As you flick through the many television stations or channel
surf during the commercial breaks of your favorite television shows you may
notice that something or someone is missing.
Primetime televsion has not lost any of the anticipated evening hype
long since the days of Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, and Mash, but it has lost something. Televsion has come far in the last 60 years,
but it has also taken large strides backwards.
African Americans are only 13.1% [3] of the US population, but
now play an even smaller role in prime time television programming. African
American sitcoms have been in existence since the early days of network sitcom
programming rising to prominence in the 1990’s, but recently the major networks
have been under fire for failing to portray racial diversity of real world
settings. There is an absence of the
African American family in major network primetime programming without any
reason or justification given by the major networks.
Some
television executives may argue the fact that the reason for the lack of
African American sitcoms is because it is hard to portray the typical African
American family. Other critics may see these shows as “black” sitcoms losing
the show’s mass appeal to white America. Regardless of some opinions there are no African American sitcoms on any of the major
networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX).
Are these opinions and beliefs true?
Are these sitcoms too stereotypical?
When you watch “The Big Bang
Theory” do you think to yourself that you are watching a “white” sitcom? When
you tune into “The Game” on cable’s BET network do you feel like you are
watching a “black” sitcom? African American sitcoms used to be about African
Americans being people, but as of lately they are about African Americans being
African Americans. Nowadays African
American television shows have almost become so stereotypical that even some blacks
do not watch some of these sitcoms. On
the flipside, some blacks see some of the African American sitcoms as too
“white” of a sitcom missing the reality of the hard working middle class black family. Either way you look at it writers are having
a tough time creating a realistic African American family sitcom and the major
networks are not even considering the their options. Sitcoms like “The
Bernie Mac Show” and “My Wife and Kids” were the last sitcoms to air on the
major networks with some success; which was over five years ago.
Cable channels do offer a small selection of African
American sitcoms, but only one appeared on any of the major networks this year.
“The Cleveland Show” appeared on FOX, which was a cartoon and canceled in May
of this year. [2] You can find a few African American sitcoms on
cable channels like BET, TV One, and Centric, but without the backing and
promotion that the major networks have these shows go unnoticed at times and
often add to the debate of being too stereotypical. This is how a show like Tyler Perry’s “House
of Payne” surpasses “The Jeffersons”[4] and becomes the longest
running African American sitcom in US history, but no one can name any actors
from the show.
While African
Americans are losing their star power in sitcom television “Reality” television
is steering television in a totally different direction. With the uprising of reality television, sitcoms
are on the decline and African Americans are finding even slimmer opportunities
for sitcom stardom. In the last decade
television sitcoms have been in decline when compared to prior decades making
the sitcom itself less attractive to television executives. Reality television shows have increased to
57% of all television shows [3] ultimately lending a helping hand in taking away
from some of the already scarce opportunities for the African American sitcom. However, as of
recently the sitcom is making its way back to primetime programming with shows
like “How I Met Your Mother”, “Modern Family” and “The Big Bang Theory” leading the way. Now is the time for the grand return of the
sitcom…subject to blackout.
With the recent popularity of
sitcoms, the lack of the African American sitcom is still evident in the schedule
last fall for the major networks. Last summer,
TV Guide previewed forty-five new
shows premiering on the major networks and while blacks have found a few roles
on these shows there was not one African American sitcom listed. While African Americans are becoming familiar
with the term “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” when referencing themselves
in sitcoms other minorities such as women and gays both have sitcoms either
currently running on television or soon to premiere. Whether you are a woman, a
Latino, an African American, or gay you are a minority and that means that you
are a part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and
often subjected to differential treatment.
However, at a time when our President is African American and blacks
feel more liberated than ever why is there less African American sitcoms on the
major networks than there was during the Jim Crow era.
Money. Money is typically always found at the root
of all evil. As the major networks chase
the younger viewers for their uninhibited spending these viewers become more
and more attractive to advertisers who behind the curtains run the show for
networks. Rosa Parks may have fought for
the right to not have to sit in the back of the bus, but African Americans are
taking a back seat in major network programming. Network executives are chasing the money and
following the demographic it leads to thus making primetime television whiter
and mainstream even as the minority is slowly becoming the majority.
As the struggle
continues for African Americans on and off the screen the issue of “What killed
the black sitcom” is relevant and this issue of scarcity of African American
family sitcoms on the major networks has been receiving attention from multiple
Civil Rights groups including the NAACP.
Nevertheless, before we pull the plug on the African American sitcom Brande
Victorian, writer for Madame Noire,
in a 2012 article titled “Can We Ever Get The Black Family Sitcom Back” says it
best:
By no means should we give up
on putting together strong representations of black families in sitcoms today,
but they need to be contemporary and they need to come out from under the
shadow of “The Cosby Show,” “The Jeffersons,” “What’s Happening,” and “Good
Times.” Those shows were genius because they spoke to their era, we need to do
the same in 2012. We can prove that two parent homes exist, we can show that
blended families don’t have to mean mess custody battles and unpaid child
support, we can show that black families adopt. There are a lot of modern
positive examples of black life, what we need are innovative writers and
producers who can paint that picture in a way that’s relatable and
inspirational.
References
1. Anhoward.wordpress.com/the-effect-reality-tv-is-having-on-us-shocking-statistics. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
2.
Hinckley, David (May 13, 2013). "Fox announces 2013-14 fall schedule, which includes
return of Kiefer Sutherland's '24'". NY Daily News.
Retrieved June 9, 2013.
3. Quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
Last revised, June 6, 2013. Retrieved June
7, 2103.
4. Top 40 longest-running black sitcoms. Last
revised June 20, 2013. Retrieved June
21, 2013, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sitcom#Top_40_longest-running_black_sitcoms
5. Victorian, B. (2012). Can we ever get the black family sitcom back? Madame
Noire. Retrieved June 23, 2013, from
http://madamenoire.com/172103/can-we-ever-get-the-black-family-sitcom-back/
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