The show stars Ordena Stephens-Thompson as Novelette "Letty" Campbell, the Caribbean-Canadian owner of a hair salon in Toronto. Trey Anthony, the writer of the original play on which the series was based, also stars as Letty's sister Joy. The original cast also included Ngozi Paul, Richard Fagon, and Conroy Stewart. In season 2, the role of Dre was recast and Daniel J. Gordon assumed the role created by Stewart.
Characters
Main characters
Ordena Stephens-Thompson as Novelette "Letty" Campbell. Letty is the Jamaican-Canadian owner of the salon. Originally from Spanish Town, Jamaica, she is the mother of Dre and the sister of Joy and has a brother Winston who lives in Kingston. Letty has been living in Canada for seven years prior to the beginning of the series and opened up "Letty's Hair Salon" not long after. She is very proud of her business and enjoys working as well trying to make people happy. Letty is dedicated to her business and knows how important the shop is to its clients, most of whom are recent women immigrants from The Caribbean. Letty recently sent for her sister Joy and son Dre, whom Joy raised while Letty was in Canada. Letty, however, is unimpressed by the way Joy raised him and wants to raise him by her rules. Despite this, the two both co-raise the young boy. A running gag throughout the first season is that Letty hasn't been on a date in over seven years.
Trey Anthony as Joy Campbell. Joy is Letty's younger sister and the shop receptionist. Originally from Spanish Town, Jamaica, Joy recently arrived in Toronto after Letty sent her for her and Letty's teenage son Dre, who Joy raised while Letty was trying to send for them to join her in Canada. Joy is known for her very colourful weaves, her vibrant fun-loving personality, as well as her outspoken attitude. A running gag throughout the series is that Joy would rather be back home in Jamaica than in Canada, where she doesn't like the laws and rules. Joy is also a hopeless romantic who is openly disapproving when black men date interracially. In the first season, Joy dated Gary, a successful Jamaican-Canadian real estate agent, whom she broke up with later in the season due to his abusive behaviour and demanding attitude.
Ngozi Paul as Priscilla "Star" McMasterson. Star is an African-Canadian trainee at the salon. Adopted by a white family, she was raised in an all-white environment in Ontario so to discover herself as a black woman she moved to Toronto after quitting law school and began working at the salon. During the first season, Star was ashamed of her adoptive family but later grew to accept them. Although Star stated she "does not date black men", she had a brief crush and flirtationship with her coworker Nigel before he got back with his ex. A running gag throughout the series is that Star knows nothing of Jamaican culture. She meets her biological mother in the second season finale.
Richard Fagon as Nigel. A first-generation Jamaican Canadian, Nigel is a stylist at the salon who is known for his womanizing ways. Whenever an ex entered the shop Nigel would ask Letty for a break. He also had a brief flirtationship with Star before he began dating Nikki. Although he only appeared in the first season, Nigel was a major character who would jokingly make fun of Star, about her being "whitewashed" and nothing little of Jamaican culture. The character of Nigel did not return in the second season.
Ratings
The show was a hit in its Sunday night 7:30pm time slot achieving solid 2's and 3's in the first two episodes. Due to a scheduling mishap and a lack of communication with the audience, after being pre-empted for two weeks it returned with 1.5's and rose steadily to complete the season. Global announced on March 20, 2008, that the show would be renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on Global on February 12, 2009, and was scheduled to start in the middle of Grey's Anatomy. It proved to be the death knell for the show because they shared the same audience.
