The Wayans Bros. is one of the most iconic sitcoms ever. Airing on the now-defunct WB Network, according to Marlon Wayans, NBC passed on the show because John Witherspoon’s character was “too ghetto.”
Appearing on Keke Palmer’s show, Baby, This is Keke Palmer, Marlon explained why NBC executives were not feeling John “Pops” Williams.
“We didn’t make it to NBC,” Marlon said. “We did a table reading, and they thought [Witherspoon’s character] was too ghetto. And they wanted us to have a different father…like a Danny Glover type, and we was like, ‘No.’”
“It’s the flavor of the show,” he continued. “We was like, ‘It’s John Witherspoon or it’s not.’ … We ain’t going to do the show. And they was like, ‘Well, negro, you’re not doing the show.”
Marlon almost reconsidered.
“We was like ‘Wait, hold on, Danny Glover, you say?’ But then, the WB was starting, and it was like, ‘I think that’s a great combination.’ So, everything is God,” he recalled. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and it’s not about the doors that close; it’s the ones that open up.”
For five seasons, The Wayans Bros. aired from January 1995 to May 1999. Starring Marlon, Witherspoon, and Shawn Wayans, the show is still popular today.
In 2019, Witherspoon passed away at the age of 77, after suffering from a heart attack in his Sherman Oaks, California home.