TV Review • Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper was one of those 90’s sitcoms that was good television but rarely talked about. For five seasons Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper gave us the laughs that all the great 90’s sitcoms provided.
The series gave us an entire BOP of a theme song with vocals from Dawn Lewis, Holly R. Peete and the legends En Vogue. In my opinion, it’s one of the greatest tv theme songs. If they put it on a music streaming service, there would be no hesitation of adding it to my playlist.
The first season centered around former NBA player Mark Cooper (Mark Curry), Vanessa (Holly R. Peete) and Robin (Dawn Lewis) as they are trying to balance life after the NBA, personal relationships, and work life while being roommates. As they filmed their pilot episode on the same set as Growing Pains (1985), the show catered more to adult viewers.Â
By the second season, the show became more family friendly after Dawn Lewis left and they added Nicole (Raven Symone), and Geneva (Saundra Quarterman) as Mark’s cousins who move into the house from Georgia, along with PJ (Nell Carter) who is now the new Principal at Mark’s school. Like the Queen she is, Raven Symone brought the classy wit that she is well known for. From always keeping her bestfriend and next door neighbor Tyler (Marquise Wilson) on his toes to having the cutest relationship with Mark.Â
The show became slightly juicy when Mark and Vanessa started dating after seasons of Mark flirting. With them already being roommates, it never hindered their relationship. By the end of season four they were engaged to be married. Although we never got a wedding during the fifth and final season, the show ended on a decent note. There was no cliffhanger, just the cast ending the episode with a nice goodbye.
If you need a refresher on the show all five seasons are streaming on Hulu, so head over there and get you some feel good entertainment.
