Martin (TV series)

Martin Lawrence played the role of Martin Payne, originally a disc jockey who lived with his girlfriend Gina Waters (Tisha Campbell) in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Martin worked for the fictional radio station WZUP; in later seasons, he became the host of the talk show Word on the Street.^[2]

In November 1996, Campbell left the series during its final season, citing "intolerable" working conditions. She filed a lawsuit against Lawrence and the show's producers in January 1997 for sexual harassment and verbal and physical assaults.^[6] The series explanation was that Gina was "out on business", though in the two-part episode "Going Overboard" it was stated that Gina had arrived too late to board the boat for the trip alongside everyone else.^[7] By April 1997, Campbell had settled the lawsuit and returned for the last two episodes of the series under the condition that she would not share any scenes or interact with Lawrence.^[8] Campbell and Lawrence have since reconciled, and repaired their relationship.^[9]

Martin went into second run syndication on August 8, 1995, through Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution; it airs multiple times a week on the networks of Paramount Global, including MTV2, VH1 and BET, with Netflix also carrying the full run of the series.

Besides being purchasable on most digital video retailers, HBO Home Video released all five seasons of Martin on DVD in Region 1.

In 2022, cast members Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold, and Carl Anthony Payne II and other guests reunited. Notably missing from the reunion was Thomas Mikal Ford, whom died, but Martin: The Reunion paid tribute to him. The 90-minute special was released on June 16, 2022, on BET+ and directed by Stan Lathan.^[10]