I hesitated to run a short piece about Smart Guy so soon after I published a glowing review of the Power Rangers movie. I mean, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s constant navel gazing about how much better the past was than the present is. I don’t care, though because a recent piece celebrating the 20th anniversary of Smart Guy has me ready to queue clips on YouTube and forget all my troubles.
Smart Guy was a black sitcom that made you comfortable watching it. The setup is laughable even today. T.J. Henderson has been smart all his life. He’s clearly advanced and clearly bored with his school work, so much so that his dad and teachers decide that it is a good idea to bump him up to high school. As Blavity notes in its appreciation, the theme song was legit on so many levels.
My hometown never got The WB, meaning I didn’t watch the show until it reruns aired on the Disney Channel. I’d like to thank I watched to see what star Tahj Mowry was up to but I secretly longed to come home to a dad that was cool and as stable as John Marshall Jones. Also, Essence Atkins had it going on. Her and Jason Weaver were the coolest teenagers 10-year-old Travis had ever seen.
If you haven’t seen the show yet, head on over to YouTube for some clips.