Read an oral history of The Bernie Mac Show pilot

Entertainment Weekly

"I was watching this show called 1900 House, where they have cameras in the house and people had to act like it was 1900," says Bernie Mac Show creator Larry Wilmore. "I thought it was fascinating. I wanted to do something different than the normal three-camera sitcom. I thought it might be interesting to do a show where it seemed like we were eavesdropping on the family rather than having the action pushed at us. Then I saw Kings of Comedy, and I was really struck by Bernie's attitude and his jokes. I thought, 'This would be an interesting story to put in this framework.' It’s about this guy whose sister is on drugs and he has to take care of her kids. I developed it a little bit and pitched it to Bernie. He loved it."