Chris Rock Says Fox Passed On Everybody Hates Chris For Method & Red

Chris Rock says Fox’s decision to choose Method & Red instead of Everybody Hates Chris still looks costly, especially considering what his sitcom became.

Speaking with Variety while promoting his film Misty Green, Rock recalled Fox passing on his semi-autobiographical comedy before UPN took it in 2005.

“If it aired on Fox, I wouldn’t be here,” Rock said, joking that the larger network could have made him far wealthier.

The choice came after Fox aired Method & Red, a comedy starring Method Man and Redman as fictional versions of themselves in a wealthy New Jersey suburb.

Fox aired nine episodes during summer 2004 before pulling it, leaving four completed episodes unaired and ending its television run.

Method Man and Redman later criticized Fox’s control over the show, arguing that network changes pushed their idea away from its original voice.

“This is frustrating for me,” Method Man told the Los Angeles Times before the show ended. “I’m trying to keep this show ghetto, and there’s a way for it to be both ghetto and intelligent. But it’s not going that way.”

Rock and Ali LeRoi built Everybody Hates Chris around Rock’s teenage years in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, mixing family pressure, school struggles and neighborhood life.

The series cast Tyler James Williams as young Chris, while Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold played Julius and Rochelle Rock with unforgettable comic timing.

UPN aired the first season before the series moved to The CW, where it ran through 2009 and built a major syndication following.

The show’s reach extended well beyond its initial ratings, becoming especially beloved in Brazil and keeping its characters visible across streaming and cable reruns.

Rock’s old Fox frustration lands differently now that Everybody Still Hates Chris revived the story as an animated Comedy Central series in 2024.

Rock narrates the sequel series, while Crews and Arnold returned as Chris’ parents and the story resumes after the original finale.

Everybody Still Hates Chris premiered on Comedy Central on September 25, 2024, before its first 10 episodes reached Paramount+ in May 2025.