Wanda at Large
Encyclopedia
Wanda at Large is an American sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 that ran for two seasons on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 in 2003. The series was created by and stars comedian Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes is an American writer, stand-up comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America...

.

Synopsis

Sykes starred as Wanda Hawkins, an outspoken standup comic who is chosen to be a correspondent on a Washington, D.C., political talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....

 The Beltway Gang on WHDC-TV. However, Wanda's mannerisms infuriate the show's moderators (Phil Morris and Ann Magnuson
Ann Magnuson
Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer who first gained prominence in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan...

). At home, Wanda must manage her sister-in-law (Tammy Lauren
Tammy Lauren
Tammy Lauren is an American actress who has appeared in film and television. She starred in Wishmaster, portraying Alexandra Amberson, a young woman who accidentally awakens the Djinn, a powerful spirit more commonly known as a genie.-Career:To date, Wishmaster is the only feature film in which...

), who is raising two children, Holly (Jurnee Smollett
Jurnee Smollett
Jurnee Diana Smollett-Bell is an American actress. She is best known for the role of Jess Merriweather on the critically acclaimed television series Friday Night Lights...

), and Barris (Robert Bailey, Jr.).

Reception and cancellation

Wanda at Large premiered on Fox on March 26, 2003, following American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

. It gradually decreased in the ratings, premiering with 14.3 million viewers, and falling down to 10 million by the season finale. It still averaged 12.2 million for the six-episode season, however, making it the fourth highest-rated show on Fox that year out of 26, and leading Fox to renew the show. Its first-season finale aired in April 2003. In September, the show returned with new episodes in the Friday night death slot
Friday night death slot
The Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the concept that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is destined for imminent cancellation....

 at 8:30, only to be canceled on November 7 along with the new show Luis
Luis (TV series)
Luis is an American sitcom starring Luis Guzmán that aired on Fox from September to October 2003. Scheduled in the Friday night death slot, the series received low ratings and was canceled after five episodes. The series was the first show of the 2003-2004 season to be canceled.-Season One:...

.

During an interview with the Urbanite magazine at Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...

, Sykes explained that the show was only supposed to be on Friday night for an interim basis. According to Skyes, "We were told if the new night didn't work out, we would be moved to another timeslot. But, that's part of the game television execs play." She also admitted in a January 2004 interview that she wished that the series would have launched on UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

 instead of Fox.

Cast

  • Wanda Sykes – Wanda Hawkins
  • Dale Godboldo – Keith Townsend
  • Phil Morris – Bradley Grimes
  • Ann Magnuson – Star
  • Tammy Laure – Jenny Hawkins
  • Jurnee Smollett – Holly Hawkins
  • Robert Bailey, Jr. – Barris Hawkins

Season 1

Series # Season # Title NotesOriginal air date
1 1 "Pilot" Stand-up comedian and actress, Wanda Sykes stars as Wanda Hawkins, a struggling comic living in Washington DC, who manages to land a job as an on-air news reporter at a local news station. In the series premiere, Wanda, through flashbacks, relates how she was hired and subsequently fired from her job when her liberal views clash with the conservative news anchors. March 26, 2003
2 2 "Death of a Councilman" Wanda becomes enamored with her flirtatious interview subject Jonathan Lyles, the director of public relations at the Board of Health. Unfortunately, after she begins dating Jonathan, Wanda finds out that her crew has captured footage of major health violations - in the cafeteria at the Board of Health. She must decide whether to produce a great exposé, embarrassing Jonathan, or suppress the evidence in order to preserve her relationship. Meanwhile, when Wanda's nephew, Barris gets into trouble at school for cursing like Wanda, Jenny forces Wanda to accompany her and Barris to a conference with his teacher. April 2, 2003
3 3 "Wanda & Bradley" Roger tricks a feuding Wanda and Bradley into attending a basketball game as a promotional stunt.
April 9, 2003
4 4 "Alma Mater" When Jenny, Barris, and Holly determine to throw Wanda a surprise birthday party despite Keith's warnings, he hides Wanda's keys to detain her, but then she thinks she's been robbed.
April 16, 2003
5 5 "King Rat" Wanda does an exposé on a crooked councilman, but when he dies unexpectedly before the piece airs, her boss edits it into a tribute without her consent, so she is invited to speak about the man at his funeral. April 23, 2003
6 6 "Wanda's Party" Wanda and Keith are invited to receive honorary doctorates from the college they both attended—and from which they were expelled. Their differences of opinion on how they should conduct themselves at the ceremony result in a rift in their friendship. April 30, 2003

