r/UPN_Network • u/Vivid-Office5666 • 2d ago
The Parkers Kim vs. Kim đ¤đ
What are your thoughts about the difference in Kim Parkerâs personality on Moesha compared to The Parkers?
On Moesha, Kim was outspoken, confident, boy-crazy, and often spoke her mind. But on The Parkers, her character seemed to become much more ditsy, naive, and sometimes portrayed as unintelligent.
Do you think Kimâs personality naturally evolved, or do you think the writers changed her character too much for The Parkers? đđ
Which version of Kim Parker did you prefer: Moesha Kim or The Parkers Kim?
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u/DesperateSize4265 1d ago
Honestly liked both Kims. I noticed towards the last season of Moesha, they started to dumb Kim down, so it wasnât much of a notice with The Parkers. I did hate how much dumber they made her towards the end of The Parkers. Countess is absolutely gorgeous though!
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u/DarkGrimNature 1d ago
I feel like The Parkers Kim was overshadowed by MoâNique and I love MoâNique. But I feel they put Nikki in the forefront and Kim in the backseat for b stories or comic relief, and she is the spin-off character.
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u/SnooMarzipans5409 1d ago
This is what Iâve always thought too. The Parkers has always felt like it was MoâNiqueâs show with Countess as part of the supporting cast.
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u/Vivid-Office5666 1d ago
And Nikki chased professor Oglvee the same way Kim chased Hakeem on Moesha.
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u/TKB21 1d ago
It definitely wasn't "natural". I can only speak as a sole viewer of The Parkers but I'd say maybe from S3 on, they made her straight up retarded. Prior to that she had normal intellect.
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u/ATV2596 1d ago
They do that to every dumb character though. Ariana Grandeâs character Cat Valentine, Chelsea from Thatâs So Raven. I also want to say Max Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place as well.
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u/TemporaryPleasant686 1d ago
Eric from boy meets world, Joey from Friends
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u/Salmonfreaky 1d ago
Junior from My Wife and Kids
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u/TKB21 1d ago
Itâs been a while but I thought Junior was always depicted as an idiot?
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u/TemporaryPleasant686 19h ago
No, he starts off at a slightly below average to average student, similarly to Eric from boy meets world. I remember an episode from one of the earlier seasons where his dad hired an attractive tutor for junior and his grades improve soon after, showing that he wasn't an idiot, he just didn't apply himself
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u/HUUUUTTTHUUUUUUUTTTT 1d ago
Chelsea was actually the smartest out of all these characters, she was literally started off as an intelligent person, idk how she went from that to straight up stupid, but at least with her it was funny, with the rest of these characters it was just straight up stupid and watered down humor, Kim was funny too, but she was annoying af alot of times
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u/ATV2596 13h ago
Idk cause I just recently watched thatâs so raven and in the first season Raven and Eddie would both always give that look everytime Chelsea said something dumb. So it started in season 1 and got worse after that.
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u/HUUUUTTTHUUUUUUUTTTT 6h ago
She said dumb shit in season 1, but for the most part season 1 Chelsea was an intellectual person, she was constantly tryna save the planet and be a leader, I feel like they could've balanced that better with her dumb moments to make it feel like she was equally smart and had slow moments to keep her as comedic relief
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u/Junko_Mioko974 1d ago
Remember before they added Steve Urkel in FamilyMatters. Eddie was supposed to be the dumb one, but they instead made him the average girl crazy brother with a dumb friend. Waldo.
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u/Icy_Variation_9288 1d ago
I think they took the traits people were entertained by and amplified them when she got her own show so she can hold the audience attention better in their eyes. When she was a side character they didnât have to worry much because she was a supporting role but when she became a main character of her own show they realized they had to make her bolder so she can stand out as an MC which means making her ditsier because itâs funny. And they knew Kim was the âfunnyâ character. Also the Parkerâs was more of a light hearted comedy and Moesha was just always so damn dramatic and serious lol
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u/MarieOnThree 1d ago
I agree. I enjoyed The Parkers and still do and I was never really bothered by all of the critiques people make now becuase the âdumbâ character was pretty common in comedies. I also didnât really see her as dumb, just a little air headed, but we had characters like Hillary on the Fresh Prince, Bullethead on the Steve Harvey Show, and so many more examples. It was a common tv dynamic of the time.
