Because after the last incident, i had children bussed in. When i think about the history of black television, i think about when black folks watch, we watch to zero in on us. Instead of making us celebrate your holidays, why dont you celebrate some of ours . What about tupacs birthday . And when you have so little, it means everything. All of those shows, they all matter so much. It feels like theres been more of an ebb and flow and an evolution. It is so important for us to have true authenticity. Why we always the only black people here . Thats why representation matters, black stories told by black people. Im trying to tell you something. [man] we set the pace for sit comedy. You hear that, elizabeth . Im coming to join ya, honey . From Sanford And Son to the other black shows. What is this . Loved The Jeffersons. Monogrammed shirt, brand new silk tie. Is that a tie . I thought your tongue was hanging out. Good times is one of my favorite sitcoms because you could not tell me that these people were not real. Dynomite uncle phil fresh prince of belair was groundbreaking for me. It was a different depiction of black life. Argh martin made me laugh so much. Jerome in the house clear blackish, insecure. Hey so many shows that are on now that are killing it in ratings. Were living in a golden age of black television, especially when it comes to sitcoms. Were finally starting to see ourselves represented in the world. Car Whooshes Past water sprays hell no upbeat music upbeat music as times change, were beginning to see this evolution of black television. This is rochester van jones. Hes my butler. We finally get to see a realistic depiction of ourselves. Issa, whats on fleek . And the only way that that could be done was by changing the people who were telling the stories. I dont know what that means. I know what that shit means. By putting more seats at the table for black storytellers, writers, creators directors. And thats a big difference in what we saw before. [announcer] the adventures of ozzie and harriet, starring the Entire Nelson family. [announcer] father knows best. Soaring Instrumental Music the tv landscape in the 1950s was considered the golden age television. You would have these great shows like i love lucy, classic Television Shows, but you didnt have Black Representation until you started seeing shows like beulah. Cereal, miss alice . [ernie] amos n andy was the first allblack sitcom. Mornin, andy. Mornin, amos. [ernie] but it was boycotted by the naacp, and after only two seasons in 1953, the show was canceled. My problem with amos n andy is that there were no black writers in the room, obviously. That often can lead to stereotypes. These shows mocking black voices, sort of making real caricatures of black life. I learn a lot of things. I just dont retain em. So you had these examples of Black Representation that were not always positive and did not always center black life and culture in a way in which we wanted to see ourselves. And these were very much shows that were made to allay white fears and to protect white comfort. Youre talking about the jim crow era. And ive seen the promised land. As the Civil Rights Movement was kicking up, the naacp wanted to show black people in a different light. Black people were going to college and making money and entering the middle class. Took until 1968 for us to have a show that was served as a counterweight to shows like beulah and amos n andy. When i think about the history of black television, i think of diahann carroll. She personifies the brilliance that has existed in black hollywood. Julia premiered in 1968. The country was in the midst of incredible unrest. This is right around the time that Martin Luther king, jr. Was assassinated. Diahann carroll herself, she didnt feel that it portrayed the black experience in a way that it shouldve been portrayed. Julia and corey baker, this is my sister, wanda waggedorn. How do you do . Youre a negro lenny didnt tell me that thats all right, wanda. Leonard didnt tell us you arent. She really felt that they were presenting an image of the white negro. But at the time, i didnt care because theres a black woman on tv. Shes a nurse. Shes helping people. Diahann carroll was the first black woman to be nominated for an emmy for her performance in that show. It represented the first time that a black family went into the homes of americans on a weekly basis. It did establish that premise, and i was very pleased about that. upbeat funky music the success of the Television Show julia opened the door for redd foxx, who was this underground comedy legend. Thats the money i was saving for my Heart Operation you hear that elizabeth . Im coming to join ya, honey love Sanford And Son. You give me the first line of a Sanford And Son line, i can finish it for you. For every man, theres a woman. And for every dummy, theres a dummy. One of the creators of Sanford And Son saw redd foxx in his act and thought that he would be perfect for the series they were gonna do, which was an adaptation of a british series, steptoe son. Sanford and son was a more authentic show because of writers like paul mooney and ilunga adell. Redd and i said, you know what . We need to have some black writers. What you doing combing your hair . Why does anybody come their hair . To look neat. But you just going to a job. Pop, just because i work in junk dont mean i have to look like it. When we had white writers, they would write, im gwan, gwan. We gwan hit it over der, and redd said, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. You dont need to do that. Write words, and we, the characters, will say those words the way black people say those words. Who you calling ugly, sucka . audience laughs upbeat music we shot the pilot in september