‘One on One’ Star Says She Was Fired in Favor of White Actors Joining as Main Cast Members
There was a time when UPN dominated the television market. The network targeted primarily African American viewers and drew large ratings with shows like Moesha, Girlfriends, Eve, and One on One. The latter chronicled the growing pains of a teenage girl who moves to Baltimore to live with her television anchor father. Her adventures with her group of friends are also a major part of the show. Starring Kyla Pratt and Flex Alexander as the show’s leads, One on One underwent major storyline and cast changes in season 5, including losing a fan favorite. The star recently revealed she was fired in favor of white cast members.
Sicily Sewell starred as Kyla Pratt’s character’s best friend
One on One revolved around the relationship between Breanna (Pratt) and her father, Flex Washington (Alexander). When her mother gets a job in Nova Scotia, Breanna moves in with her once-absent father.
A former professional athlete turned sportscaster, Flex quickly has to learn to adjust his bachelor lifestyle to be a better father full-time.
Sicily Sewell starred as Cloteal “Spirit” Freedom Jones, Breanna’s best friend. Spirit is an outsider, known for her unique fashion sense, individuality, and almost always staying single.
Sewell was fired after season 4 amid cast and storyline changes, which she says network executives did to hire white actors
Season 4 followed the friends’ final year in high school, with the fifth season focusing on them attending college. But Sewell learned she wouldn’t be brought back. Citing a decision by the network to move in a different direction, she was let go from the show. The change came at a time when she was only nine episodes away from syndication.
Sewell elaborated on the network’s decision in an interview with Comedy Hype. “I got fired. I think that what was happening, that was the season of television where we showed up [Black people.] Like with anything, it goes in cycles. People are in cycles in the industry. In the direction that they were trying to go, this was also the time where UPN was no longer UPN and it was merging with the CW,” she explained.
She continued, “How do we marry these audiences? And I think that was their best effort at holding on to what Black people needed, but also understanding that white people are over here watching TV, and Dawson’s Creek and all of these other things. So let’s make a shift that could speak to everyone.” As a result, white cast members were added to the show as main characters. Sewell didn’t believe the network’s decision was the best.
‘One on One’ was canceled after its fifth season
Audiences didn’t respond well to the changes. Three months before the official merger between UPN and The WB to ultimately become The CW, the show was canceled. A spinoff series, Cuts, aired for two seasons before getting canceled following the network merger.
