Barbershop: The Series is an American sitcom which made its debut on the Showtime cable network in August 2005. It is based upon the Marc Brown–created characters from the popular films Barbershop (2002) and Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), and was developed for television by screenwriter John Ridley. It starred Omar Gooding as Calvin Palmer, Jr., the proprietor of an African-American barbershop on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.