of 71, and it just went through the ceiling. We didnt just usher in black shows. We were the foundation for all the sitcoms for the next 25, 30 years. It just led the way to other sitcoms like good times. Good times anytime you need breakfast is ready if you hungry good times is one of my favorite sitcoms because i didnt realize i was watching a sitcom. Give me one good reason why you married me. You was pregnant. That aint nothing to joke about. Suppose one of the kids that heard you said they was born outta wedlock. Wouldnt bother me none. audience laughs i aint the oldest. audience laughs they were a twoparent black family. You never had black men who were integral to these households. Good times had that. Good times made history because it was the first time we had black creators. All right, come on over here, lionel. Michael evans, who was a guy from all in the family, he had access to norman lear, and norman lear told him to write something, and he wrote something with eric monte. Just to get that chance to prove yes, we deserve to be here. I think eric monte and mike evans proved that. Dynomite upbeat funky music audience laughs dynomite. I know might i did a little tiny dynamite just in rehearsal. John rich, our director, says, i love that dynomite thing. Heres how you do it. Dynomite i said, john, please, people will never go for this. Then jimmy walkers character takes over, and instead of good times, you end up with the dynomite hour. Good times was a microcosm of what it is to produce black television. Eric monte and mike evans were forced to partner with a white show runner. That reflected a dynamic that we see throughout the history of black tv, which is having black creatives needing the cosign of a white person in order to make their thing, even though its based in the stories they know. By season two of good times, john amos was complaining about how his character was not being written in a very authentic way. So they said, tell you what. Why dont we kill him off, and well all get on with our lives. Killed in an auto. My god so that taught me a lesson that i wasnt as important as i thought i was to the show or to norman lears plans. Glass Shatters damn, damn, damn as good as good times was, it still did not resonate with everyone as to how this was a characterization of black america. You had organizations like the Black Panthers pressuring norman lear who had helped create good times to give us something different, and with that, he came up with The Jeffersons. I wear the pants in this family. And when you zip them up, include your mouth. audience laughs and applauds in the middle of everything, theres everything to do canoe the rivers of shawnee try 17th street bbq feeding alpacas. Friends along the way sippin rose. What a lovely day off to camel rock. The perfect sunset have we begun to explore illinois yet . In the middle of everything. Theres everything to dooooooooo hey, stop, stop, stop. Found it. Can i get a ruling . Dont beg. Its unbecoming. sfx thud was that good . I couldnt tell. Theres no such thing as out of bounds. Find adventure at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. vo this is sadie, shes on verizon. And shes got the new myplan, so she gets exactly what she wants and only pays for what she needs. She picks her perks and saves on every one. Make your move to myplan. Act now and get it for 25 when you bring your phones. Its your verizon. Put a smile on your plate with new pancake tacos. Because when you fold a pancake in half, you get a taco. Or in this case, 3 for 6. Try all four flavors. Here for a fun time, not a long time. Only from ihop. Wayfair has nice prices so you can have nice things. Hah kelly clarkson, we have a kid. And harold. Wayfairs got just what you need. Performance fabrics, stains dont stand a chance. No chance woo dog friendly and wallet friendly. Pugproved. Get nice things with nice prices at wayfair. Wayfair, youve got just what i need vo the wells fargo active cash card earn 2 cash back on what you want. Like a lightweight road bike. Clipin shoes. And a moisture wicking jersey. man 1 what . Is it, is it too much . vo and 2 cash back on what you need. main 1 what . man 2 i think you missed a spot. man 1 is it bad . man 2 its not good. vo the wells fargo active cash card. Thats real life ready. upbeat music well, were movin on up Movin On Up To The East Side movin on up The Jeffersons was an aspirational show. You have The Great Theme Song Sung by janet dubois about moving on up. You had a different situation from good times, where its a poor black family, to a rich black Family Living in a highrise apartment. Your family started at zero, and look what youve got now, a lovely wife, successful business, and a beautiful apartment. Thats right, buddy. I dont need you to tell me that audience laughs midtempo r b music the character of George Jefferson was a Rich Black Man who was unapologetic about that, and that was very, very groundbreaking in 1970s. George jefferson with the walk out the bank move, the hit the cliff. Thats how i walk out the bank when i make withdrawals. How about this . upbeat funky music audience laughs Isabel Sanford was really a trailblazer. Weezie, honey. Dont you weezie honey me. In 1981, Isabel Sanford, who plays louise, became the first and still only black woman to win the emmy for lead actress in a comedy series. At last. audience laughs and applauds marla gibbs is everything to me. She was a breakout star. You live in this apartment, right . Uh huh. And you got an apartment in this building, too . Yes, thats right. Well, how come we overcame and nobody told me . audience laughs the fights i had with george on the show was mostly prewritten. However, he and i would come up with things sometimes and they would