Premiering in April 1994 as a midseason replacement on ABC, Sister, Sister had already acquired a loyal following by the time it moved to the WB Network in the fall of 1995. The show centered around twin girls (real-life siblings Tia and Tamera Mowry), separated at birth and adopted by different parents, who suddenly stumble upon one another after being apart for 14 years. Intelligent, studious Tia grew up under the watchful eye of her fashion-designer mom Lisa Landry (Jackée Harry), while fun-loving, boy-crazy Tamera lived in a Detroit suburb with her widowed dad Ray Campbell (Tim Reid), owner of a successful limo service. Tamera persuades Ray to let the Landrys move in with them, and before long the girls are being pestered by annoying neighbor Roger Evans (Marques Houston), who instantly developed a crush on both. Although the show lasted for six seasons, the comedic value derived from the twins' vastly differing traits and personalities was quickly exhausted, and even though the characters played by Reid and Harry occasionally moved to the forefront (pretending to be married for the sake of Lisa's visiting mother, a judgmental harridan, in “Mothers and Other Strangers”), the show's writers must have found daunting the challenge of devising functional plots for the modestly talented Mowrys. Aside from the novelty of seeing future star Brittany Murphy in a recurring role as a friend of Tia and Tamera, there's not much to recommend here in the 12 episodes from the 1994-95 first season, especially since today's ‘tweens are unlikely to be all that interested in a decade-plus old TV series. Very optional. (E. Hulse)
Sister, Sister: The First Season
Paramount, 2 discs, 277 min., not rated, DVD: $36.98 February 2, 2009
Sister, Sister: The First Season
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