11 good Netflix teen shows with Black leads: All American and more

Teen shows with Black leads: The Parkers

Rating TV-PG

The Parkers is a spin-off of Moesha, centered on Moesha’s best friend Kim Parker (Countess Vaughn) and her mother Nikki Parker (Mo’Nique). The sitcom aired from 1999-2004.

Kim and Nikki are close but not so close that Kim welcomes her mother’s decision to attend Santa Monica College with her. Still, it’s not her choice, so she finds a way to accept it even she’d rather the student body and the faculty not be painfully aware of Nikki’s infatuation with Professor Oglevee (Dorien Wilson).

Though Kim is no stranger to being loud and boisterous about the men she finds herself interested in as her friends Stevie Van Lowe (Jenna von Oy) and Thaddeus “T” Radcliffe (Ken Lawson) can attest to. When she’s not studying or boy chasing, Kim spends her time designing clothes for herself and singing in the music group Free Style Unity with her friends.

Attending college together brings Kim and Nikki even closer to one another something Kim didn’t think possible. It also allows them to see each other outside of their roles as mother and daughter as Nikki witnesses Kim’s growing independence and maturity and Kim begins to see Nikki as more than her mother.

The Parkers deals with issues of teen pregnancy, sexual exploration, and alcohol use.

All five seasons of the series are available to stream.