The Untold Truth Of My Wife And Kids

Claire Kyle is the middle child of parents Michael and Janet "Jay" Kyle. In Season 1, Claire is portrayed by Jazz Raycole. Her version of Claire is strong, sarcastic, and seen as the most talented of the three children. Clearly, this Claire has the wit of her father Michael, who is often seen outsmarting his kids with his sense of humor. However, Raycole was notably absent from Season 2. Instead, actress Jennifer Freeman took over the part of Claire, who also underwent a drastic personality change. This version of Claire is the popular, pretty, and ditzy daughter who's often the butt of her parents' goofy jokes.

Aside from the shift in personality, the two actresses look nothing alike, which makes us wonder why Raycole was recast with Freeman in the first place. However, it was a decision made on Raycole's part. According to Distractify, Raycole decided to leave the show due to her mother's objections about a Season 2 storyline about Claire's friend who gets pregnant. Raycole told The Christian Post that she was 12 years old when she got cast on "My Wife and Kids," and that she was too young to go in the direction that they wanted for Claire. Luckily, she has no regrets about leaving, saying that the freed-up schedule allowed her to pursue her dreams in dance for a while.

As for the drastic actress change in the show, audiences were given a throwaway comedic line in Episode 1 of Season 2 to address the departure of Raycole, with Michael telling Claire, "You look like a whole different person."

Tisha Campbell portrays Jay, the wife of Michael and mother to Junior, Claire, and Kady. Jay is a loving mother who, like her husband, uses wit and sarcasm to parent her family. Jay's patience is tested by the quirky shenanigans that her children and husband get up to, which allows the audience to relate to her. After all, who among us hasn't been annoyed by a family member's wacky behavior?

When Campbell was cast as Jay, she was 31 years old. In the show, her son Junior is portrayed by actor George Gore II. At the time, Gore was 18 years old, making the age difference between mother and son only 15 years. It's a well-known fact that actors and actresses are typically older than the teenage characters that they play. So while it's not unprecedented for an older actor to play Junior, the casting actually more or less fits the characters' ages, as Michael and Jay had Junior when they were both teenagers. Later, Junior runs into a similar scenario when he and his girlfriend Vanessa unexpectedly get pregnant and decide to keep their baby.

A big casting change occurred in Season 2 when audiences noticed that Jennifer Freeman had taken over as the middle child and eldest daughter, Claire. However, this would not be the last major casting change in "My Wife and Kids." The next one pertained to Vanessa, Junior's girlfriend and eventual wife.

Vanessa is first introduced in Season 3, Episode 17 — "Jr.'s Risky Business: Part 1." She is Junior's new girlfriend, and Junior is one smitten kitten. He describes her as being absolutely perfect, leading to his parents being slightly wary of the effect this so-called "perfect girl" may have on their impressionable and dim-witted son.

Throughout Season 3, Vanessa is portrayed by Meagan Good, an actress that you might know from "Minority Report," "Think Like a Man," and "Shazam!" However, once Season 4 came around, audiences noticed that Good had left the show and Vanessa had been recast. As luck would have it, Good worked with Jennifer Freeman again in 2004's "You Got Served."

Portrayed by actor Noah Gray-Cabey, Franklin is a staple character for the series. However, he wasn't introduced until Season 3, Episode 11, "Jay the Artist." His character quickly grew in popularity, making him an honorary member of the Kyle family. In that respect, Franklin has a little bit in common with Steve Urkel, minus any catchphrases as iconic as, "Did I do that?"

In the show, Franklin is a musical prodigy. When Kady, the youngest of the Kyle children, wants to learn to play the piano, Franklin is introduced as her tutor. He quickly develops a crush on Kady. While she initially acts totally indifferent to his attention, eventually the two develop an adorable relationship. Initially, the young love fills Michael with disdain and disgust, but his feelings on the matter also change over time. 

While audiences are used to seeing Franklin in the Kyle home, we don't see much of his family until we're introduced to his sister Aretha, who just so happens to be an amazing singer. As Franklin expertly plays the piano, Aretha sings along — together, the duo is Aretha Franklin.

