Every new semester brings stress, but this semester brings new meaning to the word stress.  Classes have just begun, but I doubt I’m the only one feeling overwhelmed already. Uncertainty and change are anxiety’s best friends and though we may not be able to kick them to the curb totally, we may be able to find some form of relief.  One such relief is laughter. 

One show that will hopefully make you laugh is “Sister, Sister.” The sitcom made it’s debut in 1994 and went on to grace the T.V. screen for six seasons. Since September 1st, Netflix made the entire series available to stream.  This show is a reminder of how a simple sitcom can be helpful when feeling out of balance. It won’t solve all of your problems, but it can be helpful to give one’s mind time to find some peace.

As summarized by IMDB, identical twins Tamera Campbell (Tamera Mowry) and Tia Landry (Tia Mowry) were separated at birth and adopted by different families. One day while Tamera is shopping at the mall with her father Ray (Tim Reid), she comes face to face with her twin sister Tia as she is on her shopping journey with her mother Lisa (Jackée Harry). Lisa is offered a job in a new city, but the girls don’t want to be separated again so Lisa and Tia move into Ray and Tamera’s home so the girls can remain together. 

While each character provides moments of comedy, the true comedy star is Harry (Lisa). If I find myself drifting into my own problems, Harry will say something that captures my attention and makes me laugh. Before starring in “Sister, Sister,” Harry won an Emmy for her role in “227,” becoming the first African American to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She won the NAACP Image Award two years in a row for “Sister, Sister” in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. 

I grew up watching this show in reruns and I’ve watched many shows and movies starring both Mowry sisters throughout my life. My favorite show on television is the talk show “The Real,” on which Tamera (who has this summer announced she is leaving the show) has been a host since 2013.  Tia is someone whose career I’ve followed pretty closely as well. It’s interesting watching this show after not seeing it much in many years but knowing these women well. They looked even more alike in this show than they do as they’ve gotten older, yet their facial expressions are easy for me to identify because of watching them a lot recently.  Both actresses provide “Sister, Sister” with charm and heart, even though the viewer can sometimes tell they were new to acting. 

Reid does quite the stellar job playing the uptight father.  There is a brilliance to his acting that didn’t hit me right away. He may not provide as much comic relief as Harry, but he is funny and we need his character to bring a different feeling to the show.  He provides a tenderness that is needed in both the family and the sitcom. 

When a show can stand the test of the time you know it’s something special, “Sister, Sister” may just become your go-to sitcom for escape.  Sometimes the news feels heavy, school feels heavy, and even watching an hour-long drama feels heavy. When the world gets to be too much, try this sitcom on for size and bring some laughter into your world. Tell that anxiety to go away just like the twins do to their annoying neighbor when they say, “Go home, Roger!” 

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