TV Shows

‘Moesha’ vs. ‘Sister, Sister’ Debate Rages Online as UPN Series Leaves Netflix

Three years after Netflix added Moesha and Sister, Sister to its streaming service, both series are set to be removed on August 1. The shows were added at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine in 2020m arriving to much fanfare and social media praise and nostalgia. The move to add the shows came after Netflix’s Strong Black Lead launched in 2018 with classic content arriving to the streamer. Cult classics like the Friday trilogy, Love and Basketball, and Love Jones made the list. With the success of the films, Black-led sitcoms that ran on broadcast TV โ€” mostly The WB and UPN โ€” in the late 1990s and early 2000s โ€“ were added.

“Every time we would post about a new show or anything else that we were talking about in the zeitgeist, we would get people asking about ‘Girlfriends,’ wanting to watch ‘Sister, Sister,’ wanting to watch ‘Moesha,’” Jasmyn Lawson said at the time, who is the former manager of Strong Black Lead, and oversaw its editorial output.ย 

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Moesha aired on UPN, while Sister,Sister aired on The WB. Both ran for six seasons and chronicled the life of the main characters from high school through their sophomore year of college. While both shows were successful and have multi-generations of fans, the news that the shows are being removed from Netflix sparked a debate on which show was better, or at least had better high school vs. college years. Regardless, it’s a good thing both shows are available to watch on other platforms.ย 

One Tweet Caused it All

It started with one tweet when one social media user debated the show’s college years, noting Sister,Sister had better content while Moesha was toxic. The floodgates opened.

One show still takes the cake

One Twitter user says the college years didn’t make or break either one of the shows. Instead, they say they preferred Sister,Sister from the start.

One was too perfect

One Twitter user says Moeshaย was more true to life, regardless of its chaotic tones at times. For some, Sister,Sister was too cookie cutter clean.

It went downhill

The college years of Moesha was for sure a rollercoaster. There were roommate issues, friends kissing other friends’ boyfriends, broken engagements, and a pregnancy scare that resulted in a cliffhanger that was never resolved.

Both have their highs and lows

While many fans enjoyed the growth of the twins and deeper storylines during the college years on Sister, Sister, no one can deny the brilliant storylines of Moesha’s high school days. The show was No. 1 for many years during its earlier seasons.

Fast forward it all

Some fans say they only watch the first four seasons of Moesha and the last two seasons of Sister,Sister. The shows fans overlap, but clearly have different reasons why.