Sparks (TV series)

Sparks is an American sitcom television series that aired on UPN from August 26, 1996, to March 2, 1998. The series stars James Avery, Robin Givens, Terrence Howard, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Kym Whitley and Arif S. Kinchen. The sitcom is set in Compton, California, and is about the everyday lives of a family of lawyers running a family-owned law practice. Reruns of the show aired on BET in the late 1990s.

Content

The show stars James Avery as Alonzo Sparks, a lawyer running a family law firm with his sons Maxey and Greg in inner-city Compton, California.

Cast

Main

James Avery as Alonzo Sparks
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. as Maxey Sparks, Alonzo's first son
Terrence DaShown Howard as Greg Sparks, Alonzo's second son
Kym E. Whitley as Darice Mayberry
Arif S. Kinchen as LaMarr Hicks
Robin Givens as Wilma Cuthbert

Recurring

Wanda-Lee Evans as Judge
Phill Lewis as Detective Floyd Pitts
Hawthorne James as Claude
Rod McCary as Attorney Mason
Michael Warren as Desmond

Special guest appearances

Vanessa Bell Calloway as Monique
Nell Carter as Barbara Rogers
Terry Ellis as Deidre
Pam Grier as Ms. Grayson
Billy Preston as Himself
Anna Maria Horsford as Wilma's Aunt
Kenya Moore as Ms. Collins
Ron O'Neal as Arthur Fairchild
Jason Kidd as Himself

Reception

Kevin D. Thompson of The Palm Beach Post gave the show a mostly-negative review, criticizing Avery's performances and the "normal cardboard cutout characters". Frederic M. Biddle of the Boston Globe also criticized the performances of the lead actors and thought that Núñez's and Howard's characters were "silently perpetuating stereotypes equating character with Caucasian features".