# Everybody Hates Chris (2005)

> A Brooklyn teen endures busing to a mostly white middle school and a strict household in the early 1980s, narrated with sardonic hindsight.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/234

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 88
- Episode runtime: 21 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi
- Network: UPN, The CW
- Cast: Tyler James Williams, Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, Imani Hakim, Tequan Richmond, Vincent Martella, Chris Rock, Wayne Brady
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460637/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: nostalgic, warm, sardonic, breezy, comforting

## What critics say

Audiences broadly rate the series positively for its sharp humor and warm family dynamics, drawn from Chris Rock's semi-autobiographical childhood.

## Synopsis

Everybody Hates Chris (2005-2009) is a US network sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi for UPN and The CW. Tyler James Williams plays Chris, a teenager growing up as the eldest of three children in early 1980s Brooklyn, while Tichina Arnold plays his fiercely protective mother Rochelle and Terry Crews plays his strict, hard-working father Julius. Chris Rock supplies the adult narration that frames each story with sardonic hindsight. The engine of the series is Chris's struggle to find his footing after his family moves to a new neighborhood and he is bused to a predominantly white middle school two hours away, where every day brings a new humiliation to survive. Each episode follows a self-contained misadventure involving school, bullies, and his younger siblings Tonya and Drew, with the family bickering and reconciling around the dinner table. The show runs four seasons across 88 episodes in a classic multi-camera rhythm. Set in 1980s Brooklyn, it offers a nostalgic, warm and often sharp take on working class African American family life and racial outsider experience. Fans of The Wonder Years, Malcolm in the Middle and The Cosby Show will find resonance here.

## Shows like Everybody Hates Chris

- [The Wonder Years (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/104591)
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- [The Proud Family (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/512)
- [The Wonder Years (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/4280)
- [black-ish (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54728)
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- [mixed-ish (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/75967)
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