keep it. Florence, your cooking tastes like dog food. audience laughs thats cause im cooking for a chihuahua. audience laughs upbeat music he and i really had a chemistry together. One of the unique things about The Jeffersons is that it featured the first primetime interracial couple, the willises. George, if we have a problem, why cant we just talk it through like tom and helen . They dont fight. They dont fight cause they scared to fight. Whats that supposed to mean . You know damn well what it means. If you two ever really started going at one another, inside of five minutes, hed be calling you dont say it nigga. He said it coming out of the 1960s loving case, which made interracial marriages legal in the United States, you had this representation of what america could look like, of what america could be. audience laughs and applauds i beg your pardon. Ill come back later. The jeffersons was really groundbreaking. Everything you do, do it cool. Thats it. [marla] The Jeffersons had something for every segment of society. Yeah. Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem. America was changing. Youre in the middle of reaganomics and trickle down economies. The social policies of that era were really splintering black families and the black community in this country. In the early 1980s, the landscape of Primetime Television was dominated by these hourlong dramas. Some of them were very gritty. One of the things people were all saying was the comedy on television was dead. the Bill Cosby Show Theme Song but then theres this juggernaut of a show in the form of a black family comedy, and it completely reinvigorates the sitcom genre. I am your father. I brought you in this world and ill take you out. audience laughs soft upbeat music The Cosby Show absolutely created a phenomenon of mustsee tv. The cosby show is consider the pinnacle black sitcom. Gives you a black family thats not just incredibly tight knit. Listen. Lets put on some music round here. It was also a family that was doing very well for themselves, that was upper middle class where Family Values in the most traditional of senses was a core of the series. Mr. Cosby brought in dr. Alvin poussaint to be a consultant on the show. So when we would write out a storyline, wed send that off to dr. Poussaint, and that would come back with all his notes on it, and Alvin Poussaint was the guy that grounded us to make sure that we were always representing this black family in the best light. In the 1980s, The Cosby Show gave a vision of blackness that was comfortable. Were here to say goodbye to lamont goldfish. The way that it conveyed blackness specifically was often quite subtle. It was in the art that was on the walls. It was in the music that was being played. It was in the sweatshirts that they wore referencing a Historically Black College. Cosby doesnt come on on nbc when theyre at their height. He comes on when theyre in the dumps. Fight, fight upbeat music audience laughs and next thing you know, the number one show on television is an African American comedy. laughs audience laughs Muffled Shouting bill cosby was, to all of us, americas dad. The cosby show was, at its height, doing astronomically high numbers. wesminster chime it was that mash Finale Territory of just the biggest numbers youve ever seen on paper. soft jazzy music audience applauds now, as far as who he is outside of the work, its not to be ignored. Hes been controversial, absolutely. [patrick] in 2018, bill cosby was convicted for drugging and violating a woman in 2004. [female reporter] some 50 women have alleged similar sexual assaults. The conviction was overturned and cosby was released, which, to him, was a vindication because he always had maintained his innocence. So how do we celebrate bill cosbys legacy . It has been hard. Its been difficult to reconcile the man versus the myth, the legend, the comedian, the star. I think we have to look at bill cosby. I dont think we should look away. I think we should look at all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly. I think its important. midtempo r b music Muffled ShoutingThe Cosby Show laid the groundwork for a lot of the sitcoms that we saw, and the most obvious is A Different World, which was a spinoff of the series, and it followed Denise Huxtable when she went off to hillman college. Oh, you must be our new roommate. The first year was different. You had a white character named maggie, and you had a show about a college that, while it was a Historically Black College, it was not necessarily black. I know my parents love me in the Second Season of A Different World, it became a whole different Television Show. I know my parents loved me [ernie] brought in debbie allen. They called me to come in and make it relevant, and when i got there, i had gone to howard university, so i didnt have to go on a field trip to see what a Historically Black College was. I had lived it. Debbie allen is a trailblazer. She really brought the authentic hbcu experience to television while managing to tackle serious issues like racism and sexism and colorism but also giving us fun, lighthearted comedy in a way that inspired me to go to an hbcu. They explored the fraternities, the sororities. Characters Cheer upbeat funky music it was an exact parallel to what my experience was at howard. A memorable episode was the la riots. Whitley just got married to dwayne. They were going to take their honeymoon in la, and the riots happened. upbeat music Objects Clatter hey, hey, hey i remember being called in by the network. They were upset because we had white looters. And so what did we do . Talked roseanne and tom arnold into playing the white looters, and we reshot it. My feet are killing me i told you to steal some shoes. They were