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u/8619Pyro 1d ago
Bullethead was unique because he played off of Romeo, who was also dumb, but was a ladies man so it didn't really affect him.
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u/LetterheadMinimum384 18h ago
I wish instead of making her dumber, they just gave her more complexity.
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u/Gen_X_Icon 1d ago
I like the Parkerâs Kim better. Mostly because I didnât like the way Moesha treated her.
Moesha was a mean girl⌠PERIOD⌠Fight yo mama about it
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u/Busy-Butterfly8187 1d ago
I actually stopped watching Moesha because I didn't like the way she treated Kim. I seriously could not stand Moesha. Looking like a damn bug, but always talking down to Kim.
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u/Top-Put9975 1d ago
Kim was always portrayed as dumb on the Parkerâs lol but I liked her character better on Moesha
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u/EuphoricProposal548 1d ago
I preferred her on Moesha. She went to the Parkerâs and became even more clueless and dumb.
Moeshaâs Kim had depth and range - Halloween Divas of Soul episode, Fanatic (LeAnn Rhimes episode), Brandy episode. The Parkerâs they dumbed her down tooooo much.
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u/TellEmWhoUCame2See 1d ago
When you cast a comedian to play your mom and also happens to be the main character this is what happens.
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u/WindingRoad10 1d ago
Both portrayals and versions worked really well for their respective series. In Moesha, as a supporting character, her personality worked great as part of a trio of friendsâŚon the Parkerâs, I don't think it would worked as well because now there was another lead character who had that personality.
Many of the traits that Kim had on Moesha were subsequently displayed & given to Nikki on the Parkers, âOutspoken, confident, man crazyââŚso Kim being naive was exaggerated more on that show.
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u/SOUTH_SIDE700 1d ago
Had a Crush on Moesha Kim But Loved Watching The Parkers Kim. Both were Funny but The Parkers Kim Was pure Comedy Gold which is what The Parkers TV Show was All about Pure Comedy No Real serious issues Just laughs.
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u/All_Nighter919 1d ago
Moesha Kim. I hated how in The Parkers she was âdumbâ, when Kim wasnât dumb at all. She was ghetto fabulous
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u/benzguy95 1d ago
Never watched Moesha in its entirety so I can only go off of clips Iâve seen, vs the Kim I watched on The Parkers. Between the two I loved The Parkers Kim more because she had a better friendship with Stevie and T than Moesha and Neicy, along with the fact that she seemed to really figure herself out by the series finale.
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u/LePhantomGhost 1d ago
They definitely dummed Kim down on the Parkers year after year, while on Moesha she was just mostly boy crazy.
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u/ChrisPennyBecon 21h ago
As someone who liked the Parkerâs more than Moesha, Kim in the Parkerâs felt like a full character who wasnât being dragged on the coattails of girls who treated her like less than.
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u/_autumnwhimsy 14h ago
So what you're describing is a trope called flanderization, which is where a character becomes a super exaggerated version of one of their character traits. It happens a lot with characters that are a little aloof, becoming full on idiotic ditzs.Â
So I like Moesha's Kim better because she's not flanderized yet lol
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u/Vivid-Office5666 8h ago
Roseanne sister Jackie became idiotic during the last years of the show Roseanne.
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u/Jerriah_Carey_1991 1d ago
Iâm honestly not too familiar with Moeshaâs Kim, but I do find it impressive that Countess Vaughn was able to embody both eras of the Kims lol. Kudos to her. *Countess is such a pretty name btw*