Season 2

Series # Season #Title NotesOriginal air date
7 1 "The Favor" Wanda accepts a challenge from Bradley to get a famous, troubled athlete on her show for an interview. Although Keith doubts Wanda has the ability to accomplish the task, she is intent on proving him wrong. She figures out a foolproof way to get it done, but there's one hitch, she will have to reconnect with her ex-husband, Vincent. September 19, 2003
8 2 "Hurricane Hawkins" Wanda makes a bad first impression on the new station manager, Max, and tries to reconcile with him by taking him out for drinks. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that Max is a recovering alcoholic. September 26, 2003
9 3 "Where's Roger" Wanda is glad when Bradley's longtime best friend, Laven asks her on a date, not because she's particularly attracted to him, but because dating Laven would annoy Bradley. When Wanda and Laven persuade a very reluctant Bradley to visit a strip club with them, Bradley is mortified to be recognized and photographed. With Bradley's job as a respected newscaster in peril, Wanda realizes it's time to change her tactics. October 3, 2003
10 4 "Bradley Has a Friend" Holly decides that she would much rather, live with her Aunt Wanda then with Jenny. October 17, 2003
11 5 "Leave Your Daughter at Home Day" Wanda's piece is playing on the Beltway Gang, and as it's ending, Max is furious that Wanda hasn't arrived at work, and thus isn't there to sit on the panel. Viewers love it when she calls in to do the show from her car via cell phone, But later when Wanda shows up on time to do a piece about ATMs, she is just in time to get stuck in the middle of a bank robbery and forced to do some hard-core reporting from the scene, Wanda style. October 31, 2003
12 6 "Clowns to the Left of Me" Wanda prepares for a visit from her demanding and overbearing mother, who much to the dismay of Wanda, takes an immediate shine to Bradley. October 31, 2003
13 7 "They Shoot Reporters, Don't They?" Wanda does a controversial piece calling out Animal Rights organizations. The activists become furious and demand an apology from Wanda, who in turn is enjoying the publicity. That is until the station management considers firing her due to the bad public relations image that is being project from the incident. November 7, 2003
14 8 "Back to the Club" Wanda returns to stand up after she gets into trouble with the station manager and is fired from the Beltway Gang. November 7, 2003
15 9 "Twas the Knife Before Christmas" Wanda admits the dreaded "L" word to Bradley, after she reluctantly sees Keith's therapist. Unaired
16 10 "Only Built for Cuban Wandas" Wanda and Keith look forward to a Christmas full of drinking and partying that is until Wanda gets stuck with Jenny's kids as she has to have her appendix removed in emergency surgery. Holly gets suspended from school for fighting. Unaired
17 11 "Plane Trip" Wanda, Jenny and Keith place bets to see who can go out on a date one time only without getting attached. Unfortunately, everyone gets a date that is perfect for them and they have to play it off to win the bet. Unaired
18 12 "The Unnatural" Bradley comes to blows with a rap mogul, who's a last-minute replacement for the show's scheduled guest, Six Finga Assassin. Unaired
9 13 "Did Wanda Say a 4-Letter Word?" Wanda is mocking the expensive cost of plane travel and decides to pack herself in a trunk and fly cross country. Wanda is dating a doctor whom she thinks is the perfect man until she discovers he has a fear of flying. Unaired


* The unaired episodes were aired for the first time on TVOne on July 4, 2006 during the 4th of July launch marathon of the series.

Syndication

Reruns began airing regularly on July 5, 2006 on United States cable channel TV One
TV One (Radio One)
TV One is an American television channel based in Silver Spring, Maryland and primarily owned by Radio One and Comcast Corporation. It targets African American adults with a broad range of programming...

. A marathon aired on July 4 as part of the channel's "Power to the People" July 4 weekend celebration.

Award nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient
2004 BET Comedy Awards Nominated Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Wanda Sykes
Outstanding Comedy Series
Satellite Awards
Satellite Awards
The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...

 
Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical Wanda Skyes
2003 Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...

Nominated Choice TV Breakout Star - Female Wanda Sykes
Choice TV Breakout Show
Choice TV Actress - Comedy Wanda Sykes
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