‘Living Single’ reboot: Queen Latifah aims to bring joy to nostalgic fans

Recently, reboots and spin-offs of popular shows from the 1980s and ’90s have become the norm. Fans were able to relive the glory days of television with hit shows from Full House — Fuller House — to the X Files and the Gilmore Girls.

But when Queen Latifah hinted that the future may send us back to a 1990s Brooklyn, New York, brownstone and a journey through the single lives of six friends, the news sent social media into a frenzy. And then it exploded.

Queen Latifah said there's a Living Single revival in the works. Y'all. pic.twitter.com/2kAZoTKCuz

— PantheR (@____PantheR) January 13, 2017

Wait, Y'ALL!!!!! Queen Latifah just said they are in talks for a Living Single Reboot!!!!!!! #WWHL pic.twitter.com/kWRg28lhsn

— Bernice Clifton (@AlexisSaintpaul) January 13, 2017

https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/815067609712324613

Latifah initially alluded to the possibility of a reboot on the Jan. 12 episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with host Andy Cohen. A caller who’d phoned into the show asked Latifah if Living Single would make a comeback with all the rest of the popular shows being rebooted.

“Funny you should ask,” Latifah said with a smirk. “We’re actually working on it.”

Cohen sat excited and wide-eyed as the audience applauded. “It’s not there yet, but hopefully we can get it happening,” Latifah added.

Living Single, which premiered in 1993 and lasted five seasons, featured Latifah as Khadijah James, one of the lead characters who attended Howard University and went on to become a successful editor and publisher of the fictional Flavor magazine.

It was one of the few black shows of its time with an easygoing vibe and through the teachings of balancing love, friendship, work, and fun in a big city. The laughter, tears, anger, frustration characters experience through the ups and downs of their fictitious lives were moments fans could also relate to.

Just one year after its launch, Living Single received a bit of competition when sitcom Friends emerged on NBC. Its plot, settings and even similarities to the show’s characters left no doubt that Friends, a show that quickly rose in popularity and lasted 10 seasons, lifted a bit of creative inspiration from Living Single.

“[When Friends came out,] we knew we had already been doing that,” Latifah said. “It was one of those things where there was a guy called Warren Littlefield who used to run NBC, and they asked him — when all the new shows came out — if there was any show you could have, which one would it be? And he said Living Single. And then he created Friends. But Friends was so good it wasn’t like we hated on it or anything.”

As for the Living Single reboot, Latifah hopes to be involved as a producer. Though the ideas are still up in the air, the team is continuing to figure out which method and platform would be best to deliver the content.

If there’s an opportunity to go back to a ’90s kind of world, we’ll gladly take it.

Watch the full interview below.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_wb-kqmfTw&w=560&h=315]