Fox have all appeared as themselves over the course of the show. Halle Berry, Serena Williams, Chris Rock, Ashton Kutcher, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, Angela Bassett, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Lucy Lawless, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Matt Damon, Wesley Snipes, Jon Garland, Sugar Ray Leonard, India Arie, Snoop Dogg, Shaquille O'Neal, Hugh Hefner and Vivica A. Mac's character's celebrity worked as a plot device allowing other celebrities to appear on the show as themselves. The lighting of the shots typically appears to be yellowish in color. As was also the case during his stand-up routine, Mac habitually addressed the audience as 'America' for humorous effect. Many of his most emotional scenes occurred in segments in which Mac, while still in character, broke the ' fourth wall' and talked to the television audience. A frequent motif of the show was the juxtaposition of Mac's acerbic comments, such as his threats to 'bust the (children's) heads 'til the white meat shows,' and the deep parental affection he felt towards the trio, which often brought him to the verge of tears during happy moments. Much of the humor in the show was derived from Mac's continual adjustment to and his unique take on parenthood.

The pilot episode, aired on November 14, 2001, set up the basic premise for the show: the character Bernie Mac takes in his sister's children after she enters rehab (a premise taken from one of Mac's routines in the 2000 film, ' The Original Kings of Comedy').

In real life, Bernie 'Mac' McCollough was married with one daughter Mac's character on the show (a stand-up comedian) was married with no kids of his own. The show was loosely based on Mac's stand-up comedy acts. The show aired for five seasons (2001-2006) on FOX. 'The Bernie Mac Show' is a half-hour American sitcom featuring the antics of late comedian Bernie Mac raising his sister's three kids. List_episodes = List of The Bernie Mac Show episodes

The bernie mac show episodes