Watch the Pilot for Kirk Franklin’s 1998 ABC Sitcom That Never Aired

Ron Galella Archive - File Photos 2009 — Source: Ron Galella, Ltd. / Getty

Long before Kirk Franklin became one of the most recognizable figures in contemporary gospel music, he nearly added sitcom star to his résumé. In 1998, Franklin starred in an ABC pilot titled “The Kirk Franklin Show,” playing a fictionalized version of himself. The comedy followed an artist who returns to his hometown and begins working with a church youth choir while dealing with financial problems and setbacks in his own career.

The project came at a time when Franklin’s crossover popularity was exploding. His 1997 album “God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation” reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, while “Stomp” helped introduce his energetic blend of gospel, R&B and Hip-Hop to an even larger mainstream audience. The sitcom also featured an impressive cast that included Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Brian Hooks, while composer Kurt Farquhar, known for his work on shows including “Moesha” and “Sister, Sister,” provided music for the pilot.

Despite Franklin’s growing popularity, “The Kirk Franklin Show” never made it beyond the pilot. ABC ultimately chose not to order the sitcom to series, and there does not appear to be a publicly documented explanation from the network or Franklin detailing exactly why it was passed over. That distinction is important: the show wasn’t canceled after airing but was instead one of the many television pilots produced for network consideration that never received a full-season order.

For more than two decades, the project remained a largely forgotten piece of Franklin’s career before the unaired pilot resurfaced online and generated new interest. Looking back, the concept provides a fascinating snapshot of both Franklin’s rapid rise and the era of Black television surrounding it, imagining a version of his career where the gospel superstar could have become the centerpiece of a network sitcom. Today, “The Kirk Franklin Show” survives as an intriguing piece of late-1990s television history and a reminder of just how different Franklin’s entertainment career might have been.

Check out the pilot below.

Watch the Pilot for Kirk Franklin’s 1998 ABC Sitcom That Never Aired was originally published on theboxhouston.com