Sara Lee Ralph plays Deidra Moss “Dee Mitchell” in an Americal Television Sitcom, Moesha. Dee works as a teacher at Crenshaw High School, where her stepdaughter Moesha attends. She elevates to vice-principal after becoming the faculty advisor for the school newspaper “Cry of the Cougar.” Despite their differences, Moesha and her new stepmother enjoys a close friendship.
In Jamaica, Dee receives and offer for a full-time teaching position. Dee becomes missing in the series for season 6, but she returns as a recurrent character in season 7. She returns to the series after attending Dorian’s high school graduation in Jamaica.
Why Did Dee Leave Moesha?
In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, the 65-year-old actress discusses the heartbreaking recollection on her 45-year career’s highs and lows. She reflects on trying to build a name for herself in Hollywood. Ralph says,
“People’s thinking was not very inclusive. You directors who were still trying to tell you how to be Black. I was fired from a pilot because the producer told me I was not black enough. She still remembers the way she reacts, despite of that the actress says she remains optimistic.
Moesha Last Season Recap
Moesha and Jamal
Moesha (Brandy Norwood) extends her stay in New York and enjoys her romance with Q (Fredro Starr). She returns home and to college soon after. Q makes the decision to propose. Dorian (Ray J) returns from boot camp and reverts to his old habits. It is requiring Frank (William Allen Young) to fabricate an army contract, causing a rift between Dorian and Frank.
According to Hakeem (Lamont Bentley) and Niecy (Shar Jackson), Moesha is snooping around with Jamal (Wesley Jonathan). Moesha spends the night with Jamal after going out on a date with him. Thus, leading to considerable mistrust between the two. She also receives gifts from Q and a video message from Khalib (Ginuwine). He expresses his desire to keep in touch with her. On the other hand, Dorian transforms Frank’s kitchen into a barbershop.
Kweisi Mfume (as himself), president of the NAACP, in a guest appearance, speaks to kids at Moesha on the significance of voting. A former Girl Scout leader gives a speech on her campaign for the city council, Moesha, Hakeem, Niecy, and Jerome assist her. However, when her contact with Hakeem goes against her preconceives image, the volunteers are to make a difficult choice.
Moesha and Q Make Up
Myles’ (Marcus T. Paulk) classmate’s mother learns that Dee is out of town, she immediately turns her attention to Frank. That is until neighbor and good friend Nikki Parker (Mo’Nique) intervenes. Moesha also informs Hakeem that she engages to Q by accident. She tells her father of her engagement to Q, he enrages and rushes away.
Q returns to Moesha for Thanksgiving with Khalib (Ginuwine) after a three-month absence. Arthur Loving, Dee’s father, also pays a visit and brings his animosity against Frank with him. Meanwhile, Q makes an unusual request involving her engagement ring as Moesha and he makes up for their time apart. Khalib offers to lend them the money and expresses his concern for Moesha. However, when Moesha breaks the news to Q, he overreacts, ending their engagement.
Mayhem
After openly criticizing a poet at “Poetry Night at The Pendulum,” Moesha fears for her life. Dorian obtains a new job at a recording studio. Frank worries that his long hours at work may harm his schooling. Following a disagreement, the main act, “Mayhem,” is late, Moesha’s band “What” takes the stage to pacify the crowd.
When “Mayhem” learns that they push them back, the result is a brawl that ends with Hakeem in the hospital. Moesha afterward finds she’s still in love with Hakeem.
Dorian’s former acquaintance, Lamont, reappears in the series finale, he gives Myles a tour of the recording studio. Hakeem returns later to demand Dorian’s part of “What!” Dorian refuses once more, and Hakeem gets even more threatening.
Myles fails to return home that night, Frank and Dee become worried. Meanwhile, Hakeem makes a proposal to Moesha, unsure what to do about it, and seeks counsel from her roommates. One of the girls discovers she is expecting a child.
Moesha Quick Facts
- an American television sitcom that airs on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001
- originally commissions as a pilot for CBS’ 1995-1996 television season, the network turns it down.
- the most considerable success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits throughout the network’s entire run
- Regan Jon Productions, Saradipity Productions, and Jump at the Sun Productions collaborate on a UPN special with Big Ticket Television.
- premieres on January 23, 1996, and ran for six seasons, airing a total of 127 episodes
- a creation Ralph Farquhar, with Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears on the writing team
Plot Summary
Through the eyes of a regular girl named Moesha, the show depicts the life of an upper-middle-class African-American family (Brandy Norwood). Her father, Frank Mitchell (William Allen Young), a widower and Saturn car salesman (eventually owns his own dealership, Brothers Saturn), marries Dee (Sheryl Lee Ralph). The latter is Moesha’s high school vice principal, to Moesha’s chagrin.