happy then. You all know that winning is not everything. Thats right but it so feel good Characters Cheer midtempo r b music the real legacy of A Different World is that we tripled the enrollment of Historically Black Colleges. That show still stands the test of time. soft ethereal music [ tiger dust by Yello Playing in the background ] turn right on to western avenu. [ dog barks ] you have reached your destination. One more . One more time turn right on to western avenu. Id. Light in the allelectric id. 4. Its the little things, its a vw. Put a smile on your plate with new pancake tacos. Because when you fold a pancake in half, you get a taco. Or in this case, three for six dollars. Try all four flavors. Here for a fun time, not a long time. Only from ihop. Ive never been healthier. Shingles doesnt care. But shingrix protects. Proven over 90 effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. Shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. An increased risk of guillainbarre syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. Fainting can also happen. The most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. Welcome friends, to the middle of everything friends that bike together. Hike together with goats. Cant wait to see what tomorrow brings, here in the middle of everything is it possible to protect my business from Cyber Threats . It is, with comcast business. Helping every connected device stay protected. Yours. Your employees. Even. Susan . Hers, too. Safe. Secure. And powered by The Next Generation 10g network. With comcast business, advanced security isnt just possible. Its happening. Get started wih fast spees and advanced security for 49. 99a month for 12 monts plus ask how to get up to a 750 prepaid card with qualifying internet. Pbeat music uplifting music the success of The Cosby Show did hit so big that suddenly, all the networks are back in the sitcom business, in the black sitcom business. Family matters every week literally just made you crack up and laugh. No, i got it. No, no, i got it. No, no dont, dont, dont, steve Glass Shatters did i do that . audience laughs i just feel like i was so lucky to grow up in a time with urkel. A peck near the lip area would speed me on my way. audience laughs so would a left hook. audience laughs ooh, i love it when she gets physical. Winslows are a loving African American family that live in the chicago area. Father, carl winslow, was a cop. Family matters was my very first job. I was one of three black writers in a big room of maybe 10, 12 writers. In 1994, Family Matters had an episode called good cop, bad cop. Eddie winslow, the teenage son, comes back from a really upsetting encounter with a police officer. I was driving along minded my own business when the cops pulled me over i remember the scene, and it was very difficult to do. Then he made me get outta the car and lie face down then he cuffed me thats unusual procedure unless you provoked it. The idea that the black father would tell his black son, you mustve provoked the cop if you were treated badly, just did not sit well with me. I had to say, i dont think that black father would say that to his black son. I thought what i went through tonight with the worst thing thats ever happened to me, but i was wrong. Not having my own father believe me is even worse. I remember the showrunner getting very angry, wondering if i was saying he was racist, and i remember realizing at that moment, as black people, our desire to depict authentic versions of ourselves is always negotiated because if im not here, then this whole room is white, and then characters who look like me will have no one who looks like them to speak their truth. upbeat funky music back to life theres yet another big shake up in the tv landscape when hip hop meets rodeo drive. [male reporter] it is called rap music. They keep saying its a fad. Rap music is not a fad. In fact, rap is one of the largest grossing forms of music on the charts. Quincy jones recognized that hip hop was Gonna Change America parents just dont understand and that will smith was gonna be part of that. Hey, uncle phil oh audience laughs this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down will smith was a rapper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He had albums. And then even the starting of the show was amazing. It had a storyline you can follow as the credits were going. Of a town called belair will happened to be in la. He was at a party at quincy joness house. Will never really acted before in his life. The only kind of audition i had was quincys birthday. He said, so heres the deal. Everybody that needs to say yes for this show is sitting out in that living room right now, waiting for you. And i thought, gimme 10 minutes. And hes like, all right, yall, audition in 10 minutes audition in 10 minutes oh yo, the plane ride was stupid i was up in first class. Excuse me . No, im saying the plane was dope. I was sitting in the front excuse me . How would he . The flight was really neat, yeah. audience laughs soft upbeat music the episode that really stands out to me is where wills father who had abandoned him as a young man comes back into his life, and at the end of the episode, hes abandoning him yet again. It was great seeing you, son. You, too, lou. In the African American community, a lot of families are torn apart because of the male. Aint a damn thing he could ever teach me about how to love my kids soft poignant music Will Breathes Shakily it came time for that moment. He broke. It was a beautiful thing, and the rest is history. It showed that there are other people in ones life who can become that Father Figure when it comes to male role models in the black community. Hip hop music you like it cause you dos