The Derrick Jackson Show

The Derrick Jackson Show is an American adult animated sitcom created by Spike Lee and Richard Pyror for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Serving as a spin-off of The Bad Life of Daniel, the series centered on the Jacksons, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Derrick Jackson and Mary Ann Jackson and their children Robert Jackson,

The series was conceived by Pryor in 1997 while recording season 24 of The Bad Life of Daniel, where he decided to leave the show due to his health issues and collabrated with Spike Lee who was a big fan of the character to create a spin-off series based on Derrick Jackson's character who is now voiced by Phil LaMarr after Pryor's health issues preventing him from being on the show anymore. Sheldon centered the show on Bad Life of Daniel character Derrick Jackson, his wife Mary Ann Jackson, his son Robert, his teenage daughter, Leelah, and their two baby twin boys Terry and Lerry.

The series premiered on November 28, 1999, and ended on September 15, 2002, with a total of 72 episodes over the course of 3 seasons. The Derrick Jackson Show was nominated for one Annie Award, one Primetime Emmy Award, and two Teen Choice Awards, but received mixed reviews from media critics. The series was canceled after its third season.

Development
Richard Pryor and Spike Lee initially conceived the show in 1997 while working on his other animated series, The Bad Life of Daniel

The Derrick Jackson Show first appeared on the development slate at Fox in early 1998, under no official name for the pilot, after a report that Fox had purchased the series from creators. On August 9, 1998, Sheldon, Pryor, Lee, and 20th Century Fox Television inked a deal. The pilot was named The Cleveland Show in May 1999, when it appeared on the primetime slate for the 1999–2000 television season, although it wasn't officially on the network schedule. Shortly after a report that King of the Hill was renewed, the show was picked up for a full season after an additional nine episodes of the show were ordered. The Derrick Jackson Show appeared on the primetime slate for the 2009–10 television season, for airing on Sunday nights at 8:30 pm. On June 15, 1999, it was announced that The Cleveland Show would premiere on November 28, 1999.

Lee and Pryor pitched a 22-minute pilot to Fox which aired on November 28, 1999, Even before the pilot episode premiered, the show had already been renewed for a 22-episode second season. After the first season of the show aired, it was given the green light to start production. On June 10, 2000, less than three weeks into the first season's summer hiatus, it was announced that Fox was ordering a third season. A third season was announced on May 9, 2001, just a few days before the second season concluded.

Executive producers
Spike Lee, Richard Pryor, and Sidney Sheldon (who didn't create this show) served as executive producers on the series since the first season.

Voice Cast
Phil LaMarr voiced of the show's main characters: Derrick Jackson and Robert Jackson, taking over the roles from Pryor and Buster Jones respectively after the latter retired from acting in 1998.

Diahann Carroll voices Mary Ann Jackson, the wife of Derrick. When Pryor developed the character, he made her more of a typical "black housewife", but loving at the same time. Carroll was pleased to reprise her role when asked to voice this character again.

Cree Summer plays Leelah Jackson, the teenage daughter of Derrick and Mary Ann, and Terry and Lerry, the two baby twin sons of Mary Ann and Derrick. Summer has stated that she uses a more teenage voice that sounds like a typical African-American teen to voice Leelah. Before Summer was cast as Leelah, Rosalind Cash provided the character's voice throughout her 100 appearances in The Bad Life of Daniel, until her death in 1995, where she remained a mute character until 2000 in The Bad Life of Daniel.

Buster Jones portrays Robert Jackson, Derrick's son. The voice of this character was based on an impression of Lamont Sanford, the main character from Sanford and Son.

Spike Lee plays Andre Wilson, Derrick's best friend in the world since coming out of the womb, and Richie Barberson, one of Derrick's co-workers at his barbershop.

Additionally, the Wyatt Family made several appearances in the show with all their respective voice actors reprising their roles except Jeff Wyatt, Marty Wyatt, Daniel Wyatt, Alex Wyatt, Devin Silverman, and Jasper as Jeff, Daniel, Jasper and Alex were voiced by Joe Alaskey while Marty and Devin were voiced by Corey Burton.

Syndication
The series started to be syndicated locally by 2001, and is currently in 95% of all syndication markets. Additionally, along with The Bad Life of Daniel, the series is currently broadcasted on NightHouse, TBS, Adult Swim, FXX, and BBToons. As of May 25, 2020, due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox and it's assets by The Walt Disney Company, the series is also shown on Freeform. ViacomCBS channel BET has been airing the series since August 14, 2020.

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