Family Reunion (TV series)
Family Reunion | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Meg DeLoatch |
Starring |
|
Composer | Wendell Hanes |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 (3 parts) |
No. of episodes | 28 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Meg DeLoatch |
Producers |
|
Cinematography | John Simmons |
Editor | Russell Griffin |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 25–34 minutes |
Production company | Mega Diva |
Release | |
Original network | Netflix |
Original release | July 10, 2019 present | –
External links | |
Official website |
Family Reunion is an American comedy television series created by Meg DeLoatch that was released via streaming on Netflix on July 10, 2019.[1] In September 2019, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 5, 2021.[2] Part 4 is set to be released on August 26, 2021.[3]
Premise[]
Family Reunion follows a family of six who travel from Seattle, Washington to Columbus, Georgia for the McKellan Family Reunion and decide to stay to be closer to their family.[4]
Cast and characters[]
Main[]
- Tia Mowry as Cocoa McKellan, a mother of four who believes in new-age parenting
- Anthony Alabi as Moz McKellan, Cocoa's husband and a former Seahawks tight end
- Talia Jackson as Jade McKellan, Cocoa and Moz's eldest daughter
- Isaiah Russell-Bailey as Shaka McKellan, Cocoa and Moz's older son
- Cameron J. Wright as Mazzi McKellan, Cocoa and Moz's younger son
- Jordyn Raya James as Ami McKellan, Cocoa and Moz's youngest daughter
- Loretta Devine as M'Dear, Moz's Deep Southern old-fashioned church-going mother, whose real name is "Amelia".
Recurring[]
- Richard Roundtree as Grandpa, M'Dear's husband for 43 years and Moz's father who is also a pastor
- Warren Burke as Daniel, Moz's brother
- Lexi Underwood as Ava, Jade's friend from church
- Lindsey Da Sylveira as Mikayla
- Telma Hopkins as Maybelle, M'Dear's sister
- Lance Alexander as Elvis, a family friend of the McKellan family who also has a crush on Jade
- Journey Carter as Renee, one of Jade's friends
Guest stars[]
- Erica Ash as Grace, Moz's sister
- Charlie Wilson as Himself
- Mark Curry as Principal Glass, the principal of Maya Angelou Magnet School
- Amanda Detmer as Haven Sheeks
- Jaleel White as Eric
- Tempestt Bledsoe as Katrina
- Noah Alexander Gerry as Drew, Jade's crush
- DeLon Shaw as Missy, Jade's friend at school
- Jackée Harry as Aunt Dot, M'Dear and Maybelle's sister
- Peri Gilpin as Daphne, Cocoa's mother
- Kenya Moore as Herself
- Akira Akbar as Brooke, Shaka's friend at school
- Bruce Bruce as Brother Davis (season 2)
- Willie Gault as Himself (season 2)
- Anika Noni Rose as Miss Karen (season 2)
- Tahj Mowry as Mr. Dean (season 2)
- Bella Podaras as Kelly-Ann (season 2)
Episodes[]
Series overview[]
Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | 10 | July 10, 2019 | ||
1 | December 9, 2019 | ||||
9 | January 20, 2020 | ||||
2 | 16 | 8 | April 5, 2021 | ||
8 | August 26, 2021[3] |
Season 1 (2019–20)[]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |||||||
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Part 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | 1 | "Remember How This All Started?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Meg DeLoatch | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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2 | 2 | "Remember Charlie Wilson?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Beverly DeLoatch & Charity L. Miller | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
The family begins to unpack and settle in but not everyone is accepting the change as quickly. Jade has to share a room with Ami which she is not used to. Ami does crazy things in her sleep keeping Jade up all night. Refusing to live like this, she begins to move upstairs to the attic. Meanwhile, while the parents are together talking, Mazzi and Shaka discover an autograph signed by Charlie Wilson and M'Dear reveals that she was once involved with Wilson back in the day. She claims that she had helped him with a few things but never actually dated him. Grandpa gets furious and refuses to believe this and ignores M'Dear despite her attempts to explain. The boys ask Jade for help, in which she initially refuses, but agrees after M’Dear moves up to the attic with her and prevents Jade from sleeping, such as loudly praying to God for a long time and snoring in her sleep. They invite Wilson over to clear things up and confirms he didn't date M'Dear, causing M’Dear and Grandpa to reconcile. The Mckellans hang out with Wilson and sing his songs. | ||||||||||||
3 | 3 | "Remember Vacation Bible School?" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Adrienne Carter | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
Moz gets the kids go-karts but Cocoa is totally against having them. She claims that they will get hurt and bans them from being ridden. Moz ends up riding them with the kids but Ami gets a hurt knee and Mazzi hurts his hand but the three of them agree to not tell Cocoa. However, at dinner that night, Ami beings to limp and Mazzi eats with one hand which leads to Cocoa discovering the truth about the accidents. Meanwhile, M'Dear takes Jade and Shaka to Vacation Bible School where she challenges everyone to recite as many bible verses as possible with a certain word. She beats and humiliates everybody including Jade, Shaka and Elvis. Determined to beat M'Dear, Jade takes Shaka's suggestion and uses a bible verse app to cheat and ends up beating her. However, M'Dear decides to do this at church and before they begin she takes out Jade's earpiece causing her to lose the competition. Jade ends up confessing to everyone and apologizes to M’Dear, while the family hang out on the porch when the service is over. Cocoa is revealed to be injured from driving in the go-kart. | ||||||||||||
