When Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Coles, Kim Fields, John Henton, and Terrence C. Carson came together to bring “Living Single” to life, none of them could have predicted the way the series would root itself in the culture, spanning generations, group chats, and countless reruns.
Now, the sitcom’s creator, Yvette Lee Bowser, is pulling back the curtain on how it all began. This week, Bowser joins Alexander and Coles on the “ReLiving Single” podcast, inviting fans into the creative engine behind the iconic show.
In an exclusive clip shared with theGrio, Bowser reveals just how deeply personal the writing process was. So personal that the show’s two male leads, Kyle Barker and Overton Wakefield Jones, were actually inspired by her now-husband, Kyle Bowser, and his best friend Overton.
“The guys are modeled after Kyle and Overton, the real Kyle, my husband, Overton, his best friend,” Lee Bowser shared, explaining how at the time she and her husband were not married. In fact, they had only known each other for three months.
“This was like, September of 1992. I met Kyle and fell in love with him in May 1992,” she continued earning shocked responses from Alexander who played Maxine Shaw on the shaw and Coles, who played Sinclair.
“And you put him in a show?!” Alexander responded in disbelief. “You are generous!”
Confident in her decision 33 years later, Lee Bowser didn’t hesitate responding, “100%”
“It was my life in that moment. I told you, I had to be expeditious about this,” the television writer and producer said, teasing at what sounds like a tight creative timeline. “I didn’t have time to make anything up.”
So, she pulled from her own life and experiences. Lee Bowser was 27 years old when she created “Living Single,” a show that contributed to the evolution of Black storytelling on television. Having worked on shows like “A Different World,” “The Cosby Show,” and “Hanging’ With Mr. Cooper,” the writer and producer was intentional about creating a world in “Living Single” that authentically showcased the spectrum of Blackness. And part of that authenticity lived in her vulnerability when writing. Though she cemented her husband into the now iconic show, the creator reveals that he was one the many relationships that inspired the show.
“I also unraveled all my other relationships and all my other business in the show,” she noted. “That episode four [with] the guy who packed his raggedy duffel bag and left…That’s top to bottom my life. I was being what I feel very good writers are, which is vulnerable.”
“All these scenarios don’t have to be exactly from your life, but the emotion does for it to be true and for it to resonate,” she concluded.
The full episode will air tonight at 5pm PT / 8 pm ET during a special YouTube watch party, and Erika, Kim and Yvette will be joining in. New episodes of “ReLiving Single” air weekly on the “ReLiving Single” YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts.
