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