Sister, Sister Alum Tamera Mowry-Housley Says Hit Sitcom Was Canceled by ABC Because of Friends

The sitcom Friends was one of the most influential and consequential TV shows of all time. The series, which ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004, gave us six memorable characters, a hit single with the theme song ("I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts) and a movie star and pop culture phenomenon named Jennifer Aniston.

According to Tamera Mowry-Housley, one of the stars of Sister, Sister, which ran on ABC for two seasons, from 1994 to 1995, Friends also helped push the show, which costarred Mowry-Housley's twin sister Tia, off ABC and onto a new, untested network called the WB, where it aired from 1995 to 1999.

via: EW

The actress delves into the subject as part of the new two-part HBO documentary Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television, claiming that the trajectory of Sister, Sister was drastically changed by the immediate popularity of Friends.

"I remember us just killing it in the ratings and then having all that taken away," the actress said of Sister Sister, which ranked at No. 33 in the Nielsen ratings during its first season on ABC. Though it marked a respectable rating — and the highest the show would ever chart — that didn't stop the network from swinging the ax after just 12 episodes.

Mowry-Housery continued, "The president of the network, I can remember calling him saying, 'How come we were canceled? What happened?' And I can remember Friends came about, and a lot of the networks wanted to, they were like, 'Wow, this show is a hit. How can we bring that to our network?'"

After premiering as part of ABC's TGIF comedy lineup, Sister, Sister ended up finding a new home at the WB. Though relieved to see the show continue on, Mowry-Housley said she and twin sister Tia were baffled by the change.

"We go from being on ABC to the WB. I remember my sister and I going, 'What the hell? What is that? The frog network?," she said, referencing the WB's Michigan J. Frog character. "A fledgling network? I remember looking that up, going, what does 'fledgling' even mean?"

Sister, Sister ran for five additional seasons, from 1994 to 1999. During that period, the sitcom was one of many Black-fronted comedies that the network launched in its early years, with others including Cleghorne!, Kirk, The Parent 'Hood, The Wayan Bros, The Jamie Foxx Show, and The Steve Harvey Show. By the latter half of the '90s and going into the 2000s, the WB was better known for its popular dramas with predominantly white casts, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7th Heaven, Charmed, Dawson's Creek, and Felicity.

"I have a frame from the WB saying, 'Thank you for helping us start a network,'" Mowry-Housery shared, adding that at the time her Sister, Sister dad Tim Reid told her they were not the first Black-led show to play a similar role in a network's rise.

"Tim Reid was telling me, 'Tamera, a lot of networks do this.' They start off with Black shows, because we're talented,'" she recalled. "Black people are talented, and a lot of people watch Black shows, and they build that network with those shows, and then they start changing."

This sentiment was echoed elsewhere in the doc by the star-studded lineup of TV stars and pioneers.

"Our shows have been systematically used to pump networks since we've been on TV," agreed Living Single star TC Carson. "To pump up the ratings, to pump up the network and then when they get what they need, they let it go."

Across six seasons, Sister, Sister follows twin sisters Tia and Tamera who reconnect as teens and navigate life, school, and family as a team, despite having polar opposite personalities. Mowry-Housley's sister Tia Mowry recently reflected on the show's legacy too, delving into the pressure that came with representing a generation of Black girls for Entertainment Weekly's '90s issue.

"We were very aware that there weren't a lot of girls on television that looked like us," she shared. "We did take that role on so seriously when it came to representation. Now, people are like, 'Oh my God, you were the first person that I saw on TV that had hair like mine that made me embrace my curly hair.'"

Mowry continued, "To be so impactful and be a part of certain trends was just so fascinating. When people see my sister and I, the words that come out are, 'You guys are iconic.' I feel so proud to be a part of that."

Seen & Heard premiered on HBO Sept. 9, and the second episode airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Both parts are available to stream on HBO Max.