Marlon Wayans Says NBC Passed on ‘Wayans Bros.’ Because o…

NBC was in talks to pick up The Wayans Bros., but ultimately passed because they wanted to make a major change to the show.

Marlon Wayans sat down with Keke Palmer’s show, Baby, This is Keke Palmer, to explain why the network had an issue with John Witherspoon’s character, John “Pops” Williams.

“We didn’t make it to NBC,” Marlon Wayans said at around the 54:25 minute mark. “We did a table reading, and they thought [Witherspoon’s character] was too ghetto. And they wanted us to have a different father…like a Danny Glover type, and we was like, ‘No.’”

“It’s the flavor of the show,” Wayans continued. “We was like, ‘It’s John Witherspoon or it’s not.’ … We ain’t going to do the show. And they was like, ‘Well, negro, you’re not doing the show,’” causing Wayans to briefly reconsider.

“We was like ‘Wait, hold on, Danny Glover, you say?’ But then, the WB was starting, and it was like, ‘I think that’s a great combination.’ So, everything is God. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and it’s not about the doors that close; it’s the ones that open up.”

The Wayans Bros. aired on the WB for five seasons, from January 1995 to May 1999. In addition to Witherspoon and Marlon, the show also starred Shawn Wayans.

Witherspoon passed away in 2019 at the age of 77, suffering from a heart attack in his Sherman Oaks, California home. In addition to The Wayans Bros., he was also known for his role as Willie Jones in the Friday movies and for voicing Robert Jebediah “Grandad” Freeman in The Boondocks.