Harlem, a new comedy series from Girl’s Trip creator Tracy Oliver, is set to premiere December 3 on Prime Video. The 10 episodes follow four 30-something, female best friends in Harlem, New York City. A lesbian “tech entrepreneur [who is] always dating someone new” is one of the main characters, along with a “rising star professor struggling to make space for her love life,” a “no-filter singer,” and a “hopeless romantic fashion designer,” according to a Prime media release.
The series boasts some well-known actors, that’s for sure! There’s Meagan Good as “Camille,” Grace Byers as “Quinn,” Shoniqua Shandai as “Angie,” Jerrie Johnson as “Tye,” and Tyler LePley as “Ian.” Additional recurring guest stars include Jasmine Guy as “Patricia,” Whoopi Goldberg as “Dr. Elise Pruitt,” Andrea Martin as “Robin,” Robert Ri’chard as “Shawn,” Juani Feliz as “Isabela,” Kate Rockwell as “Ana,” and Sullivan Jones as “Jameson.”
Representing what’s real
Tracy Oliver wrote what didn’t exist but she wanted to see. In fact, Tracy thought up Harlem long before Girl’s Trip. She noticed there “weren’t a lot of Black female friendship stories on the air,” she told EW. “I’ve loved Girlfriends, and Sex and the City, and even Living Single,” she continued. “Usually what I do when there’s something missing that I really want to see is I just decide, okay, well I’ll just write it. So I did.”
Tracy also wanted to write something that better reflected the lives of women in their 30s. Many comedies that focus on female friendships, such as Broad City, or co-ed comedies, like Friends, focus on the 20-somethings. By the time we’re 30, we’re in the kitchen on a family comedy like Everybody Loves Raymond.
In 2021, many women aren’t settling down until much later in life, some might not at all. “Settling down” looks different today, too: it doesn’t necessarily mean being tied to a kitchen sink. Harlem exhibits how women are much more likely to have non-traditional relationships or living arrangements today. One of the four best friends being lesbian also represents those of us who aren’t straight.
Why do the 20-somethings get all the fun? “A lot of shows that are faced with women in their twenties show your twenties as the time that you’re young and you’re crazy and you’re figuring it out. But then, by the time you reach your thirties, you should just have it all mapped out.” Tracy explained. “I was like, ‘But I’m in my thirties and I don’t have everything together.’ And I have so many friends that are still figuring themselves out too, or even starting over… And so I was kind of like, ‘Well, let’s be truthful about how the thirties doesn’t necessarily mean that you have it all together.'”
The expectation that 30-somethings should have everything figured out is convenient for a society who profits upon us feeling inadequate and, consequently, making up for what we “lack” by working harder. Harlem advocates for the fact there is no “one way” to be 30-something.
Tye the lesbian tech entrepreneur
Let’s get to the main reason we’ll be watching: the lesbian. Tracy was adament a lesbian or bisexual actor should play Tye, the lesbian tech entrepreneur. Once Jerrie Johnson entered the room, as one of the first to audition, Tracy “thought she was so tall and beautiful, and perfect for it, and so fun.”
Oliver recalls, “my co-showrunner Scott King, we laughed about the fact that she came in kind of like how Tye would, and she just commanded the room.”
What do we know about Tye’s personality so far? We know she’s a bit Shane, a bit Papi: she’s a bit of a longterm-commitmentphobe. She always has a new girlfriend. She has an alluring, commanding confidence that’s typical of all f*ckbois, lesbian or not. She’s also super hot.
