Some More Memorable TV Characters

Despite the large number of African-Americans on television, they continue to be "ghettoized". This is perhaps one explanation why white audiences don't identify with black characters and in turn don't support black shows in the numbers black viewers support white shows. Another factor contributing to "coach potato segregation"; black characters have historically been relegated to comedic fools, lackluster servants, cold-blooded criminals, and morally bankrupt individuals.

Charlotte Kuchinsky published an article on March 29, 2007 titled Television's Best Characters. This is not to disparage the article which is well written and a very personal account of characters she believes "...left their mark on television." It is however curious that she, like others, considering the best or the most memorable TV characters tend to omit (consciously or subconsciously) minority characters in general and African-American characters in particular.

Early Goings The 60's

Julia was a 1960s television series, best remembered as being the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and ran for 86 episodes on NBC from September 17, 1968 to March 23, 1971.

In Julia, Carroll played widowed single mother Julia Baker (her fighter pilot husband had been shot down in Vietnam) who was a nurse in a doctor's office. The doctor, Morton Chegley, was played by Lloyd Nolan, and Julia's romantic interests by Paul Winfield and Fred Williamson. Though Julia is now remembered as being groundbreaking, while on the air, it was derided by a significant segment of the African American community as not being "political" or "angry" enough, due largely to its status as a standard, lighthearted sitcom. Carroll won the 1968 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a television series for her role in Julia.

Those Were the Days: The 80's

The Cosby Show remains to this day the most popular and well done African-American television series ever. Bill Cosby, a comedian who had long before distinguished himself as a national treasure, had decided to create a series unlike any other before. He wanted to show Blacks as people, not third-class entities bound by the color of their skin. He wanted African-American culture to be paramount in the show, but not the basis of it. NBC had no such thing as a "Thursday Night" or a "Must See" before Bill Cosby. With the addition of The Cosby Show at the beginning of the evening and Hill Street Blues at the end, NBC's Thursday Night became an industry powerhouse that remains uncontested to this day. Cosby resuscitated NBC and brought forth a new interpretation of African-American life on television.

Another show that was ignored but perhaps was more brilliant than Cosby was Tim Reid's Frank's Place. Reid's show dealt with complex intra-racial issues among the Black community. Set in a New Orleans restaurant, Frank's Place discussed Black-on-Black skin color prejudice (light skin vs. dark skin), class warfare, generational conflict, and subtler forms of white racism. Unlike Cosby, Frank's Place contemplated the meaning of African-American existence in this country. CBS's shuffling Frank's Place's time slot from Thursdays to Fridays to Mondays to Saturdays. Consequently, the show although enjoying critical acclaim never found a solid audience.

Quantity not Quality? The 90's

The 90's were interesting to say the least when it came to African-American television. Now Black people had BET (Black Entertainment Television) as well as a smorgasbord of comedies on Fox, WB and UPN. However, there were still major problems. The majority of the Black series available had made a circular turn back into the simple-minded ghetto sitcom (Martin, The Wayans Brothers, Sparks, Homeboys in Outer Space, Goode Behavior, and The Parent 'Hood to name a few.). Many of these shows suffered tremendously from bad writing. One reason for this was the lack of minority writers on these series. There were very few African-American shows with Black creative management, this includes writers, producers, agents, and directors.

There was (and is) still a void of strong Black dramatic series on any major network. The few that were made like Roc, South Central, and the very short-lived Under One Roof, were killed because of low ratings and reluctant executives who didn't want to risk money nor time allowing these shows to develop. Color was an issue but it was ultimately green not black.

Also, missing in the 90's from the three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) were any significant African-American presence. Most programs on these networks dealt with twenty something upper-class white urbanites whose problems stem from physical misunderstandings and unemotional sexual conquest. Shows like Melrose Place, Friends, 90210, Party of Five, Caroline in the City (what major city has no Black people?), Home Improvement, and Cybil present a world devoid of color. Other than the occasional Latino housekeeper or exotic Asian female, these popular shows were completely white.

Where are we now? 21st Century

The CW network, which features the most African-American characters, has the lowest viewership of all major broadcast networks. Few whites I spoke with researching this article admitted being viewers of any shows on this network or its predecessors (UPN, WB). The UPN and WB networks employed "underhanded negro tactics" to get ratings. UPN and WB aimed the majority of their programming and advertising at the urban marketplace (translation: African-American and Latino). The African-American shows on the CW seem to be consolidated to one night. The popular Everyone Hates Chris, Girlfriends, All of Us and the newest (not to mention most mixed and worst written) The Game are positioned in a losing 6-month battle against ABC's Monday Night Football.

Many of Ms. Kuchinsky choices namely, Captain Jean Luc Picard, Murphy Brown and Frasier Crane are among my favorites as well. Here are others you might not, but should try and get to know:

Willona Woods, Good Times
Fred Sanford, Sanford and Son/Sanford
Dee Thomas, What's Happening/What's Happening Now
Benson, Soap/Benson
Claire Huxstable, The Cosby Show
Nell Carter, Gimmie a Break
Erika Alexander, Living Single
Carl Gordon, Roc
Frank, Franks Place
Russell "Stringer" Bell, The Wire
Kenny and Terri, Soul Food
Keith Charles, Six Feet Under
Lt. Anita Van Buren, Law & Order
Ricky Davis, Noah's Arc