Essay 1309

Insiders bemoan state of the black sitcom

By Mekeisha Madden Toby
New York Times news service

There is no better way to address the current state of African-American sitcoms than with the comments comedians have made about them.

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 such as “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, prime time and cable combined had less than a dozen such shows a year ago, with six on UPN. Of course, this was before the advent of The CW, a marriage between former The WB and UPN and their programming.

“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 Southfield, Mich., 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 non-existent on the small screen, and there is 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 -- historically, black sitcoms have lived longer on prime time.

Even the African-American shows that are on prime-time TV are all being lumped together on one night (currently Mondays, which they were unceremoniously shifted to two weeks after dismal ratings haunted a Sunday night debut).

This makes for what Tukufu Zuberi, the director of the Africana Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, calls the “ghetto-ization of television.”

“Is it worse to have these shows, or these shows on that night?” Zuberi asks.

“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 Evanses (‘Good Times’) and not as rich as the Huxtables (‘The Cosby Show’).”

Zuberi’s concern with The CW’s 7-9 p.m. 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.” (Fox’s early flagship hits included “In Living Color” and “Martin.”)

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.”