it fresh prince of belair became one of these Landmark Black Sitcoms that youre gonna look at 100 years from now saying, this is one of the ones that changed things, pssh. And still is relevant today. Jazzy Screams audience laughs in the 90s, there was one show that epitomized what it was to be young, funny, and black, and that show was martin. Martin lawrence is a standup comedian, and the martin show was based on all of the things that he would talk about onstage. Wassup . Hell no you wants to stomp with the big dog people really seem to gravitate to him. Jeromes in the house cause it was raw. I said jeromes in the houehouehouse he played at least 10 different characters within the sitcom, and you believed them all. How you all doing . audience laughs partys my middle name go, gina, go, gina whats happening, baby . Martin lawrence was the one who said comedy has a way of bringing light into this dark world. Black people, we do have this way of laughing at our struggle. He embodies that. Glass ShattersMama Payne Whimpers damn, damn, damn damn, gina is said to me 100 times a day. [unison] aw, damn i loved martin and ginas romance, particularly because it was the first time i saw a young black couple in love on television. Grab my ears . audience laughs upbeat funky music we didnt think that we were gonna make the impact that we made. Girl, your hair is so nappy, wilson couldnt pick it. Recently, me, tichina, and martin had gone to lunch, and we were all like, can you believe this . Its like brady bunch. people are still watching this show, and were in shock. And i was like, martin, can you believe they call us icons . And he was like, i know were living ooh single hey Living Single is about six upwardly Mobile 20 Somethings who figure out life, and we figure it out together. We had never seen a show with such unapologetically black, smart, sexy, Fun Women On Television before. Damn, he fine audience laughs oh, and good technique. And big feet. audience laughs they were friends before there was the sitcom friends. Living single came first. There was an interview with Warren Littlefield who, at the time, was running nbc. They asked him, was there any show that you wish you had bought this year . And he said, i wish i had bought Living Single. Living Single was the archetype. You get a group of quirky women living across from quirky men, two dudes. upbeat jazzy music [male reporter] later today on oprah, lonely women who waste their lives watching television. There was a big twitter beef a little while ago when the gentleman who played ross said, they should do like a black friends sometime, and, honey, black twitter went in because he was just blissfully unaware it had already been done. Now David Schwimmer said that his comment was taken out of context. He said, i am aware that there was a show called Living Single on the air before us. Even though we were a black show, we were a show that is absolutely relatable, and yes, i still get those residual checks. Thank you. Youre welcome. jazzy music put a smile on your plate with new pancake tacos. Because when you fold a pancake in half, you get a taco. Or in this case, 3 for 6. Try all four flavors. Here for a fun time, not a long time. Only from ihop. Tv try Tide Power Pods with 85 more tide in every pod. Who needs that much more tide . Crashing Sounds everyones gonna need more tide. Its a mess out there. Thats why theres 85 more tide in every power pod. See . Baby ah. Martial arts is my passion. I work out whenever i can. But with my moderate tosevere eczema, it can be tough. My skin was so uncomfortable. The itching was so bad. Now, im staying ahead of my eczema. Theres a power inside all of us to live our passion. And Dupixent Works On The Inside to help heal your skin from within. It helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema. So adults can have longlasting clearer skin and fast itch relief. Serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. Dont change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. Healing from within is a powerful thing. Ask your Eczema Specialist how dupixent can help heal your skin from within. [bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] [electronic music plays] [bacon sizzles] [electronic music plays] woo sic im gonna be successful [male reporter] fubu means for us by us. Fubu. [female reporter] blacks are watching more tv, 70 hours a week, say the nielsen numbers. These networks understand that when theyre trying to get a foothold in the industry, the first thing they do is go to an underserved audience because they can get a lot of eyeballs. In the 1990s, you had all these fledgling Networks Coming up, upn, the wb, who were specifically targeting black audiences. [man over loudspeaker] attention, stars at the wb. That strategy did enable a rap of black shows, black actors, black creators to shoot their shot. Unforgettable audience laughs upbeat music he used to hang with me with me and my band, the high tops, perform for the queen of england. I love that entire era of television, the show, sister, sister, half half, smart guy, one on one, wayans brothers, cause i literally saw myself in those characters. Moesha was something that i wanted to do because i wanted to see a story about a black teenage girl, and i did not see that on tv. She dont know who i am by now. She better ask somebody [unison] baby moesha was my first staff writing job. It was a groundbreaking time. It was a place where we all belonged. It was a place that you could actually launch a dream. They introduced nikki parker on the last episode of moesha, which was the pilot for the parkers. On this slot, it was moesha, the parkers, the wayans brothers. So can you imagine what that parking lot looked like, sound like, and smelled