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If you are a proud Millennial, you will remember the days of watching Nickelodeon. We know you have your favorite shows and moments from the times. But for Throwback Thursday, Dominique Magazine is paying tribute to Nickelodeon’s first black created, produced and cast television series, My Brother and Me.

The show, centered around Alfie (played by Arthur Reggie III) and Dee Dee (played by Ralph Woolfolk IV) as two young black boys growing up in Charlotte, NC. Just like with any show of this nature, there were the usual storylines of school bullies, crushes, lying to parents, hanging out and studying. It was an exciting time to see this show as for years many black youths patronized Nickelodeon despite having no shows about us or for us. As a black suburbanite (the city of Atlanta was my back yard--literally), I could relate to this show and to see something that mirrored us on television was an epic moment and memory to be cherished. We had the chocolate sprinkles here and there. You Can’t Do That On Television had a few notable black cast members such as Brodie Osome. The cute Wendy Douglas was the sister we loved seeing host ‘Don’t Just Sit There, whom’ and Chris Lobban held it down as Kevin on Welcome Freshman. We can’t forget about learning the latest dance steps from Alfred Carr Jr. and Willis Seymour Green from ‘Roundhouse’ among the variety of roles they played on the sketch comedy that later replaced the aging You Can’t Do That On Television.

My Brother and Me also had the two caramel cuties of Deonne (played by Amanda Sea who was previously known as Amanda Diva) and her best friend, who was the sister of Dee Dee and Alfie, Melanie (played by Aisling Sistrunk). The show featured three black children who were with their married parents not a blended family. While the parents, played by Jim Coleman and the late Karen Fraction had minor roles, they provided the family balance to keep everyone in line and demonstrate their love for their children. Last but not least, we cannot forget Goo of Goo Punch (played by Jimmy Lee Newman Jr.).

In typical early 1990’s fashion, the show featured the youth in HBCU themed gear, Cross Colours clothing and the boys had parts in their hair (don’t act like you didn’t have your hair parted at the time as well). Notable episodes included the class snake being loose in the house and the boys scrambling to find it. Oh yeah, they forgot to tell the parents they brought it home for the weekend. The infamous ‘Practical Joke War’ episode where all the youth were playing pranks on each other until it backfired and ‘Donnel’s Birthday Party’ where DeeDee and Harry (played by Keith Bubba Naylor) had to learn to dance since it was featuring a DJ, only to later find out that Donnel (played by Stefan J. Wernli) didn’t know how to dance himself.

Furthermore, the show was naturally funny and lighthearted. No drugs, no gangs, no hood element as many black shows try to tackle. There were no ‘afterschool special’ style episodes either. It was evident that Woolfolk was the intended star of the show as many storylines involved him such as being bullied, running away, getting a bootleg haircut (to impress his friends) and more. It would have been nice to see more storylines involving Seales and Sistrunk, but it could have probably happened in the second season that wasn’t meant to be.
In 2007, while a student at Morehouse, Woolfolk did an interview with the CAU Panther Newspaper where he explained what happened to the show. The second season was planned and requested by the network, but a significant disagreement between the producers and creators of the show resulted in differences that led to the shutdown of the show. We as a collective support our shows when they are on quality and My Brother and Me could have lasted long past the standard ‘65 episode shelf life’ of most NICK shows. ‘All That’ lasted for over ten seasons with several spin-offs to surpass You Can’t Do That On Television for the longest running NICK series.

While the cast suffered from the child star syndrome (cute kids but you are growing up too fast), most of the cast ended up working outside of the industry in various fields and trades. Fortunately, no one suffered any major life setbacks due to what many child actors went through. Amanda Seales has made a name for herself in the music world as an independent artist, hosted her own web series (Diva Speak TV) and most recently became the fast of the street harassment and anti-tobacco campaigns. Woolfolk is now a police officer with the Atlanta Police Department and has often been the face of their PSA’s. He was in a notable Christmas 2014 PSA in which the LGBT community made him go viral. They failed to mention that the straight world already knew him as Dee Dee from My Brother and Me.

Created by IIunga Adell and Calvin Brown Jr., the show lasted for 13 episodes, and the impact has been long-lasting. ‘All That’ embraced diversity with cast members of various ethnicities such as Black and Hispanic. Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell became breakout stars from this show as they ended up in a feature length movie, Good Burger, and their own sitcom, ‘Keenan and Kel’ which lasted four seasons. Others to come behind the My Brother and Me crew include Nick Cannon, Little Romeo (Master P’s son) and Little J.J.

While My Brother and Me didn’t have a chance to live up to its full potential nor create major stars, the memories and legacy live on. The cast and crew should be proud of their part in black television history.