I've been noticing a trend on some of my favorite black sitcoms. The mothers always seem to disappear for various reasons. This has happened on six of my favorite series (Family Matters, Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Good Times, In The House, Moesha, and That's So Raven).

On Family Matters, JoMarie Payton (Harriette Winslow) left because the show focused on Jaleel White's character, Steve Urkel, too much. The show had turned into "The Urkel Show," which caused JoMarie Payton to quit and be replaced by Judyann Elder, who wasn't nearly as strong and assertive as JoMarie, nor was she a great actress.

On The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Janet Hubert-Whitten was fired because of disputes with the producers and the star, Will Smith. She felt she was not being payed enough, and she was unhappy with the little attention her character got. This resulted in her being replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid, who was a great actress, but not nearly as good as the original.

On Good Times, Esther Rolle was not satisfied with the storyline of her character's husband dying, and the fact that her character's son was so ignorant. She quit the show at the end of the fourth season, but returned at the beginning of the sixth season to see her character's daughter get married.

Debbie Allen, who played Jackie Warren on In The House, stopped appearing on the show after the second season for unknown reasons.

Sheryl Lee Ralph didn't like the Dorian storyline on Moesha, so she was reduced to a recurring character in the sixth and last season.

Most recently, on That's So Raven, T'Keyah Crystal Keymah felt that her character wasn't being developed enough, causing her to depart from the series in its fourth season. Her character was explained as being in England studying law.

The point I'm trying to make is that this has happened on quite a few popular black sitcoms. The situation is usually the same - the actress playing the mother doesn't like the way the series is going, so she is either fired or quits. And in some cases, she is recast by someone who is less talented and acts nothing like the original actress. It seems the producers of these shows would be more open when it comes to the cast members' thoughts on how their show is being developed, but instead the producers ignore the actresses' ideas and fire them, or force them to quit. Oh well, I guess that's why it's called showbusiness.