Whoopi is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner and starring Whoopi Goldberg that aired for one season on NBC. The series premiered on September 9, 2003, and ran until April 20, 2004. It was canceled by NBC in May 2004. The series revolved around the events and people at her hotel, the fictional Lamont Hotel, in New York City.
Whoopi Goldberg starred in this comedy as one-hit wonder Mavis Rae, a cigarette-smoking, alcohol-drinking, menopausal and especially opinionated hotelier. In 1986, Mavis had one huge, spectacular hit song, the two-time Grammy Award-winning "Don't Hide Love". Quickly realizing that her initial success was a fluke, she parlayed her finances from that hit into purchasing the Lamont Hotel in Manhattan.
Mavis operates the hotel on her charm and wit while assisted by Persian handyman Nasim (Omid Djalili) and Eastern European housekeeper Jadwiga (Gordana Rashovich), who share a love-hate relationship with each other. Staying at the hotel is her baby brother Courtney (Wren T. Brown), a moderate Republican attorney who attempting to get back on his feet after being laid off from Enron amidst its bankruptcy scandal. Courtney begins dating medical imager Rita Nash (Elizabeth Regen), who spoke jive and was portrayed with an exaggerated urban black stereotype despite the fact that she was white. Rita and Mavis frequently clashed over the course of the series, leading to many of the conflicts that drove the plot of each episode. Other plots revolved around political clashes between the conservative Courtney and the liberal Mavis; post-9/11 Islamophobia that is faced by Nasim, who was often mistaken for an Arab; and, after its introduction in a later episode, the all-female poker group that Mavis and Rita belong to.
The series was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.
The debut episode of Whoopi drew 15.1 million viewers, and was ranked number four for the week. On October 31, NBC ordered a full 22-episode season of the series.
However, the series faltered from its initial success. The series received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon its premiere. Ratings in following weeks were unsteady. The latter half of the season also saw competition against the third season of American Idol, which caused ratings to collapse even further. NBC eventually cancelled the series in May 2004.