Will Smith Created And Starred In A Family Sitcom You've Probably Never Heard Of

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A surprising part of the streaming era is how much old television is getting it done for modern viewers. Despite all the updates to technology and how we access shows and movies, viewership charts often look like the past. Yes, there are sitcom-style standouts that were big hits at the time of release like "The Office," "Friends," "Bob's Burgers," and "Seinfeld" still racking up numbers, but audiences that these companies never really focused on are finding things they love on streaming services where you would least expect it. UPN's programming is surprisingly resilient in an era of streaming television, as "Veronica Mars," "Girlfriends," and "The Parkers" have all found new audiences, but there are some deep cuts that are still out there for interested viewers. One of those forgotten sitcoms was "All of Us," produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and the beloved actor even makes a few guest-starring appearances on the comedy drama series.

"All of Us" hit TV screens in 2003 on UPN, for the younger readers in the audience, that network was itself a subsidiary of Paramount Television and United Television, which came under the Viacom umbrella in 2000. UPN focused on programming for a wide audience, including Black audiences, as a rarity for the time. As UPN continued to try and find its footing in the early 2000s, with mergers and corporate entanglements aplenty, a series pitch from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith was always going to get an honest look. "All of Us" focused on a blended family unit, the trials and tribulations that stem from that kind of coupling.

Duane Martin stars as Robert James Sr. in "All of Us" alongside Elise Neal, Khamani Griffin, and LisaRaye McCoy. Robert is a television reporter who shares custody of his young son, played by Griffin, between his ex-wife Neesee and fiancée Tia Jewel (brought to life by McCoy and Neal, respectively). There's a sort of uneasy friendship between Robert and Neesee for a lot of the series, but since this is a television sitcom from the 2000s that deals with marital strife, that means Robert is cast as a peacekeeper between his old flame and his wife-to-be. It's standard drama TV to hit familiar beats and deliver a message at the end, which is all you can really ask from a TV show sometimes; they're not trying to reinvent the wheel here.

Will Smith has had his hand in a bunch of TV series over the years, as his star really rose with "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," itself a syndication juggernaut to this day and a major draw on streaming to boot. But he's in a producer role for "All of Us." Fans of his previous work got the sheer delight of Smith turning up as a guest star on multiple occasions, causing some trouble for Robert as he plays Johnny, a potential suitor for Neesee in season 1. (In full transparency, I'm so very sorry to Duane Martin, but you're not winning that head-to-head competition with Will freaking Smith in 2003, who are we kidding here?)

In fact, like a lot of the Black-er UPN shows tend to do, the list of guest stars here is something to marvel at in our current age. Can you imagine trying to get the Beyoncé to guest star on a network sitcom in 2025? Well, it happened back in the early aughts as she frustrates Robert by turning the tables on him during an interview, and Mrs. Knowles isn't alone in stopping through "All of Us" as fellow UPN star Tyra Banks, James Avery, Serena Williams, Paula Abdul, and more randomly come through throughout the four season run.

This feels like something from another universe compared to what we get from sitcoms in the current era. With social media, no one needs to make an appearance on a broadcast TV show to get their face out there before a major project, because they can just go directly to their fans through cell phones. Honestly, it's the same kind of thrill as watching an old "Arsenio Hall Show" or "TRL" clip on social media, because you would see stars big and small make the pilgrimage to hawk whatever they were putting out that month, and that presented some hysterical moments that are nigh-impossible to replicate in our current climate. That's some of the appeal of older sitcoms as streaming allows a younger generation to see what it was like, and find moments that can live on far beyond what we might expect.

There was every manner of corporate wrestling going on back in the heyday of UPN. Warner Bros. eventually launched a competitor network called The WB back then, which later merged with UPN to give us The CW that we now enjoy. Interestingly, The CW decided to cancel a lot of the longtime dramas and comedies that were airing on UPN and WB in favor of programming they felt reflected their audience a bit more, so "All of Us" got the boot, which Black fans lamented at the time. The number of shows outside of BET and TV One that courted a non-majority white audience wouldn't really rebound until the streaming era began in earnest, for better and for worse. But that investment in stories that might have been targeted to one audience but felt universal showed that there was a way forward for UPN despite strong headwinds. (It turns out a channel that just plays Star Trek reruns 24/7 was about a decade and a half too early.)

People who stumble upon these UPN gems like "Girlfriends," "The Parkers," and "All of Us" might delight in getting to see these characters grow over an extended period of time, as the latter show ran longer than most new programs get the chance to now. It's a surprising place to end up after so many years, but consumer tastes will likely always lead back to stories that offer something slightly unique, over more than two seasons, people are interesting like that. For now, fans wanting to explore "All of Us" for themselves can buy the show now on Prime Video or opt to purchase it on an online retailer. It might tickle your fancy, or not, but shows like this are getting the jobs done for millions of viewers, once they discover them for themselves.