City Guys is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on NBC from September 6, 1997, to December 15, 2001.[1] The series aired as part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC.
City Guys centered on two teenagers from different backgrounds who both attended Manhattan High School that became best friends. Jamal Grant came from a working-class family and Chris Anderson from a wealthy family. The boys and their friends dealt with the typical teen issues, such as cheating on tests, peer pressure, racism, and dealing with school violence.
In September 1997, NBC announced City Guys would be a new series on the networks Saturday morning TNBC lineup.[2] The series was described by John Miller, then NBC’s executive VP of advertising, promotion and event programming, as having a more "urban feel" in comparison to other TNBC sitcoms air of " middle America with California hipness".[2] Like other TNBC shows, City Guys was given substantial review from an educational consultant to ensure there was educational or informative value per the FCC qualifiers.[2]
City Guys ran in syndication on local television stations throughout the United States from September 10, 2001 to September 13, 2002, Tribune Entertainment, which distributed the series (its corporate sister at the time, Tribune Broadcasting, incidentally, was the primary station group carrying the series), sold the series as a syndication package–alongside fellow TNBC sitcom California Dreams–for stations to count towards educational programming guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission. The series later briefly aired on BET for three weeks from October 2, 2010 to October 16, 2010.
As of 2022, City Guys–as well as fellow TNBC sitcom One World–were available for streaming on Tubi. As of June 2023, City Guys is no longer on Tubi, though One World still is.
As of March 2024, “City Guys” is available for streaming on YouTube.