Everybody here is equally kind, (In Living Color)
What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine, (In Living Color)
And how would you feel knowin' everybody was your friend
From thin to thick and through thick and thin
And even egotistical trips was put to an end (In Living Color)

-Heavy D, In Living Color theme song

"Sit down and be still," my mother would say as I jumped around the living room, Heavy D's lyrics flowing out of my mouth verbatim.

I remember watching In Living Color every Sunday, laughing feverishly at the Buttmans, a hardworking West Indian family named the Hedleys, Homey D. Clown, and Fire Marshal Bill. It was the early '90s, before James Carrey went by his nickname Jim, when David Alan Grier portrayed scandal-ridden Marion Barry, while T'Keyah Crystal Keymah lived in "Black World" where Jesse Jackson was king, and Kim Wayans wrote a "fast song" by way of Tracy Chapman.

That In Living Color made such an impact on a young girl who, at the time, probably didn't understand the punch line is a testimony to the show's influence on not only black television but on television, period. In Living Color set the stage for up-and-coming comedic talents such as Carrey, Grier, Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, and Kim Coles. Keenen Ivory Wayans, as the host and creator of the show, put his siblings--Damon, Kim, Shawn and Marlon--front and center, making the Wayans family a household name. When the Wayanses left, the show's comedic genius--and in turn its popularity--faded to black in 1994.

(With the 20th Anniversary of In Living Color coming up, check who The Root would like to see bring it back!)