Thea is an American sitcom that premiered September 3, 1993 on ABC, and last aired on February 14, 1994, for a total of 19 episodes. Starring comedienne Thea Vidale, the series marked the first time an African American female comedienne was the star of a series named after her.
Synopsis
Thea Vidale starred as the sassy Thea Turrell (known for her trademark one-liner of
"See ya'!"), a widowed mother of four who works in a
Houston, Texas supermarket by day and runs a one-chair beauty salon on the corner of her porch in the evenings.
The show was the first to feature Brandy Norwood, who later went on to become a Grammy-winning singer and star of her own sitcom Moesha (with Wilson as a member of the supporting cast).
Although the show garnered high ratings at first, ratings steadily fell thereafter, and the series was canceled after only 19 episodes. It ended the season in 43rd place.
Cast
Thea Vidale — Thea Armstrong-Turrell, the show's titular character; the no-nonsense widow and matriarch of four children
Adam Jeffries — Jarvis Turrell, Jr.
Brandy Norwood — Danesha Turrell
Jason Weaver — Jerome Turrell
Brenden Jefferson — James Turrell
Yvette Wilson — Lynette Armstrong-Russell
Cleavant Derricks — Charles Russell
Supporting cast
Kenny Ford, Jr. — Leonard, Danesha's boyfriend
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. — Rickey, Thea's supervisor
Arvie Lowe Jr. — Otis
Venus DeMilo Thomas — Desiree
Blake Clark — Roy Bennett, Thea's boss at Mickey's Barbecue
Dennis Burkley — Walt Henderson, regular customer at Mickey's
Scotch Byerley — Claude Cooper, regular at Mickey's
Marcus T. Paulk — Cedric
Countess Vaughn — Charlene
Wendy Raquel Robinson — Patrice Washington, Thea and Lynette's "baby sister"; an attorney
Episodes
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Episode Number
! Episode Title
! Original Air Date
|-
| 1
| "
Pilot"
| September 3, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | We are introduced to Thea's hectic routine, working at the supermarket checkout by day, dressing hair by night, and supervising her four demanding children. James gives his mother $25 which he earned delivering sandwiches during his school lunch hour, but she insists that he keep the money and eat his own lunch in the cafeteria henceforth. Danesha returns from taking Jerome clothes shopping, but Jerome blabs that he had to try on endless badly-fitting clothes while she talked on the phone to her new boyfriend Leonard, who is meeting her at the library later to study, and Thea insists that Jerome pick her up at home so she can inspect him. Meanwhile, Jarvis is supposedly at a friend's house doing a geography assignment, but Thea has found his geography book and knows that he has been at the video arcade instead, and grounds him before she leaves to attend a memorial service. It's the night of a big video game competition, and Jarvis sneaks out to it despite James' attempts to keep him at home -- then must face Thea's righteous wrath.
|-
| 2
| "
Jerome Makes the Grade"
| September 10, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Jerome is failing English because of his desperate attempts to make the school basketball team. When Thea forces him to finish his book report on "To Kill a Mockingbird", he doesn't make the team - but gets an A on his report. Meanwhile, Danesha attempts to submit a video to America's Funniest Home Videos.
|-
| 3
| "
Dirty Laundry"
| September 22, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | The kids are not pleased when the washing machine breaks down, which means endless trips to the laundromat. Meanwhile, Danesha's boyfriend is in hot water after he kisses another girl, and Thea puts him through the wringer before he can come clean with Danesha.
|-
| 4
| "
How I Got Over"
| September 25, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Thea gets a chance to train for manager; but Jerome plans a boxing match party while Thea is at her night school class.
|-
| 5
| "
To Tell the Truth"
| October 6, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Jarvis lets his younger brother drive and they get into an accident; but it's no accident that the boys don't tell their mom who was behind the wheel. To punish them, she cooks up a scheme with Lynette, who pretends to have lost her wedding ring in her trash, now at the bottom of a very fragrant dumpster.
|-
| 6
| "
Artie's Party"
| October 13, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Conflict brews when Arthur plans his bachelor party and invites Jerome, whom Thea thinks is too young to attend.
