Episode
Living Single: Riot on the Set
Overview
Synclaire lucks into a starring role in a play when the star drops out a day before the opening. (Synclaire had memorized all the lines while serving as an usher as a teenager.) However, the director offers the opinion that Synclaire stinks, and is certain that the play will end both of their careers. A jittery Synclaire flubs her lines and strikes one of the other actors in the face with a door. When the audience responds favorably, Synclaire begins ad-libbing and turns the play into a comedy. It proves to be a huge hit and is held over. Thanks to a camera in a hat invented by Overton, the play had been recorded and Synclaire's lines can be written down. An IRS agent who is auditing Kyle agrees to go easy on him if he can teach him how to pick up women. However, the man ends up getting more than he bargained for…namely Max. Tag: Kyle guesses the identity of Albert's unwanted blind date.
Details
- Series
- Living Single
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 1996-12-05
- Runtime
- 30 min
Episode context
Riot on the Set is Episode 11 in Season 4 of Living Single. It aired on 1996-12-05. The runtime is 30 min.
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Episode 10: Virgin Territory
Max is stunned to learn that her boyfriend, Gary, is a virgin. She has serious doubts as to whether she should deflower him, but eventually goes through with it. She is saddened when Gary heeds her advice and decides not to crowd her, but maintains her bravado in front of her friends. Kyle sees through her act and realizes that she is hurt, and she confesses that she can no longer simply chew men up and spit them out. Kyle takes her to dinner to talk things over. Khadijah, following Regine's suggestion, ""borrows"" some ski clothing for a weekend with Charles. Her plan goes awry when the store burns down before she can get a refund.
Music: ""Teach Me Tonight"" by Al Jarreau
Episode 12: Doctor in the House
Charles is the recipient of an award, but is reluctant to attend the ceremony, as he considers everyone in that social circle to be snobs. After the guests treat Khadijah rudely, Charles tells them what they can do with their award. Khadijah fears for Charles's career and asks his kindly boss to smooth things over. Charles is angry with Khadijah for speaking for him, and they realize that they are both incredibly stubborn. Regine goes to the party as Russell's date and uses his connections to make friends with some of the guests. When the women stick Regine with a huge bill at the Russian Tea Room, Russell has to save her. Max spends all her Christmas money on a massage chair for herself, which she has delivered to the girls' apartment, but won't let anyone else use. Kyle, Overton and Synclaire plot revenge, but are hopelessly overmatched.
Tag: Max regains control of the chair.
Music: Variation of ""Deck the Halls,"" sung by Erika Alexander
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: Do You Take This Man's Wallet?
After learning that Palo Alto has been cancelled, Regine is cheered by a visit from a now-wealthy Darryl, who asks her to coordinate his wedding. Although his fiancée, Tina, all but admits that she is only after Darryl's money, Regine doesn't take any action. However, she realizes she must tell Darryl the truth after Synclaire catches Tina making out with the best man. Darryl believes that Regine is jealous, but soon re-considers and calls off the wedding. Tina blames Regine, and the two nearly come to blows in the church. Overton and his friend Ray decide to invent a wallet alarm system, which Kyle feels could be a big money-maker.
Music: ""Shout"" (Isley Brothers), sung by Queen Latifah and Erika Alexander
Episode 13: Mother Inferior
When her friends will not include her in their Saturday night plans, Regine takes her mother out to dinner. Laverne hits it off with the handsome man who picks up her napkin, who turns out to be millionaire Harrison Cushmore. Regine grows tired of seeing her mother in the society pages, and predicts that she will quickly be dumped. She turns out to be right, and is reluctant to console her mother until Khadijah points out how selfish her behavior is. As it turns out, Laverne is fine; she tells Regine that losing a man is no reason to get upset! After his van breaks down, Overton buys a Lincoln town car at a police auction; but Synclaire orders him to get rid of it when Max tells them that the car killed a mobster. The dead man's nephew agrees to take the Lincoln off Overton's hands--if he and Kyle will help him bury his uncle in the car.
Tag: Kyle, Overton and Crazy Joey get an unwelcome surprise at the burial.
Episode 8: School's Out Forever
Kyle and Overton return to Cleveland for a reunion at their high school, which is about to be demolished due to asbestos. Kyle has a run-in with Lester Tate, the bully who tormented him throughout his youth, and finally stands up to the man. He points out that many of Lester's victims are successful, while he is a loser. When Lester reveals that he is homeless, everyone turns against Kyle. Kyle tries to apologize to Lester, but catches him stealing shoes from kids' lockers. Lester taunts and threatens Kyle, who tells him his attitude is the cause of his problems. Kyle locks Lester in a janitor's closet and calls the police. After Synclaire is mistaken for class cut-up Helen Robinson, she impersonates the woman and keeps her admirers entertained. The real Helen finally approaches and thanks Synclaire for letting her have a night of peace and quiet. Max publicly insults the garbage workers' union. The men begin dumping trash outside her apartment until Khadijah and Regine force her to ap
Episode 14: The Clown That Roared
Synclaire lands a job as a clown sidekick on a popular television show, thanks to Kyle's business ties to the producer. She is appalled to discover that her new boss is a 12-year-old tyrant, and tries to teach him some respect. This leads to an embarrassing on-air tirade against the boy. In the meantime, Overton continues to battle his clown phobia, with limited success. Khadijah accuses Regine of stealing her grandma's recipe for raisin cookies to win a baking contest, and each shares her slightly biased version of the events with Overton. They later discover that Max's sloppiness is to blame for the misunderstanding, but refuse to apologize to each other.