Storyline of Moesha revolves around the Mitchell household. The adolescent hangout, The Den, and, in some situations, also includes Crenshaw High School. Moesha, Kim Niecy (Shar Jackson), and Hakeem’s (Lamont Bentley) high school are among the show’s locales.
Films in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park. Teen pregnancy, drug usage, race relations, and other day-to-day challenges youngsters encounter addresses in the show.
Frank is the biological father of Dorian (Ray J), whom the Mitchells and Dorian himself believeas to be Frank’s nephew, according to Aunt Hattie. The news of Frank’s infidelity during his previous marriage throws the family into chaos. This is causing Dorian to rebel and Moesha to flee her home.
The plot revolves around her parents forcing her to attend a different school to keep Moesha and her lover apart. It reveals that the choice is strategically by UPN officials. The network pushes the show’s makers to think of new methods to make the show more enticing to viewers.
Will There be Moesha Season 7?
Moesha becomes one of UPN’s most significant hits. But, by the sixth season, the show’s ratings plummets. The UPN decides not to renew or run it for the seventh season. After last episode of season 6, Moesha abruptly discontinues.
Despite everything Moesha contributes to television, the show is ultimately stops. Bad enough to have one cliffhanger, but Moesha has two, the first of which discovers the result of a pregnancy test in her dorm. It might be hers and Hakeem (Lamont Bentley), but it could also be Niecy’s (Shar Jackson) or their roommate Alicia (Alexis Fields). Any positive test might push the show on a very different route. Years later, they reveal that The Parkers’ plot is meant to resolve, but that obviously never happens.
While a pregnancy rocks the show, the second cliffhanger is a little more chaotic in a wacky comedic way. When Dorian’s business agreement falls through, Moesha’s younger brother, Myles, goes missing. Many imagines he is safe at home by the start of the seventh season because Moesha isn’t a really dark program. What if Moesha decides to go there?
Despite not officially finishing the show with a series finale the season prior, Moesha unpicks up for a seventh season. According to Variety in 2001, Brandy quit the program following a physical and emotional collapse. That includes passing out on set and a three-day stay in the hospital due to extreme dehydration and tiredness. The singer-actress is not eating well, and has trouble juggling the show with her busy traveling schedule. Brandy is also dealing with personal crises and is in a horrible relationship at the time. During an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she later speaks about the incident.
Moesha Reboot Series
While Moesha season 7 is never as bad as Netflix terminating the show before season 7, it is still a letdown. The show ends on a massive cliffhanger, leaving many mysteries, including who is pregnant in the season 6 finale.
Meanwhile, the expectant mother is due for announcement on the Moesha spinoff “The Parkers.” Sadly, that does not happen, according to the source. Fans have never found out who the expectant mother is to this day.
According to speculations, a new Moesha reboot series is in the works. The mystery surrounding Moesha’s brother Myles Mitchell, who vanishes in the finale, can finally be out. Questions that had been unanswered for years can now find answers.
Brandy Norwood, who plays Moesha, gave an update on the revival, “My fingers are crossed. I’m definitely open to it, and I’ve been in a lot of talks about it,” she said in an Instagram Live interview with Milwaukee Radio Station V100.7.
“We want to make sure we celebrate the legacy of Moesha and really do it the right way.” Do it justice because you know when you revisit something like that, you have to do it the right way.”
She does not reveal any details about the revamp. Still, she says she wants to incorporate and memorialize Bentley, who dies in a motorway accident in 2005.
“He was such a great person and just kept us laughing all the time,” she said. “I miss him so much, I hope we get to honor him if this whole Moesha reboot happens, I really want to honor him and his legacy.”
References
- Marissa Charles, Abbott Elementary’s Sheryl Lee Ralph Says She Was Fired From a TV Pilot for Not Being ‘Black Enough’, retrieved from https://people.com/tv/abbott-elementary-sheryl-lee-ralph-says-she-was-fired-from-tv-pilot-for-not-being-black-enough/
- Michael Schneider, UPN deals for ‘Roswell,’ benches vet ‘Moesha’, retrieved from https://variety.com/2001/tv/features/upn-deals-for-roswell-benches-vet-moesha-1117799599/
- YouTube Video, Own, retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q45gYjibB0w
Milwaukee Radio Station https://v100.iheart.com/