In 1989, Keenen Ivory Wayans set about making a pilot for something the likes of which had never been seen prior on US television. It wasn't just going to be a show performed by black people for black people but was to be a multi-ethnic series. He recruited two white actors who were fairly unknown at the time—Jim Carrey and Kelly Coffield. In addition, the show introduced more upcoming talent, in the form of Tommy Davidson, Kim Coles, David Alan Grier, T'keyah "Crystal" Keymah and finally his siblings Kim Wayans and Damon Wayans.