The Hughleys

Main characters

• Darryl Hughley (D. L. Hughley): a thirty-five-year-old successful salesman and business owner. His wife is Yvonne, and they have two children, Sydney and Michael. He moved from his old black neighborhood into a white surburban neighborhood. He is the son of Henry and Hattie Mae Hughley. Upon the show's move from ABC to UPN, the character was featured in a crossover appearance on the UPN series The Parkers in the Season 2 episode "Who's Your Mama?". He is best friends with Milsap (his sales manager), and later Dave Rogers.
• Yvonne Williams-Hughley (Elise Neal): Darryl's wife, the mother of their two children, and best friend of Sally. She does not get along with Darryl's mother Hattie, who constantly criticizes everything she does. Darryl calls her "Vonnie", as does Milsap sometimes.
• Sydney (Ashley Monique Clark) and Michael Hughley (Dee Jay Daniels): Darryl and Yvonne's 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.
• Dave (Eric Allan Kramer) and Sally Rogers (Marietta DePrima): the Hughley family's Caucasian neighbors and close friends. They often hang out and travel together. Initially, Daryl was unwilling to befriend them out of fear that they were racists. Dave can be described as a "jolly giant". He owns a sporting goods store, and is very knowledgeable about sports, vehicles, and extreme activities. Sally and Darryl have a sort of brother/sister-like friendship, as sometimes he'll turn to her for advice or jokingly tease her. Dave and Sally have two children: son Otto and daughter Gretchen. Sydney and Michael often address Dave and Sally as "Uncle Dave" and "Aunt Sally".
• Milsap (John Henton), Darryl's lifelong best friend, the sales manager of his company. He frequently visits the Hughley household, and provides much comic relief throughout the series. Unlike Darryl, Milsap is unmarried with no children which sometimes saddens him. Early in the series, Dave becomes Milsap's second-best friend after the two form a strong friendship - which Darryl was jealous of at first until he learned to be friends with both men. Darryl, Yvonne, and Dave often refer to him by his nickname "Sap", whereas Sydney and Michael address him as "Uncle Sap" or "Uncle Milsap".

Recurring characters

• Hattie Mae Hughley (Marla Gibbs), Darryl's somewhat aggressive mother, who made her first appearance in "The Thanksgiving Episode". She criticizes Yvonne, from her cooking habits to everything else she finds wrong with her. She also appears to have a firm handle on Darryl as the no-nonsense mother who refuses to let him get away with anything, despite his adulthood. This is shown in many episodes, one example being Sydney and Michael failing to "punish" Daryl for drugs from his past, in which they get their grandmother to do it instead. She made her last appearance was "How Hattie Got Her Groove Back".
• Henry Hughley (Ellis Williams), Darryl's "father", who made his first appearance in "The Thanksgiving Episode". In the 2nd-season episode, Darryl discovers that Henry isn't his biological father; but still Darryl sees him as more of a father for raising him. He made his last appearance in "Bored of the Rings".
• Jessie Mae (Patricia Belcher), Darryl's maternal aunt. She made her first appearance in "The Thanksgiving Episode", where the Hughley women attempt to Thanksgiving cooking. In a few other appearances, she is shown more confrontational than Hattie Mae, but still may have her moments.
• Hazel/M'Dear (Virginia Capers), Darryl's maternal grandmother. She makes her first appearance in "The Thanksgiving Episode", where the Hughley women attempt to take over Thanksgiving cooking. She appears to be less insulting than Hattie Mae.
• JoJo (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.), Darryl's older brother, who worked at an airport.
• James Williams (Sherman Hemsley), Yvonne's father who still doesn't approve of Darryl; the two never get along with each other.
• Paulette Williams (Telma Hopkins), Yvonne's mother, who is less confrontational with Darryl.
• Shari Williams (Adele Givens), Yvonne's older sister. Like her father, she doesn't get along with Darryl.

Series finale

The Hughleys ended with a cliffhanger. On the two-part series finale entitled "It's a Girl!" (aired on May 13 and May 20, 2002), Darryl Hughley's niece, Carly (guest star Kelly Rowland) is preparing for college (the college was unknown), with peace, tranquility and no expectation of her relatives coming to annoy her (implying the entire Hughleys clan). Carly then receives an unexpected visit from her cousins Sydney and Michael. Darryl and Milsap go to their twentieth high school reunion and Milsap learns that his "old" girlfriend, Shandra, has a child, and he is the father.