daPrettyman said:

I think it was E! in which they were talking about behind the scenes of Goodtimes. John Amos may have left because of contractual issues but E! was mostly talk about how upset both stars were that Jimmy Walker was the star. But hey it was like 3am in the morning when I was watching this so I could be wrong.

kpowers said:

That's possible that they both were upset, but I know John didn't leave for that reason.

daPrettyman said:

John wanted more cash.....and did not get it.

daPrettyman said:

As I recall, I think you're right.

Anxiety said:

I wanna read this whole thread when I get time, but I'll throw out some shows I remember:

Grey's Anatomy (has a fair amount of Black cast members, especially pre-Isaiah debacle)
Private Practice (2 of the 5-6 leads are Black)
GIDEON'S CROSSING (I'm still mad this show was cancelled! it was excellent)
Thief (not a black show, but a Black lead character)
The Wire (not network but so what)
The Bernie Mac Show
Living Single
Steve Harvey Show (stereotypical BUT FUNNY)
My Wife & Kids (corny, but positive & funny on occasion)
Martin (decent before he started dressing up as his mother)


I'm sure there are others, can't think of them all right now...

CalhounSq said:

Deep Space 9. I like the relationship that Avery Brooks had with his son. IMO one of the more realistic father and son relationships TV has done (well factor out it's in the future and on an alien space station)

Speaking of Avery Brooks does anyone remember his show A Man Called Hawk? Was flipping channels one day and saw it on.

CalhounSq said:

I want to add Everybody Hates Chris and The Game.

Everybody Hates Chris, for the most part, was very realistic. Especially how Julius worked for a living and holding down 2 jobs to support his family. They "moved up" to a better place to live. Chris went to the "good side" of town for school. The situations were very relatable and the show was pretty well written.

The Game also did a great job of breaking the stereotypes for black athletes.

And one of my favorite sitcoms, Girlfriends. Most 20 or 30-something black people know people that are very similar to the characters on that show.

daPrettyman said:

What a slap in the face to cancel Girlfriends without even a series finale. Just snatched it off the air. I wonder if those episodes are available on the DVD?

JackieBlue said:

One of my favorite shows back then. Looking at it now, it's kinda funny - almost a caricature of sorts. It's the modern-day Shaft. White audiences had a hard time with a bald-headed black man that broke the law and beat up White men.

MuthaFunka said:

My always said John Singleton's Shaft was a direct copy of that character.

JackieBlue said:

No one ever wants to talk about Deep Space 9 here, oh well

CalhounSq said:

One show I always liked was Roc.

kpowers said:

I never really watched it.

daPrettyman said:

Not exactly, she wasn't that shallow.

The show's star was THE FAMILY(as she explained), and they shifted the course of the show after the whole "Dy-No-Mite" gimmick and made it look like "JJ Featuring the Evans Family".

I remember awhile back reading from a orger who commented that Madea's character was imitated by a gay club stripper, and that's where Tyler Perry got the idea. Is it true or false, I don't know As for Spike Lee, I am wondering still if he has his "40 Acres And A Mule" store in Brooklyn.

JackieBlue said:

Pretty much.

MuthaFunka said:

Plus for a lot of people that are not black what they see on tv goes a long way to influencing their views of people that are different from them whom they don't interract with on a regular basis. I read an article ages ago that surveyed some white folks who indicated that the Cosby Show exposed them to positive images of black people and opened them up to the possibility of having black friends. Sounds crazy, but these images are quite powerful inside and outside of the black community.

SCNDLS said:

Not crazy at all.

Where did you think the old "lazy, shifty, stupid, passive, sex crazed" myth came from?

And some people REALLY believe that. Media is DEADLY, esp to those who take it with a grain of salt.

CalhounSq said:

Also, Ally McBeal always featured a very diverse cast.

MuthaFunka said:

SCNDLS said:

Exactly. I remember a few years back, a lot of Japanese thought ALL Blacks were gangsters, hoes, and pimps based off what images they got from tv and music.

Harlepolis said:

True dat.

SCNDLS said:

Yum. Lisa Nicole Carson and them tit-tays

MuthaFunka said:

And you can visit them in the crazy house too.

SCNDLS said:

Have noticed that MOST black actresses who are overly extroverted suffer from manic depression?

I never quite figured this out. Jenifer Lewis & Lisa Nicole ALWAYS come to mind.

Harlepolis said:

Most actors and comedians in general could prolly be diagnosed with some kind of emotional issue.

SCNDLS said:

It still bugs me out whenever I remember Jenifer Lewis' interview with Wendy, and how she described the dark episodes of depression she went through. It was severe.

Sometimes she couldn't pull the strength to get from bed for a WEEK I expected anybody to suffer that except her, she hid it so well.
[Edited 5/29/09 17:23pm]

Harlepolis said:

Yeah, I remember that. I love me some Jenifer.

SCNDLS said:

But ain't MOST of y'all crazy though?