Roc (1991-1994)
Roc is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox from August 25, 1991 to May 10, 1994. The series stars Charles S. Dutton as Baltimore garbage collector Roc Emerson and Ella Joyce as his wife Eleanor, a nurse.
The four principal cast members were all accomplished stage actors, and had become acquainted with each other while appearing in various August Wilson plays on Broadway. After a successful live episode (guest-starring Dutton’s then-wife Debbi Morgan) was broadcast in February 1992, the producers and the Fox network agreed to air each episode of the second season as a live performance. A Fox executive reportedly said that Roc “didn’t feel live” to audiences because “those actors were so good, they never made a mistake.”
Cast
Main cast
Charles S. Dutton – Charles “Roc” Emerson, a garbage collector
Ella Joyce – Eleanor Carter Emerson, a night-shift nurse at Harbor Hospital (Wing C)
Rocky Carroll – Andrew Joseph “Joey” Emerson Jr., Roc’s freeloading, trumpet-playing brother
Carl Gordon – Andrew Joseph “Pop” Emerson Sr., Roc’s widowed father, a retired railroad porter