The Persistent Issue of Black Representation on Television

The creative community exists in one sphere, the networks and advertisers as a bloodline community in another, and what gets on the air exists in the area where the two puke meet. Thus, Hal Kanter can create a testify called Julia and get it on the air in the 1960s because he has a inglorious star with drawing power, Diahann Carroll, and because the mess be on of the show is non-threatening to the audience to whom the business interests want to sell their products. The appeal then was directly to the fair audience, still the largest audience and still the "buying public." When it is proven that in that respect is a large dim audience and that this audience get out watch and spend money, shows are produced for that audience. This seems to be precisely what has happened in recent years.

The changes that have come about have occurred because the civic Rights Movement created an awareness of the black community and in the black community leading to a demand for change. Change was slow, and it was unendingly limited in the lifestyles it would reflect. The black world arrived in several(prenominal) form in the mid-seventies during the era of television relevance, when relevance sold. As long as there were viewers, shows like Sanford and news had their place. Such shows still featured stereotyped portrayals by c overing only one aspect of the black experience as if it were representative. The Cosby Show would do the same thing in a different direction, showing a middle-class family that was superior in lifestyle and val

more(prenominal) than this, MacDonald finds that the step of the comedy was such that he labels it the Age of New Minstrelsy, an age that repeated various stereotypical characters again and again, from the pushy and acquiesce type of George Jefferson on The Jeffersons to the lazy black man on Sanford and Son, from the loud-but-lovable mammy such as Louise Jefferson on The Jeffersons to Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son. For Lear and Yorkin, what redeemed their use of blacks in this fashion was the attention to jam social issues:

A number of black shows developed in the 1970s, earlier comedies, and primarily from the production company of Norman Lear.

Lear and his partner bud Yorkin developed several shows in the early 1970s that were considered "relevant," meaning they discussed issues and presented ideas as most comedy shows did not. These shows were also ground more on tension between the characters than on the customary sentimental family structure. the beginning of this series of shows was All in the Family, a program based on a British show and transferred to Queens in New York. The main character was a right-wing bigot who railed against every(prenominal) minority group and who supported every right-wing cause. In the early days of the show, there was a black family living next door, the Jeffersons, who would later spin take away into their own television show. Other black-oriented shows from Lear included Sanford and Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, and Bud Yorkin would separately produce such black-oriented shows as What's Happening!! and Carter Country. These shows had varied success but a similar formula:

pitch-black actors have achieved greater prominence on television over the past two decades, though the number varies from year to year. More black performers are seen in supporting roles than leads--note Ossie Davis as a judge on The Client or S. Epatha Merkerson as the practice of law captain on Law & Order. Blacks still star primarily on black-oriented situation comedies
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