Here and Now Information

Here and Now is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1992 to January 2, 1993. The series starred Malcolm-Jamal Warner in the lead role, who prior to this series co-starred in The Cosby Show which ended its run in Spring 1992. Bill Cosby served as one on the show's executive producers along with Warner serving as executive consultant credited as M.J. Warner. The song "Tennessee" by Arrested Development was used as the show's theme song.

Synopsis

Alexander "A.J." James (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is a recent college graduate who majored in psychology now attending post graduate school. He returns to his old neighborhood in Harlem to become a counselor at a local youth center. While working at the center he is living with Sydney (Charles Brown), his non-biological uncle who works as a doorman for a living. The series co-stars included S. Epatha Merkerson as Ms. St. Marth as the head of the youth center (Brenda Pressley played the role in the pilot episode), Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as T, a former delinquent now working at the center, Rachael Crawford as Danielle, Sydney's daughter, A.J's "cousin" and occasional love interest and Jessica Stone as Amy a fellow post grad student attending the same school as A.J., also working at the center. Pee Wee Love and Shaun Weiss also co-starred as A.J.'s counselees, Ramdall and William respectively.

Cast

• Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Alexander "A.J." James
• Charles Brown as "Uncle" Sydney
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Claudia St. Marth
• Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as T
• Rachael Crawford as Danielle
• Jessica Stone as Amy
• Pee Wee Love as Ramdall Freeman
• Shaun Weiss as William

Episodes

#	Title	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	September 19, 1992
2	"Lovers and Other Dangers"	September 28, 1992
3	"Trust Me"	October 3, 1992
4	"One on Won"	October 10, 1992
5	"Guess Who's Coming to the Center"	October 17, 1992
6	"A Halloween Kiss (a.k.a. The Halloween Show)"	October 31, 1992
7	"Love Handles"	November 14, 1992
8	"Great Expectations"	November 21, 1992
9	"A.J.'s Big Leap"	November 28, 1992
10	"Take My Grandparents... Please!"	December 5, 1992
11	"Backsliding"	December 12, 1992
12	"Pre-Ring Circus"	January 2, 1993
13	"My Bodyguard"	1992
14	"Grandma's Big Decision"	Unaired
15	"Pennies from Heaven"	Unaired

Connections with The Cosby Show

It is commonly mistaken that Here and Now is a spin-off of The Cosby Show. That is not the case, due to the fact Malcolm-Jamal Warner played an entirely different character. This discrepancy is due to the many similarities between the A.J. character and Theo Huxtable, the character that Malcolm-Jamal Warner played on The Cosby Show. Some of similarities were that both characters were psychology majors and worked at community centers (Theo worked at a community center during The Cosby Show's final season). While promoting the show at the time, Warner stated that difference between A.J. and Theo was that A.J. was "more hip and street wise".

Another connection besides Bill Cosby serving as executive producer, Here and Now cast members Charles Brown, S. Epatha Merkerson, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell and Shaun Weiss all previously guest starred on The Cosby Show. Cosby Show guest stars Essence Atkins and Minnie Gentry also guest starred during the series run.

Broadcast history

The series aired on Saturday nights on NBC premiering on September 19, 1992 leading off the network's Saturday night lineup at the time. It was ultimately canceled on January 2, 1993 due to low ratings with two episodes unaired out of the fifteen episodes that were produced. Bill Cosby later admitted that he felt the show's cancellation was justified due to the series not being very well written.