Sparks (TV series)

Sparks is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26, 1996, to March 2, 1998. The series stars James Avery, Robin Givens, Terrence Howard, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Kym Whitley and Arif S. Kinchen. The sitcom is set in Los Angeles, California, and is about the everyday lives of a family of lawyers running a family-owned law practice. Reruns of the show aired on BET in the late 1990s.

Content
The show stars James Avery as Alonzo Sparks, a lawyer running a family law firm with his sons Maxey (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) and Greg (Terrence Howard) in inner-city Los Angeles, California.

Main

 * James Avery as Alonzo Sparks
 * Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Maxey Sparks
 * Terrence Howard as Greg Sparks
 * Robin Givens as Wilma Cuthbert
 * Kym Whitley as Darice Mayberry
 * Arif S. Kinchen as LaMarr Hicks

Recurring

 * Wanda-Lee Evans as Judge
 * Phill Lewis as Detective Floyd Pitts
 * Hawthorne James as Claude
 * Rod McCary as Attorney Mason
 * Michael Warren as Desmond

Special guest appearances

 * Vanessa Bell Calloway as Monique
 * Nell Carter as Barbara Rogers
 * Terry Ellis as Deidre
 * Pam Grier as Ms. Grayson
 * Billy Preston as Himself
 * Anna Maria Horsford as Wilma's Aunt
 * Kenya Moore as Ms. Collins
 * Ron O'Neal as Arthur Fairchild
 * Jason Kidd as Himself

Reception
Kevin D. Thompson of The Palm Beach Post gave the show a mostly-negative review, criticizing Avery's performances and the "normal cardboard cutout characters". Frederic M. Biddle of the Boston Globe also criticized the performances of the lead actors and thought that Núñez' and Howard's characters were "silently perpetuating stereotypes equating character with Caucasian features".