a Thing.

New on Netflix This Month

The Steve Harvey Show is just the latest new series added to Netflix this month. You can check out the full list of Netflix’s new additions for the rest of July below.

July 22nd

NETFLIX
Trainwreck: P.I. Moms (GB) — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

July 23rd

NETFLIX
Hightown: Seasons 1-3
House of Lies: Seasons 1-5
Critical: Between Life and Death (GB) — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
Letters From The Past (TR) — NETFLIX SERIES

July 24th

NETFLIX
A Normal Woman (ID) — NETFLIX FILM
Hitmakers — NETFLIX SERIES
My Melody & Kuromi (JP) — NETFLIX ANIME
The Sandman: Season 2 Volume 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 25th

NETFLIX
Happy Gilmore 2 — NETFLIX FILM
Trigger (KR) — NETFLIX SERIES
The Winning Try (KR) — NETFLIX SERIES

July 28th

NETFLIX
The Lazarus Project: Seasons 1-2

July 29th

NETFLIX
Dusty Slay: Wet Heat — NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL
Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 (GB) — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
WWE: Unreal — NETFLIX SPORTS SERIES

July 30th

NETFLIX
Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
Unspeakable Sins (MX) — NETFLIX SERIES

July 31st

NETFLIX
An Honest Life (SE) — NETFLIX FILM
Glass Heart — NETFLIX SERIES
Leanne — NETFLIX SERIES
Marked (ZA) — NETFLIX SERIES
The Sandman: Season 2: Special Episode — NETFLIX SERIES

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