A common staple for most family sitcoms is holiday episodes. Whether it be Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, the holiday episodes can sometimes bring drama and big laughs. However, "My Wife and Kids" flips the switch on this idea, as it does not feature any holiday episodes in its five-season run. The reason for this has to do with creator Damon Wayans.

The Wayans brothers were raised Jehovah's Witnesses; therefore, the members of the family who still practice don't celebrate holidays. The second oldest sibling of the Wayans family, Keenen Ivory, told Westworld that his father was a Jehovah's Witness, and although his mother was not religious, growing up in his household gave each child a unique perspective and relationship with religion.

Although Damon Wayans is relatively private regarding his religion, he has stated that he follows his father's belief as a Jehovah's Witness (via Breakfast Club). Although he did take a step back from the religion for a few years, he later returned to the faith. And it's likely because of this that he chose not to have any holiday events showcased in his show. However, there is a reference to his faith in the Season 2 Episode "Perfect Dad." Michael imagines what his idea of the "perfect" kids would be, and in his scenario, Junior is a celebrated Jehovah's Witness.

The part of Janet Kyle remains one of the biggest roles in Campbell's career even decades later, but she's had plenty of success since, with performances in "Everybody Hates Chris," "Dr. Ken," and "Uncoupled." All of that success, however, may never have happened had it not been for her risky decision to crash the auditions for "My Wife and Kids."

Believe it or not, Campbell was never actually in consideration for the series, and according to her agent, the studio wasn't even interested in seeing her for a role. But Campbell took a risk, contacting a friend who provided her with information on the auditions and even gave her a copy of the script. Then, after convincing a security guard that there was a paperwork mixup, Campbell snuck onto the studio lot, much to the chagrin of star Damon Wayans, who wasn't happy to see her when she got up for her audition.

"It's a cold-blooded room, Damon's probably pissed at me, nobody wants me," Campbell said of her unscheduled reading during an appearance on the podcast "Understand This" (via Atlanta Black Star). "So, I walk into the room and we start working together. He reads with me, I'm on the edge of my seat, he's on the edge of his, we're going back and forth with ad-libbing ... and it was so magical but I just thought they were still pissed."

Some shows, like "Everybody Hates Chris" or "The Goldbergs," are blatantly based on the real lives of their creators. They are named after those writers and stars, and the show's exploration of their personal history — even if heavily fictionalized — is baked into their premise. But while "My Wife and Kids" was never directly based on the life of series star and co-creator Damon Wayans, it did draw quite a bit of inspiration from his life.

Part of Wayan's vision for the series was to create a TV family that was more like his own growing up. He spoke with the Chicago Tribune in 2002, telling them that he grew up with both parents in the home and that they shared a happy relationship. "My mom and dad are still together. It's been some 40-odd years. But I got divorced after 19 years, threw in the towel." 

More than just based on his upbringing, Wayans says that the show also helped him heal from his own divorce. "The show is a bright spot that allows me to relive some of the beauty of being married."

You might be scratching your head seeing Sherri Shepherd talk about being fired from "My Wife and Kids." But while it's true that Shepherd never appeared on the show, she was hired to fill a role in the series and was promptly booted before the episodes were filmed. According to Shepherd, it was Damon Wayans himself who gave her the old heave-ho. 

Shepherd, who'd had a recurring role previously on "The Jamie Foxx Show," was brought on to play a friend of Tisha Campbell and Kim Whitley's characters. Unfortunately, the chemistry between the three actors wasn't what producers were looking for, with Shepherd admitting that she couldn't keep up with Whitley's manic energy. Rehearsals and table reads proved frustrating, and eventually — while Shephard was on a lunch break at the studio commissary — she got the bad news. 

"I take my tray to get some more food because the food was free and I'm struggling," Shepherd told an audience during an episode of her daytime talk show. "And all the producers ... walked up to me and said 'It's not working out, Sherri.'" It was apparently at the behest of Wayans himself. Shepherd was immediately escorted out in tears, and to this day she won't let Wayans forget. How does Wayans respond? "Look at you now," she relayed to her audience, because Shepherd has since become one of the most successful daytime hosts of the past 20 years, co-hosting "The View," "Dish Nation," and her own series, "Sherri."

Jennifer Freeman was also a teen when she starred in "My Wife and Kids," but unlike George Gore, it was one of her first major acting roles. And it was a huge learning experience thanks to the show's two leads, Tisha Campbell and Damon Wayans.

