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Tyler James Williams celebrates Everybody Hates Chris ' 15th anniversary, talks reboot chances

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Tyler James Williams is celebrating 15 years of Everybody Hates Chris, the sitcom that boosted his career and became a beloved classic.

"15 years ago this little show premiered on a network that no longer exists. It kickstarted my and several other careers of very talented people. I’m forever grateful for that," the actor tweeted on Tuesday, along with a picture of the main cast.

Created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi, Everybody Hates Chris premiered Sept. 22, 2005, on the now-defunct network UPN. The series, which ran for four seasons, starred Williams as a fictionalized version of Rock's teenage self. Since it ended, the show has enjoyed newfound popularity thanks to reruns and streaming.

Everybody Hates Chris also featured Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold as Chris' parents, Tequan Richmond and Imani Hakim as his siblings, and Vincent Martella as Chris' best friend.

In the lengthy Twitter thread, Williams revealed factoids about the making of the show and answered common fan questions. He discussed how child labor laws made the actors "more efficient than usual" when filming and reflected on how the series was fundamental in shaping the CW's early days.

He also said that the show was the very first audition for Hakim, who played Chris' snarky little sister Tonya.

"Everybody Hates Chris was Imani Hakim’ first audition," Williams wrote. "Very rarely does this happen first time out the gate. It speaks to how great and naturally built for this she is. She’s currently on Mythic Quest on Apple+ with some other very talented people. You should check it out."

And while Rock is understandably associated with the comedy, Williams said credit should also go to co-creator LeRoi.

"Chris Rock receives a lot of credit for this show, as he should," he continued. "But the man on the ground, everyday, running this show and making it the legendary show that it was, was @mrleroi. He is the answer to why this show worked. He’s a legend who deserves all of his flowers."

The 27-year-old performer also addressed the common question for all classic sitcoms — will there be a reboot?

"Its been a convo before but the interesting hiccup & blessing is that everyone in this photo is very busy," he responded. "All work regularly, in a variety of different mediums, genres, networks ect. We’ll keep trying but I’m proud of our scheduling issue."

The core cast has all been steadily working since the show ended. Williams starred in ABC's Whiskey Cavalier last year and is set to appear in Lee Daniels' The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Crews is a prominent figure on the small screen, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine and America's Got Talent keeping him busy. Arnold currently stars on CBS' The Neighborhood, Richardson is featured in BET's Boomerang, Hakim appears in Apple TV+'s Mythic Quest, and Martella is a prolific voice actor known for voicing Phineas in Phineas and Ferb.

Williams wrapped up his thread by disclosing what happens to Chris after the show ended. The actor revealed that his perpetually unlucky character passes his GED and drops out of high school (which was hinted at in the 2009 finale).

"This starts the journey to comedy. The finale was a shot for shot parody of the Sopranos finale which also aired that year," Williams wrote.

Read the full thread here.

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