Living Single
U.N.I.T.Y. (a.k.a. Five Card Stud)
TV Flash files “U.N.I.T.Y. (a.k.a. Five Card Stud)” as hour 23 of 118 in the TV Flash guide — Living Single (1993–1998) on Fox, season 1, episode 23, aired 1994-03-27, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E23: listed hour 23 of 118 in the Living Single guide, hour 23 of 27 in season 1. It aired 1994-03-27 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Who's the Boss?” (S01E22). Next is “Love Is a Many Splintered Thing” (S01E24).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Kyle hosts his company's junior executive poker game; and hopes to impress the junior vice president, Lawrence, who is on the verge of giving him a promotion. The ladies decide to crash the game after the pizzas are mistakenly delivered to their house, but Kyle's co-workers refuse to let them into the game. Lawrence takes a liking to Regine, and they set up a dinner date. Although he is a perfect gentleman on the date, Lawrence brags about his supposed exploits to his co-workers the following day. Kyle agonizes over whether to defend Regine's honor, because he fears that Lawrence could curtail his career. The girls crash the poker game again, and Lawrence allows them to play. Using tips about her opponents' weaknesses provided by Overton, Khadijah proves to be the big winner. When Lawrence calls the ladies "bitches," Kyle confronts him. He tells him off for insulting his friends and lying about Regine, and orders him to leave. He tells his friends that he is not really worried about Lawrence, as Kyle is landing more new accounts than anyone else is.Tag:Queen Latifah video for "U.N.I.T.Y."Music:"U.N.I.T.Y." by Queen Latifah.
Viewer FAQ
Where does U.N.I.T.Y. (a.k.a. Five Card Stud) sit in the Living Single guide?
S01E23 is listed hour 23 of 118 — hour 23 of 27 in season 1, season 1 episode 23.
When did Living Single S01E23 air?
U.N.I.T.Y. (a.k.a. Five Card Stud) aired 1994-03-27 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is this "the Black Friends"?
That comparison is the discourse, not the origin story. Bowser's brownstone ensemble premiered in 1993 and treated Black professional friendship as default sitcom physics.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Four women, a Brooklyn brownstone, and sitcom chemistry that never needed a Central Perk comparison to land. Queen Latifah’s magazine hustle, Kim Coles’s comic spark, and an ensemble that treated Black urban friendship as default, not special episode. The friend-com with better clothes, sharper mouths, and a legacy still arguing in group chats.
Flash: four women, a Brooklyn brownstone, and a group chat that still thinks *Friends* stole the furniture. Yvette Lee Bowser's Fox sitcom (1993–1998) put Queen Latifah's magazine hustle at the center of a Black professional twenty-something ensemble and treated urban friendship as default, not a special episode. Someone's publicist will call the comparison a compliment. **It is the discourse, not the origin story.** Bowser's room premiered in 1993. The other couch can wait in the lobby.
Filed against
- Queen Latifah as Khadijah James
Queen Latifah played Khadijah James on Living Single, the 1990s Brooklyn brownstone friend-com of four women and sitcom chemistry that never needed a Central Perk comparison to land. Magazine hustle, Kim Coles’s comic spark, an ensemble…
- Kim Coles as Synclaire James
Kim Coles's Synclaire James sparked Living Single from a Brooklyn brownstone — four women, sitcom chemistry that never needed a Central Perk comparison, Queen Latifah's magazine hustle, Black urban friendship as default. TV Flash files…
- Erika Alexander as Maxine Shaw
Erika Alexander made Maxine Shaw Living Single's sharpest brief — Brooklyn brownstone, four women, Black urban friendship as default, not a special episode. Queen Latifah's magazine hustle had a lawyer who would not soften the joke. TV…
- Kim Fields as Regine Hunter
Kim Fields grew up on camera as Tootie Ramsey on The Facts of Life — roller skates, Eastland wing, very special episodes as a feature — then walked into Living Single’s Brooklyn brownstone as grown sitcom chemistry. Girls-lead multi-cam,…
- John Henton as Overton Wakefield Jones
John Henton’s Overton Wakefield Jones gave Living Single its super’s heart — four women, a Brooklyn brownstone, Queen Latifah’s magazine hustle, Kim Coles’s comic spark, an ensemble that treated Black urban friendship as default.…
- T.C. Carson as Kyle Barker
T.C. Carson charmed Living Single as Kyle Barker — four women, a Brooklyn brownstone, sitcom chemistry that never needed a Central Perk comparison to land. Black urban friendship as default, not special episode. TV Flash files him as…