There is no better way to address the current state of African-American sitcoms than with the comments comedians have made about them.
Did you hear the one in which funnyman Steve Harvey, who once had a series on The WB, says all fledgling broadcast networks get their bearings with African-American sitcoms, only to cut them once they get established? Comedian Cedric the Entertainer, formerly of Fox and The WB, has joked that white viewers get “Desperate Housewives,” African-Americans get fictional equivalents like “Desperate Sistahs” or a “‘CSI’ spinoff set in Detroit.”
Such cracks might be funnier if it weren’t the case that the only four remaining African- American comedies on TV have been lumped together by the one network showcasing this programming, fledgling hybrid The CW.
For comparison, primetime and cable combined had fewer than a dozen such shows a year ago, with six on UPN.
“When I first heard that The WB and UPN were becoming one, I worried that the black shows would be the casualty,” says Marlita Blackman, president of Direct Media Connection Advertising, a Michigan firm that buys minority ad spots for corporations. “I guess my fears have pretty much been realized.”
As for African-American-centric dramas, they are nonexistent on the small screen, with little indication that will change any time soon. Although Spike Lee has signed a deal to develop a drama series for NBC, it may be a long shot. Even the African-American shows that are currently on primetime TV are all being lumped together on Mondays.
This makes for what Tukufu Zuberi, the director of the Africana Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, calls the “ghettoization of television.” “Is it worse to have these shows, or these shows on that night?” Zuberi asks.
His concern with ghettoized programming goes not just to scheduling, but content.
“Part of the problem is the lack of balance,” Zuberi says. “There has never really been an accurate depiction.
“Most African-Americans are not as poor as the Evans (‘Good Times’) and not as rich as the Huxtables (‘The Cosby Show’).” Zuberi’s concern with The CW’s 8-10 p.m. EST Monday lineup – Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris,” “All of Us,” “Girlfriends” and its spinoff, “The Game” – isn’t that it’s offensive, but that it wastes an opportunity to incite social change.
“Chris Rock is a comic genius, and his ability to put ideas together makes me laugh,” says Zuberi, who is also a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “But in what way is his show changing our distorted image in our cultural canon? It’s not.”
The CW’s programming decision, coupled with the dearth of other African-American shows to choose from, also troubles some in the industry.
“It’s unfortunate in the landscape of television,” said Mara Brock Akil, executive producer and creator of “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”
“Let’s not forget, it wasn’t that long ago, Cosby rebuilt the half-hour, and Fox built its whole network on niche programming.”
As for Rock, he has addressed the whole controversy with one joke about his show’s main character, a younger version of himself: “The role of Chris will be played by a white girl.”