Episode 7: I've Got You Under My Skin
On her way out of the hospital following hemorrhoid surgery, Khadijah makes a date with a doctor named Charles. When she learns that he was her anesthesiologist, she becomes embarrassed and is unable to show any physical affection toward him. After he makes a fool of himself in the batting cage at the hospital's charity carnival, Khadijah's mind is eased and she kisses him. Regine begins moonlighting as a wedding coordinator. Her first clients are a spooky couple with bizarre supernatural powers, such as the ability to call Regine over a disconnected telephone. They wish to hold their ceremony in a cemetery, and are thrilled by Regine's suggestion of throwing the bouquet into an open grave.
Tag: Regine receives unwanted ""gift"" from Edwin and Damiana.
Episode 15: Back in the Day
As Khadijah prepares to accept an award for her work at Flavor, the group recalls a time when Flavor was just a dream; Max lived with Khadijah and Regine (until she and Regine tried to kill each other); and Regine dated Kyle and his Afro. They later reminisce about Synclaire's arrival from Minnesota (along with Crispus Attucks, her seven-foot high troll doll); and her first meeting with Overton, who immediately told Kyle that he had just met the mother of his children. Synclaire is shocked to learn that she was on the verge of being thrown out--until she hit Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the car and landed Flavor's first cover story. Despite mishaps with the cheap limo service hired by Synclaire and a broken subway car, they are able to make the ceremony, where Khadijah accepts her award and thanks her friends for their support. Meanwhile, Max admits that she has gone so long without a date that Kyle is starting to seem desirable. ""Maybe you're just starting to see straight,"" he replies.
Mu
Episode 6: Multiple Choice
Overton and Synclaire must take a compatibility test before they can be married at their church. Synclaire constantly nags Overton about studying, while he feels they have nothing to worry about. They get into an argument just before taking the test, and purposely fail by writing the most inflammatory responses possible. Rev. Taylor finally agrees to let them re-take the test, but only after his wife threatens to make him sleep in the bathtub. Max tries to prove that she can have any man she wants by throwing herself at a young waiter. He continually turns her down, but relents after she takes the stage and gives an embarrassing rendition of ""All by Myself."" When he asks her out, Max says, ""I don't date desperate men.""
Music: ""All by Myself"" (Eric Carmen), performed by Erika Alexander
Episode 16: Oh, Solo Mio
Kyle is appointed the church's new choir director. He gives in to Regine's pleading and awards her the solo in the performance honoring the church's 50th anniversary. When he discovers that she can't sing a note, Kyle decides to save Regine from public humiliation and give the solo to the talented Latrice. After a distraught Regine throws a fit and continually disrupts rehearsal, Latrice returns the solo. Overton and Synclaire force Regine to face the truth about her singing, and she rehearses all night in the hopes of improving. She comes down with laryngitis, Kyle and Latrice take over her part, and the performance goes off without a hitch. Meanwhile, Khadijah is wary of the reactions of her fellow parishioners when she attends church for the first time in two years.
Music: ""There Is No Failure,"" performed by T.C. Carson and CeCe Winans with choir
Episode 5: Moi the Jury
Regine is the only juror holding up the potential acquittal of Sara McQueen, a beloved elderly movie star accused of arson. When her friends talk about the case and joke about the juror being an idiot, Regine cannot help but defend herself. Max (as an officer of the court) forces her to tell the judge that she discussed the case, and he throws Regine off the jury and finds her in contempt of court. She is sentenced to 50 hours of community service at a monastery, but gets booted for hitting on one of the monks. Regine begins to wonder if she has some deep insecurity that causes her to chatter constantly. Just then, Max arrives at the apartment and announces that Sara McQueen was caught torching a 7-11. The vindicated Regine decides that her big mouth is a gift. Synclaire worries when Harold, one of her regular callers to a hotline for unemployed actors, stops calling. After she tracks him down to see if he is all right, he is so touched by her concern that it lifts his spirits. One of
Episode 17: Playing House
Kyle and Max lie about out-of-town trips and sneak off to a hotel for the weekend. They insist, however, that they are not getting back together. Although their claim that there will be no romance involved in the weekend is obviously a crock, Kyle and Max eventually get into one too many arguments and head their separate ways--but not before setting up another rendezvous. After realizing that Max's and Kyle's alibis are shaky, Regine becomes determined to prove that they are together. It is Khadijah who is able to track them down and warn Max. She suggests that Max actually cares about Kyle, but her friend won't admit to this. Meanwhile, Overton and Synclaire take advantage of Kyle's absence to set up housekeeping in the apartment. They briefly worry that their constant fighting might be a sign that they aren't ready to get married, but conclude that disagreements occur in all relationships.
Tag: Detective Regine cannot quite crack the case.
Music: ""Reasons"" by Earth, Wind & Fire