Trapped in the Closet, a series of music videos by R Kelly that defined the "hip-hopera" genre, is to return after a five-year hiatus. The series will return to the US cable channel IFC on 23 November for a 20-episode run. In the two hours leading up to the premiere, the network will air the digitally remastered original saga in full.

In Trapped in the Closet, Kelly plays Sylvester, who in the first episode cheats on his wife, Gwendolyn, with a woman named Cathy. Cathy pushes him into a closet, setting off a chain of reactions that rely mostly on the cast's inability to stay faithful to each other.

The rap star weaved a complicated web in the first 22 episodes, but IFC has made a character map to help its audience prepare for the show's return.

"I've got like a hundred chapters to come," Kelly told Time magazine. "It's forever."

IFC has promised that Rufus, Cathy, Gwendolyn, Bridget, Big Man, Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, Twan and Pimp Lucius will be back for the new installments. There was no word on whether James, played by Michael K Williams (aka Omar from The Wire) will return.

The series originated on Kelly's album TP.3 Reloaded in 2005; Kelly released seven new chapters on DVD later that year. Ten further episodes were released in 2007, on IFC.