Living Single
The Best Laid Plans
TV Flash files “The Best Laid Plans” as hour 110 of 118 in the TV Flash guide — Living Single (1993–1998) on Fox, season 5, episode 5, aired 1997-10-23.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E05: listed hour 110 of 118 in the Living Single guide, hour 5 of 13 in season 5. It aired 1997-10-23. The listed hour before it is “Reconcilable Differences” (S05E04). Next is “Up the Ladder Through the Roof” (S05E06).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Max plans on making a play for her old law school professor and mentor, Clayton Simmons, who is in town to give a lecture. She organizes a law discussion party at the girls' apartment. Khadijah confesses to Synclaire that she once spent the night with Clayton, but can't bring herself to tell Max. At the party, Clayton acts as though he doesn't remember Khadijah. An offended Khadijah takes him into the kitchen. He explains that he does remember her, but didn't say anything in case she hadn't told Max. Max overhears their conversation through an open window, and is very upset. Clayton explains that he cannot date his students, but says that he is proud of her. Max is exasperated by Khadijah's tendency to keep secrets, but forgives her. Regine is outraged when Tripp lets the woman he is entertaining wear Regine's bathrobe and use her bubble bath. She also cuts his soap-on-a-rope because it is not appropriate for a "diva's bathroom." Tripp embarrasses catererer Regine by showing up for the party sweaty and reeking of garbage. They finally agree to a compromise.Music:"Sexual Healing" (Marvin Gaye), sung by Mel Jackson
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Best Laid Plans sit in the Living Single guide?
S05E05 is listed hour 110 of 118 — hour 5 of 13 in season 5, season 5 episode 5.
When did Living Single S05E05 air?
The Best Laid Plans aired 1997-10-23.
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…