like. It was incredible. And while some of these shows may be popular in African American households, they may not have enough crossover appeal to survive. So youve got upn, and youve got the wb. They come together to create the cw. Beautiful, right . Not if youre a black sitcom. Black shows disappear. We felt the shift of the shows trickling away. Some of the hits started coming in that were more like smallville, gilmore girls. You only have so many hours you program. Something has to give. And they just canceled us. Everybody was just, oh, were done. Thanks. I will never forgive the cw for what they did to upn. They really had a good run. We did get great writers like Mara Brock Akil and kenya barris out of that. Mara went from writing for moesha to creating the influential sitcom girlfriends. Hey, girl. Hey the vision i had for girlfriends is i wanted to document our existence as black women. I was a big fan of sex and the city, and i appreciated that it wasnt centered around a mans opinion about how women were. Ill be on my way and leave you to your hot lesbian action. We were trying to figure out if we could have it all. All my black girlfriends were wondering that, too. We wanted it all. We wanted it all. upbeat music Bernie Whistles give me a chance. men laugh ill take wb. Ill take upn. Ill take usa. By the early 2000s, networks are only looking for big name black comedians to headline their shows. When you talk about the bernie mac show, you get a slice of life, of African American life. Yeah, my sisters on drugs. What am i supposed to do . Allow these three kids to go to some foster home . You dont know what youre getting yourself into. I didnt wanna come into americas living room. I wanted to bring america into mine. This is my house. Bernie had a very clear idea of the kind of show he wanted. Bernie mac goes, you know, reggie . Of all the people in hollywood, you get bernie mac. Maam, dont do that. This is my car. Im trying to tell you something. My goal working on the show as a director, as a producer was to make sure bernie mac stayed bernie mac. horn blows upbeat funky music i dont mean to toot my own horn, america, but bernie macs genius. Im overwhelmed, as you see. The first time in the more than 200year history of this country, an African American will be the chief executive. How far we have come. America has changed to the point now where blackish is telling these unapologetically black stories. They have that freedom because we have changed as a culture. [andre] sometimes i feel like a bit of an oddity. And if you look to your left, youll see the mythical and majestic black family. It talks about the so called postracial version laughs of being black. The whole show begins, saying, we moved to a white neighborhood, but we still got to hold on to our culture. This is our culture. This aint our culture. We black, not african. Africans dont even like us. Dad, can i go . There was a lot of conversation about what to call it. Blackish was the preferred title, and the creator kenya really supported and felt like sets off a little bit of a firestorm, and you get people talking about it. Youve got a man whos got his family at a crossroads. I care about black history and culture and our roots. I dont want them to not be black. I dont want them to only be blackish. From now on, we will be black out loud. Blackish had a episode called juneteenth that im so proud to have been a part of. Our whole family will celebrate juneteenth. All right. Boom i know where to buy strawberry soda. And i make a mean red velvet cake. Ill fire up the grill. That loud and black enough for you . Yeah, mmhmm. Ill hang up my stocking. Oh, buddy. And now its on the National Calendar forever, something thats still mind blowing to me. President biden signed the Juneteenth NationalIndependence Day act into law. We did an episode about a little white girl in the elevator by herself, and the black man shouldnt get on it. And they just. laughs doors ding but so many white people came up to me and was like, is that a thing . And im like, hell yeah that was just as important of an episode as juneteenth was. Its like these topics that we touched on. Excuse me here we go again. I hope you enjoy the rest of your racist pageant johnsons, we out no no, no, no, no upbeat Hip Hop Music ding chimes youve worn many hats, from past jobs in fact. Now, you can trade in those hats to help earn your grad cap your past experience can help you earn your degree faster and for less. Psoriasis really messes with you. Try. Hope. Fail. No one should suffer like that. I started cosentyx®. Five years clear. Real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infection, some serious and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Tell your doctor if your Crohns Disease symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reaction may occur. 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Listen to the lions roar roar see the Moon And The Stars at the planetarium. In the middle of everything theres everything to do hey, stop, stop, stop. Found it. sfx thud was that good . I couldnt tell. Theres no such thing as out of bounds. Find adventure at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. put a smile on your plate with new pancake tacos. Because when you fold a pancake in half, you get a taco. Or in this case, three for six dollars. Try all four flavors. Here for a fun time, not a long time. Only from ihop. Using the finest materials, like indulgent memory foam, and ultraconforming innersprings, for a beautiful mattress, and indescribable comfort. For a limited time, save 400 on select Stearns Foster mattresses. upbeat music today, im very proud of myself. Our president has finally released a birth certificate. Donald Trumps