"Tisha had such a great work ethic," Freeman told Where Is The Buzz TV in 2020. "I admire her so much, you know — being a kid and just watching her. I mean, she juggled so many different hats — from being a mom, to being a wife, to being the lead of a show." Freeman also stressed that Campbell's professionalism on the set had a profound impact on her. "She would always show up, always on time ... she treated the cast, the crew, the grips, everyone the same." 

Beyond Campbell, though, Freeman made sure to credit star Damon Wayans, whose whip-smart comedic talents forced her to be on her game at all times. "Damon is so funny, you just never know what he's going to do, you never know what he's going to say ... you have to be present." Thanks to those two mentors, Freeman was able to build a successful career, most recently starring in "The Black Hamptons" on BET.

Professional reviewers weren't the only ones to take "My Wife and Kids" to task when it first came out, but it might raise an eyebrow to learn that one of its harshest critics was one of Wayans' comic cohorts, D.L. Hughley. You see, at the time "My Wife and Kids" first aired, the network had already been working with Hughley on his own show, "The Hughleys," which completed its second season in 2000. When they gave the green light to Wayans' new show, they gave Hughley's the axe — and Hughley made his displeasure known.

As chronicled by the Los Angeles Times in 2001, "The Hughleys" had struggled on ABC, but the fact that they replaced it with "My Wife and Kids" miffed D.L. Hughley because he felt it was essentially the same show. "It was very difficult to hear that," Hughley said during a public appearance. "[ABC was] having problems and didn't know where to place us ... Then they get another show ["My Wife and Kids"] that is really my show. ... So that didn't fly to me that they didn't have any room for us."

Ultimately, "The Hughleys" was saved from cancelation by UPN, who picked up the series quickly and gave it two more seasons. But Hughley could never get past the slight, feeling that the two shows were so similar that the network's choice to go with "My Wife and Kids" was an insult. 

Sometimes it takes years — or even decades — for some of the most fun pop culture trivia to surface. Such was the case with one little-known fact about "My Wife and Kids" when fans of the series went to Reddit to reveal something striking they found between the series and an episode of the medical comedy "Scrubs" that aired around the same time.

Debuting in 2001, "Scrubs" starred Zach Braff as a young medical intern named J.D. and Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, a fellow intern and J.D.'s persistent love interest. It took many years, but in 2018, one fan noticed that a scene in the premiere episode used the living room set from "My Wife and Kids." The moment comes when J.D. begins to fantasize about what a home life would be like if he married Elliot, and when he peers up at a TV in the hospital waiting room he sees that life playing out as a network sitcom.

Alongside J.D. is Elliot as his wife, and they're sitting on the same sofa that Damon Wayans and his family use for family time. It's unmistakable in hindsight, but it's possible that, at the time, "Scrubs" was simply too new for fans of "My Wife and Kids" to be watching. Of course, it wasn't the last time, "Scrubs" did it, as a commenter also pointed to the show's reuse of a set from "8 Simple Rules" for an episode guest starring John Ritter.

Plenty of TV shows, particularly sitcoms, are known for high-profile guest stars and cameos. "My Wife and Kids" was no exception, but they went further than many, enlisting the aid of some of the biggest stars in movies, television, and beyond — though you might not remember them all.

Damon's brother Keenan Ivory Wayans guest starred as Michael's on-screen brother Ken, but the guests were far more than just a family affair. Fellow sitcom stars Alan Thicke ("Growing Pains"), James Avery ("Family Matters"), and Charles Robinson ("Night Court") popped up in various episodes, as did comedians Steve Harvey, Anthony Anderson, and David Alan Grier. Musicians got some time on the "My Wife and Kids" stage too, with Lou Rawls, Kool Mo Dee, and Flava Flav all making cameo appearances. Queen of Comedy Betty White also turned up in the episode "The Maid." Sports stars LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal were included, too.

But the biggest guest star came in the two-part installment "Fantasy Camp," where Michael gets the opportunity to play basketball at Michael Jordan's instructional camp. There, Bulls legend and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan stars as himself. That his guest appearance is the only time Jordan ever showed up on television is a testament to just how special "My Wife and Kids" really was.