4 | 4 | "Remember When I Lost My Sister?" | Leonard R. Garner, Jr. | Ralph Greene | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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5 | 5 | "Remember Grace Under Fire?" | Leonard R. Garner, Jr. | Chris Moore | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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6 | 6 | "Remember That Crazy Road Trip?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Anthony C. Hill | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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7 | 7 | "Remember the First Day of School?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Taylor Vaughn Lasley | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
It's the first day of school for all of the children and all of them end up in tough situations. After a mishap with registration, Mazzi poses as a fourth grader because he's not ready to go to fifth grade and the teacher gives out candy for students who answer questions correctly. Shaka gets a crush on a girl after finding her backpack. Jade as well as some of her friends get detention and suspended for three days after the principal who had served in the military declares their regular school outfits unacceptable. In detention, they discover that it is only the girls who face dress code violations while the boys are excused. This leads to Jade starting a protest in the hallway which involves Moz and Cocoa. Eventually, M’Dear joins as well and the protest leads to the principal revoking the suspensions he gave Jade and her friends and changes the dress code to allow their clothes in school. Moz finds Mazzi and after talking Mazzi is ready to start the fifth grade the proper way. Shaka also gives his crush's backpack to her and gets her phone number. | ||||||||||||
8 | 8 | "Remember Macho Mazzi?" | Kelly Park | Henry "Hank" Jones | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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9 | 9 | "Remember Black Elvis?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Howard Jordan, Jr. | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
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10 | 10 | "Remember When Our Boys Became Men?" | Robbie Countryman | Lia Prewitt-Martin | July 10, 2019 | |||||||
M'Dear introduces Jade to a new boy named Kurt and asks her to show him around town since he just moved. At first, Jade is totally against this but after meeting him she starts to like him as a friend. They hang out on the porch and talk, tell jokes to one another and even go to Prettyboy's where they play chess. While they are there, Jade encounters Drew, who becomes suspicious of her and Kurt’s friendship and bails on the bowling date he had asked her to earlier in the episode. Jade, deciding not to cry on this rejection, decides to ask Kurt out, but it is revealed that he has started dating Ava, leading to a rivalry between the two. Meanwhile, Mazzi and Shaka start mowing lawns with Elvis to earn money for a PlayStation but when they try to get inside the house after finishing a cop finds them and handcuffs them at the house. That night, Cocoa is forced to explain that the situation was based on their skin color. The next day, the boys refuse to go outside out of fear of encountering the cop again, but Grandpa surprises them with a PlayStation, lifting their spirits. A few days later, while coming home from a trivia game night, the same cop pulls Moz over despite him doing nothing wrong, angrily explaining how Moz’s file of complaint against him almost cost him his job. Cocoa then decides that this town is no longer safe and that they will be moving back to Seattle. | ||||||||||||
Special | ||||||||||||
11 | 11 | "A Family Reunion Christmas" | Robbie Countryman | Sa'Rah L. Jones | December 9, 2019 | |||||||
Part 2 | ||||||||||||
12 | 12 | "Remember the Dance Battle?" | Morenike Joela | Anthony C. Hill | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
13 | 13 | "Remember When Daddy Came Home?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Ralph Greene | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
14 | 14 | "Remember Our Parents' Wedding?" | Richard Lyons | Adrienne Carter | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
15 | 15 | "Remember When Jade Was Down with the Swirl?" | Angela Gomes | Taylor Vaughn Lasley | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
16 | 16 | "Remember When Shaka Got Beat Up?" | Juanesta Carlota Holmes | Henry "Hank" Jones & Chris Moore | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
17 | 17 | "Remember the G Club?" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Howard Jordan, Jr. | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
18 | 18 | "Remember Cousin Kenya?" | Kelly Park | Sa'Rah L. Jones & Lia Prewitt-Martin | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
19 | 19 | "Remember M'dear's Fifteen Minutes?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Judy Dent | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
