You Take the Kids

You Take the Kids is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from December 15, 1990, to January 12, 1991. The series starred Nell Carter, who also performed the theme song "Nobody's Got It Easy". You Take the Kids, which was perceived as being the black answer to Roseanne due to its portrayal of a working-class African-American family, featured Carter as a crass, no-nonsense mother and wife.

You Take the Kids
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Paul Haggis Stephen Nathan
Directed by	Peter Baldwin Frank Bonner Paul Haggis Marcia L. Leslie William Levinson J.D. Lobue
Starring	Nell Carter Roger E. Mosley Dante Beze Caryn Ward Marlon Taylor Trent Cameron Leila Danette
Theme music composer	Jeff Moss
Opening theme	"Nobody's Got It Easy" performed by Nell Carter
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producer	Paul Haggis
Cinematography	Bill Williams
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	CBS Entertainment Productions Paul Haggis Productions MTM Enterprises
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	December 15, 1990 (1990-12-15) – January 12, 1991 (1991-01-12)

Synopsis

Carter stars as Nell Kirkland, the opinionated matriarch of a blue collar African American family living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nell's husband Michael (Roger E. Mosley) worked as a school bus driver while Nell gave piano lessons at the family home for extra money. Nell and Michael had four children: eldest son Raymond (Dante Beze), boy-crazy daughter Lorette (Caryn Ward), 12-year-old Peter (Marlon Taylor), and 10-year-old Nate (Trent Cameron). In addition to the kids, Nell and Michael also had to contend with Nell's equally opinionated mother Helen (Leila Danette), who lived in the basement.^[1]

Cast

• Nell Carter as Nell Kirkland
• Roger E. Mosley as Michael Kirkland, Nell's husband
• Dante Beze as Raymond Kirkland, Nell & Michael's first son
• Caryn Ward as Lorette Kirkland, Nell & Michael's daughter
• Marlon Taylor as Peter Kirkland, Nell & Michael's second son
• Trent Cameron as Nate Kirkland, Nell & Michael's third son
• Leila Danette as Helen, Nell's mother

Production

The series was scheduled on Saturdays at 8pm (EST).^[1] It was canceled after six episodes (five were aired, but the sixth was pre-empted by CBS' special coverage of the Gulf War).

Episodes

No.	Title [2][3]	Directed by [3]	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code [3]	Viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Paul Haggis	Paul Haggis & Stephen Nathan	December 15, 1990 (1990-12-15)	1458	12.5[4]
Nell and Michael's plans for a romantic weekend getaway are complicated by Nate's new job: delivering stolen car stereos.
2	"Merry Christmas to All and a Pointy Hat to You"	Frank Bonner	Paul Haggis & Stephen Nathan	December 22, 1990 (1990-12-22)	0707	10.5[5]
The Kirklands' Christmas tree and presents are stolen by a homeless family.
3	"The Eggs and I"	J. D. Lobue	Kathy Slevin	December 29, 1990 (1990-12-29)	0704	8.2[6]
Nell and Michael get the wrong idea when Lorette is partnered with a classmate (Larenz Tate) in a school parenting project caring for eggs.
4	"Fishes Are Like Sisters...You Can't Flush Them Without Feeling Guilty"	Peter Baldwin	Paul Haggis & Stephen Nathan	January 5, 1991 (1991-01-05)	0706	9.7[7]
Lorette asks Raymond's cool friend Spunk (Carl Anthony Payne II) to the school dance, where he and his other friends plan to humiliate her. Meanwhile, Nate tries to do away with an unwanted goldfish.
5	"What I Did for Love"	J.D. Lobue	William Levinson	January 12, 1991 (1991-01-12)	TBA	11.6[8]
Raymond borrows money from high school loan shark Dewayne to take out the most materialistic girl in school and then steals to repay his debt.
6	"Bad Boy"	J.D. Lobue	Marcia L. Leslie	Unaired	0711	N/A
Peter steals the family car in hopes of finally getting his parents' attention.[9]