Why Some My Wife And Kids Fans Feel The Show Was Underrated

There's something truly comforting and rewatchable about sitcoms. While these shows can be weird and experimental, most of them tell stories about ordinary people in typical situations, making them relatable to average viewers. The funniest sitcoms in TV history tend to follow friends and families as they juggle life, romance, and careers, and the 30-minute episodes end on a high note, ultimately making fans feel good about the world.

"My Wife and Kids" might not be the most popular sitcom out there, but the ABC series produced five seasons between 2001 and 2005. The show starred Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell as the parents of three children who gave them plenty of headaches. Their son was an underachiever who was obsessed with gangster rap, while his daughters were always costing them money. But they were a happy family at the end of the day, living their own version of the American dream.

The series certainly didn't rewrite the sitcom formula, but the balance of hilarity, warmth, and emotion ensured that it delivered the goods for many viewers (per Rotten Tomatoes). In fact, there are some fans out there who believe that "My Wife and Kids" deserves more praise, claiming that it's an underrated sitcom.

"My Wife and Kids" has been off the air for years, but it's still fondly remembered by some sitcom enthusiasts. A Reddit thread saw many commenters discuss why the show doesn't always get the credit it deserves, despite its many qualities.

According to u/Floydeezy, the series didn't find a wider audience until later on. While this may have hampered the show's chances of success early on, viewers were enamored by it down the line. "This was one of those shows that no one watched until it went into syndication, then it became the show you always stopped on when you were scrolling thru the channels late at night."

This sentiment was echoed by u/the-onion-eater, who felt that "My Wife and Kids" could have been promoted better. "I feel like this is one of the shows that didn't get much attention in [the] USA, but is a "classic" outside of it."

Other fans felt that the show deserved more recognition as it promoted strong values and was unafraid to touch on serious subjects. "It was [underrated] and it touched on necessary topics for both young people and adults," u/Self-Light-Love wrote. "It showed the way a family should run and was one of the ways I got to see how a real man fathers children. There was humor, compassion, and love all up in that family."

"My Wife and Kids" is all about family, and Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell deserve credit for playing a lovable married couple who fans could get behind. That said, there was some drama behind the scenes that almost led to Campbell not being offered an audition, let alone a starring role on the series.

While speaking to the Understand This podcast (per Cheatsheet), Campbell revealed that she had to persistently beg for an audition, only to be rejected on more than one occasion. "I called my agent and I'm like, 'Yo, I heard about this audition,' and he was like, 'Yeah, they don't really want to see you,'" she recalled. Upon reading the script, however, she knew that she was right for the part and refused to take no for an answer.

Campbell went on to explain that her persistence eventually landed her an audition, much to the annoyance of Damon Wayans. Per the report, the actor saw her as "family" and felt that he'd be unable to work with her on a long-term basis. However, the network heads were impressed by her performance and the rest is, as they say, history. "I went to the network and got the part," she concluded.