Campaign began with questioning the legitimacy of the first black president , barack obama. Wouldnt you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag, get that Son Of A Bitch off the field right now, out . Hes fired. Hes fired people felt they could no longer sit on the sidelines. They saw a lot of folks protesting in the streets. But at the same time, we couldnt just react in anger. We needed change. We needed real change. This was an era of resistance to be as loud as possible and as black as possible. There was a fresh crop of creators coming to the forefront, namely Donald Glover with atlanta. I cant imagine what tv would be like now without atlanta. You dont get Something Like that without getting to trust the vision of someone like Donald Glover. What you have with shows like atlanta is they dont even try to just be sitcoms. Theyre completely comfortable sort of straddling that line between comedy and drama. Where are your ancestors from . Congo, ivory coast . I dont know. This spooky thing called slavery happened, and my entire ethnic identity was erased. I remember an episode i saw, and i was like, oh my god. He covered mental illness, black unemployment. Im not asking for money. You should be. Aint you homeless . Not real homeless. Im not using a rat as a phone or something. Dont be racist, man. That make you schizophrenia. That dont make you homeless. He covered so many topics in not even the whole episode. That was like the first few scenes. And he gets to do it under a black lens while having that not be the only thing about the show that is intriguing. Black people can now say themselves, this is who we are, and you see that in shows like atlanta and like an insecure. I want to thank trump for making black people number one on the most oppressed list. Oh upbeat music insecure is todays version of Living Single and girlfriends. Those shows really paved the way. Issa rae took that torch and added to the conversation in a really meaningful way. I am sexy. Lets get outta here. Youre super oh my god, youre a Music Producer do you know beck . It started on youtube. She shared her stories, the misadventures of awkward black girl. [j] my name is j, and im awkward and black. That eventually landed at hbo. I remember we were meeting with hbo, and the title insecure had always existed, and we were having a conversation about, oh, we should rename the show. And they were like, well, you, issa, theres nothing insecure about you. And she was like, thats why were calling the show insecure is because im constantly insecure. I think the secret to insecures success is that hbo eventually let issa do what she wanted to do. You know what . This isnt our story to tell, but were gonna give you what you need to tell it. And it has become this massive pop culture moment that everyone loves, and its such an honest portrayal of black life. Ive been tased before tase me again ill survive we wanted to talk about things that felt like everyday life on a tuesday for black people, not juneteenth. Its not king day. laughs its just gonna be like a tuesday, and this is what we had to deal with on a tuesday. Thats where we always felt thisis show needed to live, and so i feel like those were the ways that insecure felt different. Gotta take a risk sometime gotta take a risk lively music Dear White People. We filmed Dear White People, season one in 2016. Our last day of filming was the day of the president ial election. Dear white people ended up releasing in a trump world. Dear white people takes place at a fictional ivy league institution, kind of stand in for white america, and there, we follow this group of black students navigating a very white world and figuring out what it means to be black now. [professor] anyone with some special connection to the material . It was always like a battle between the people who said, why do we need a show like this . And then people saying like really horribly racist stuff. People were threatening to boycott netflix, and i remember being so scared, like, wow, we just did all this work. Is our show just gone . And the netflix executive sent us an email and said, tense music were putting this show out. These comments let us know exactly how much this show is needed. And frankly, making the show Dear White People in the time of trump is and was a form of protest. Our entire fourseason run is book ended by his election win and his, thank god, election loss. Youre not Rashida Jones biracial. Youre Tracee Ellis Ross biracial. People think of you as black. Hip hop music, you like it so now you have shows like twenties, which is created by lena waithe, which made history as one of the first shows to have its lead characters lgbtq, and what that says is that we again are changing and that we can tell these stories and that black people are so different. What stands out for me about twenties is the lead character is a black queer woman. Shes not the sidekick. What i also love about the show is that it has a lot of conversations that, frankly, we have in huddles but usually not in public. These are conversations were not supposed to put on tv, lena why we always the only black people here . Because you know black people dont like being outside. Whats amazing about these artists, people like issa ray and lena waithe, theyre really great about wanting to bring up new voices and continue the conversation. You have been out here for three years, and what do you have to show for it . Look, we are living in the new black renaissance, okay . Im black and im gay. Hollywood should be knocking down my door. Fireworks Hiss and boom lively Classical Music welcome friends, to the middle of everything friends that bike together. Hike together with goats. With goats come on in. Its the middle things that