Martin fans can rejoice now.
The ever-popular Fox sitcom, which ran from 1992-1997, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year on BET+ with a reunion special, filming February 20. The Efian Crockett-hosted reunion, per Entertainment Weekly, will feature Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II. It's still unclear how the reunion plans to honor cast mate Thomas Michal Ford, who died in 2016.
Lawrence said, "To be able to sit here after thirty years with this amazing artist who has had such an impact on pop culture is truly a blessing." "I'm always humbled that fans still want more of the show and its characters. I look forward to the reunion special."
There's been talk of a reunion of sorts for a minute, as Arnold and Campbell previously appeared on the Tamron Hall show last April and revealed that the show won't be rebooting after Ford's death. Arnold stated that "a show can never be rebooted without the original cast," but that a reunion was "probably".
"[A reboot is] something we wanted to do," Arnold said. “It is something that we tried very hard for it to happen, but the way it looks to me, realistically, it is not going to happen. Not unless it is an animation.”
As People reports, Campbell sued Lawrence and the show's producers for "repeated sexual assault, sexual battery, verbal abuse and related threats" in 1997. The two later reconciled, with Campbell revealing in 2020 that "we're in a good place right now."
“Martin is one of the most beloved sitcoms in our community, both because it is extremely entertaining and because it has been instrumental in changing the narrative of Black voices in entertainment and culture through its portrayal of young, aspiring Black leads and healthy Blacks. relationship,” said Scott Mills, CEO of BET. “Decades later, that representation is still just as important, which is why we are so excited to honor a series that puts Black culture front and center on our platform. that embraces everyday black culture."
The special will be produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment and will arrive later this year.