|-
| 7
| "
Here Comes Mr. Gordon"
| October 15, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Thea acquires an unwanted admirer.
|-
| 8
| "
Birthday Girl"
| November 3, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | On her birthday, Thea's treasured gift of hot tickets to a Motown reunion concert goes flat when her boss calls her in to work a replacement shift.
|-
| 9
| "
Danesha Loooves Leonard"
| November 17, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | When Danesha's romance with Leonard disrupts the household, Jarvis and Jerome hatch a plan to split up the lovebirds.
|-
| 10
| "
Mama, I'm Full"
| November 24, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Thea must work at the market on Thanksgiving, so she entrusts Danesha with the cooking of the family feast.
|-
| 11
| "
Good Stock"
| December 1, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Jerome finds he has a knack with stocks which leads Thea to lend him a real investment stake.
|-
| 12
| "
A Christmas Story"
| December 15, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | It's almost Christmas and the Christmas lights need to be put up, however Jarvis continues to avoid the chore. As he has a fear of heights.
|-
| 13
| "
Danesha Project"
| December 22, 1993
|-
| colspan="3" | Danesha has a social studies project on single parents to do for school with the help of her classmate, Cliff Croverd, who just happens to be the most popular guy in school. Guess who they choose to interview about the experience of single parenthood?
|-
| 14
| "
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"
| January 12, 1994
|-
| colspan="3" | Thea finds herself in a hairy situation when she can't afford mandated improvements to her in-home salon and an inspector wants to close it down.
|-
| 15
| "
Who's Zoomin' Who"
| January 16, 1994
|-
| colspan="3" | Marcella uses Jerome to make her boyfriend, Dwayne, jealous while Jerome uses the relationship to meet his own needs. Meanwhile, Thea decides to fix her own plumbing after Charles refuses to make time to do it for her.
|-
| 16
| "
Of Fish and Men"
| January 29, 1994
|-
| colspan="3" | Danesha is paired with a basketball star for a school project, but finds that he could use a lesson in teamwork when he tries to pass all the work off on her.
|-
| 17
| "
Call Me Thea"
| February 4, 1994
|-
| colpsan="3" | Thea takes a day off, leaving the kids to do the household chores, and visits her favorite barbecue restaurant, Mickey's, only to discover that Mickey has died and new owner Roy's cooking is awful. Enter new head chef Thea.
|-
| 18
| "
T.C.B."
| February 11, 1994
|-
| colspan="3" | Barbecue-sauce chef Thea is offered a restaurant partnership.
|-
| 19
| "
The Pie Queen and the Loan Duck"
| February 19, 1994
|-
| colspan="3" | Jarvis needs space and privacy to study for his college SATs. Meanwhile, Thea is outraged when she learns that Mitch Mallard, the banker who holds the mortgage on the diner, eats there for free -- while Thea's kids have to pay.
|-
|}
Syndication
Reruns of the show returned on
BET in May 2008 on
Mother's Day. However, a few months later the reruns ceased to air.
Award nominations
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;"
|- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center"
! style="background-color: #BCBCBC"|Year
! style="background-color: #BCBCBC"|Award
! style="background-color: #BCBCBC"|Result
! style="background-color: #BCBCBC"|Category
! style="background-color: #BCBCBC"|Recipient
|-
| 1994 ||
Young Artist Awards ||
Nominated || Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series || Brandy Norwood, Jason Weaver, Brenden Jefferson and Adam Jeffries
|-
|}
References
External links
Category:1993 American television series debuts
Category:1994 American television series endings
Category:1990s American television series
Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows
Category:American television sitcoms
Category:Black sitcoms
Category:English-language television series
Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Category:Television shows set in Texas
![Geronimo Stilton: TV Series - 2/2: Thea het Topmodel [HD][NL][DVD]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110209230041im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ezI2npqmAKQ/0.jpg "Geronimo Stilton: TV Series - 2/2: Thea het Topmodel [HD][NL][DVD]")
![Geronimo Stilton: TV Series - 1/2: Thea het Topmodel [HD][NL][DVD]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110209230041im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mTA1jCMVsO0/0.jpg "Geronimo Stilton: TV Series - 1/2: Thea het Topmodel [HD][NL][DVD]")