count. You just cant beat this view, or this crew. Cant wait to see what tomorrow brings, here in the middle of everything ive never been healthier. Shingles doesnt care. But shingrix protects. Proven over 90 effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. Shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. An increased risk of guillainbarre syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. Fainting can also happen. The most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. [people chatting] situation by yazoo [water splashing] blue eyed dressed for every situation moving through the doorway of a nation pick me up and. [opening can] put a smile on your plate with new pancake tacos. Because when you fold a pancake in half, you get a taco. Or in this case, 3 for 6. Try all four flavors. Here for a fun time, not a long time. Only from ihop. My sport propels me forward. Contra Costa CollegeSaw Potential in me that i didnt know i had. Focus. Determination. Drive. Contra Costa College helped me blaze the trail. Now im a comet, and theres no stopping me. Come on, this is your shot. Take it. Join the team at contra Costa College. Start today at contracosta. Edu upbeat music for oprah winfrey, this is not only the start of a brand new year. It is also the beginning of her new cable network. Its time. I believe that the future of black Television Comes in ownership, places that we own, we operate, and we can have our own voice. For everyone who has actually been given that seat at the table for most of us with melanin, you gotta fight. We have a person like tyler perry who owns a studio, and thats remarkable in and of itself because, in 1950, you could have never have imagined that a black man would dominate this space so thoroughly as tyler perry has. upbeat music i think the black ownership of content will disrupt the Media Ecosystem because we wont have gatekeepers who are beholden to the status quo or traditional media companies. A perfect example of black ownership changing the game, lee daniels and The Wonder Years. I loved The Wonder Years growing up. Love it even more now that theyve rebooted it and theyve said it in montgomery, alabama cause it reminded me of my childhood. Lee daniels acquired the rights to the original wonder years because he wanted to tell a story about the black middleclass experience during the late 60s. I didnt wanna direct it. I didnt wanna write it. I just didnt wanna mess it up, so i found a great showrunner writer, saladin, who had a good take on it. So i think its time that we talk with you about sex. Cant we just whoop the boy like god intended . Yeah, mama, ill take the whooping i came on board and we decided to set the show in the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement. And not just the tragedy and the pain and the trauma because weve carried that for so long, and we continue to, but trying to build family and community and celebrate and have love in the midst of that. What makes cupcakes taste so down home . Slavery and bacon grease in the pan. Abc understandably so had a lot of concerns. Then as soon as we started turning in material, the note always was, can you make it funny . You told us that you wanted real life. Trust us. Itll be funny when its supposed to be funny, and then itll be heartfelt when its supposed to be heartfelt and dramatic when it needs to be dramatic. And so thats whats really special about The Wonder Years reboot is telling the story of america from a different perspective, from our perspective. upbeat soulful music Black Representation has improved on television because black people have the opportunity to actually represent themselves as opposed to white creators saying, this is who black people are. upbeat funky music seems like a drop in the bucket, but then that Bucket Overflows and everything gets sticky. I cant predict the future of black sitcoms, but i am liking that more creative license is being taken. Lighten up, dude remember your condo. More black creators are getting in the door and showing their Point Of View that were getting a chance to see characters be three dimensional and more. Eyes on the prize, world domination. I think about the opportunities that we have now, and i get excited. It should be a rule. Exes cannot walk on each others blocks. Sweetie, that will leave me a very, very small batch of the bronx. Good morning, atlanta i dont care who you slept with, as long as you. Wake up with kenan wake up with kenan when i think about the history of black television, i really think about progress. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created. And i think about how our experience in the United States also very much mirrors our progress in the medium. Id like to introduce introduce . Oh, this man needs no introduction. Id know the reverend Jesse Jackson anywhere. audience laughs i really do see a journey from the early years. Oh, heres your clean shirt, mr. Harry. Thank you, beulah. When so much of it was seen through a white lens. Well talk about this in the morning. Now go to your room. Yes, sir. Goodnight, boss. Hey, did you get my email about the two of us hanging together after school or . No, it must have gone to spam. I think maya angelou said that if you dont like something, change it, and if you cant change it, change your perspective. girl screams Fire Extinguisher hisses audience laughs we are the ones who are saying, this is who we are. This is why we matter. This is what we want you to understand. Were Writing Stories for us. Whats this neighborhood technically called, issa . Oh, someone told me its the black beverly hills. Is that true . upbeat music guys, i really dont know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. Could you oh, but we just moved it here