20 | 20 | "Remember When the Party Was Over?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Meg DeLoatch | January 20, 2020 | |||||||
Meanwhile, Shaka, who is still angry and feeling betrayed by Elvis for his actions in the last episode, tries to force Mazzi to stop hanging out with Elvis. When Mazzi refuses, Shaka forms a “friendship” with Mazzi’s rival, Braylan, as payback, severing their relationship. At Jade’s party, Moz and Cocoa fly in her friends from Seattle to surprise her, but what ultimately lifts Jade’s spirits is Royale, who crashes the party in disguise. Royale reveals he is leaving Georgia, so the two confess their love for each other and share a kiss, but they are caught by Moz, who forced Royale out. Elsewhere, Braylan crosses a line by bullying Mazzi and Elvis, so Shaka sides with his brothers and breaks off his friendship with Braylan, reconciling with his brother and friend. Meanwhile, M’Dear overhears a conversation with Moz and Cocoa’s financial advisor, who reveals that the McKellans are now officially broke. M’Dear offers them to stay with her for as long as they need, but after she says this, Cocoa receives a note, revealing that Jade has run away with Royale. |
Season 2 (2021)[]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [5] | |||||||
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Part 3 | ||||||||||||
21 | 1 | "Remember Mazzi's First Love?" | Juanesta Carlota Holmes | Anthony C. Hill | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
22 | 2 | "Remember When Jade Broke a Nail?" | Robbie Countryman | Ralph Greene | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
23 | 3 | "Remember When Cocoa Was a Housewife?" | Robbie Countryman | Arthur Harris | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
24 | 4 | "Remember When M'Dear Changed History?" | Eric Dean Seaton | Meg DeLoatch | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
25 | 5 | "Remember the False Idol?" | Morenike Joela | Deja Harrell | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
When Moz and Cocoa bring home a sculpture that is slightly inappropriate, M'Dear goes to great lengths to get rid of it, without hurting Ami's feelings. | ||||||||||||
26 | 6 | "Remember When Shaka Did the Robot?" | Kelly Park | Anthony C. Hill | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
When Shaka gets rejected at school, he feels embarrassed and decides not to go to the dance. But when he is asked out to the dance by a famous superstar, he decides to go to the dance. | ||||||||||||
27 | 7 | "Remember When the Glass Passed?" | Juanesta Carlota Holmes | Ralph Greene | April 5, 2021 | |||||||
28 | 8 | "Remember When Cocoa Found Her Calling?" | Richard Lyons | Sa'Rah L. Jones & Lia Prewitt-Martin | April 5, 2021 |
Production[]
Development[]
On October 17, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of twenty episodes. The series was created by Meg DeLoatch who was also expected to executive produce. Production began in Los Angeles.[4][6] The first part was released on July 10, 2019.[1] On September 17, 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a second season consisting of sixteen episodes. It was also announced that there will be a holiday special that was released on December 9, 2019 and the nine extra season 1 episodes were released on January 20, 2020.[7][8] The second season premiered on April 5, 2021.[2] Part 4 is scheduled to be released on August 26, 2021.[3]
Casting[]
Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Tia Mowry, Loretta Devine, Anthony Alabi, Talia Jackson, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Cameron J. Wright, and Jordyn James had been cast in series regular roles.[4][6]
Reception[]
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating for the series, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10.[9]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 14, 2019). "Meg DeLoatch Assembles All-Black Writers Room For Netflix's 'Family Reunion' Starring Tia Mowry And Loretta Devine". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Mauch, Ally (March 8, 2021). "Family Reunion Will Feature 3 Real Housewives Guest Stars in the New Season — Watch the Trailer!". People. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Bosselman, Haley; Shanfeld, Ethan (July 19, 2021). "Starz Releases Trailer for Wrestling Drama 'Heels' (TV News Roundup)". Variety. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Andreeva, Nellie (October 17, 2018). "Tia Mowry & Loretta Devine Star In 'Family Reunion' Comedy Series Ordered By Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Family Reunion – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Goldberg, Lesley (October 17, 2018). "Tia Mowry, Loretta Devine to Star in Netflix Comedy 'Family Reunion'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ Bennett, Anita (September 17, 2019). "Netflix Renews 'Family Reunion' For Second Season". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ Mallenbaum, Carly (December 11, 2019). "Netflix's January 2020 list: New seasons of 'Grace and Frankie,' 'Sabrina'". USA Today. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ "Family Reunion: Part 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
External links[]
- 2010s American black sitcoms
- 2010s American comedy television series
- 2019 American television series debuts
- English-language television shows
- English-language Netflix original programming
- Television shows set in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Television series about families