Review: The State of the "Black" Sitcom

Timeline: The Cosby's was and is a great show. Just a classic family with classic characters that will live on forever. Oh before that, we had some of the more groundbreaking shows, not just for employing black actors, but in script and hilarious characters. The Jeffersons. Good Times. What's Happening. OK- then in the 90s, when the culture clearly stated that, hey- its the 90s, we were given some strong shows with great commercial appeal- Fresh Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color, Living Single, Other Cosby Incarnations. Fresh Prince was on NBC, and sadly was the last big black (Albini) show on the network. Fox also used the niche black show to garner a new audience. Today they basically have American Idol, House, and other shows starring white people that I don't really like (save for Simpsons). The 90s and 2000s also had the WB and UPN, which had The Wayans Brothers Show, Parenthood, Girlfriends, Moesha, and a fuck ton others. Hopefully some of these show are still on the CW, but I don't watch the CW. The WB and UPN also stayed afloat basically on the strength of their heavy rotation based on the black niche. Now what? The Tyler Perry Shows on TBS? Sorry but I think those suck. What the fuck is up network TV? Byron Allen is on late nights, and what else? Nothing of the top of my mind. I'm doing research right now, hold up... our president is black... Brothers got canceled because it was stupid and employed Michael Strahan... families are black on Extreme Makeover sometimes... Tracy Morgan on 30 Rock and Donald Glover on Community... the black people on CSI, Criminal Minds, and the Law and Orders more than hold their own... holy shit- the Cleveland Show!?!? Our leading black network sitcom is a cartoon where the lead voice is a white guy?? OK- not every black person likes Tyler Perry, or not everyone even has cable. I don't have cable. Is there a strong divide between what constitutes a black sitcom and a regular sitcom? No. and there never was. Good Times is still a relevant show that I find hilarious. Is there a struggle to promote black shows out there? Is middle america worse off than I thought? Not just blacks, but have asians ever had a chance? American Girl starring Margaret Cho and the other guy on City Guys? How about the handicapped? The homeless? Rabbits? Neckties? Intake? OK, I don't know what my point is here. I just want to think about it and think about what it says about our country. There are a million talented people there who are capable. Those people are white, those people are black, those people are brown, those people are people. So what am I saying here?

Review: The State of the "Black" Sitcom

Timeline: The Cosby's was and is a great show. Just a classic family with classic characters that will live on forever. Oh before that, we had some of the more groundbreaking shows, not just for employing black actors, but in script and hilarious characters. The Jeffersons. Good Times. What's Happening. OK- then in the 90s, when the culture clearly stated that, hey- its the 90s, we were given some strong shows with great commercial appeal- Fresh Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color, Living Single, Other Cosby Incarnations. Fresh Prince was on NBC, and sadly was the last big black (Albini) show on the network. Fox also used the niche black show to garner a new audience. Today they basically have American Idol, House, and other shows starring white people that I don't really like (save for Simpsons). The 90s and 2000s also had the WB and UPN, which had The Wayans Brothers Show, Parenthood, Girlfriends, Moesha, and a fuck ton others. Hopefully some of these show are still on the CW, but I don't watch the CW. The WB and UPN also stayed afloat basically on the strength of their heavy rotation based on the black niche. Now what? The Tyler Perry Shows on TBS? Sorry but I think those suck. What the fuck is up network TV? Byron Allen is on late nights, and what else? Nothing of the top of my mind. I'm doing research right now, hold up... our president is black... Brothers got canceled because it was stupid and employed Michael Strahan... families are black on Extreme Makeover sometimes... Tracy Morgan on 30 Rock and Donald Glover on Community... the black people on CSI, Criminal Minds, and the Law and Orders more than hold their own... holy shit- the Cleveland Show!?!? Our leading black network sitcom is a cartoon where the lead voice is a white guy?? OK- not every black person likes Tyler Perry, or not everyone even has cable. I don't have cable. Is there a strong divide between what constitutes a black sitcom and a regular sitcom? No. and there never was. Good Times is still a relevant show that I find hilarious. Is there a struggle to promote black shows out there? Is middle america worse off than I thought? Not just blacks, but have asians ever had a chance? American Girl starring Margaret Cho and the other guy on City Guys? How about the handicapped? The homeless? Rabbits? Neckties? Intake? OK, I don't know what my point is here. I just want to think about it and think about what it says about our country. There are a million talented people there who are capable. Those people are white, those people are black, those people are brown, those people are people. So what am I saying here?

Reviewing: Yesterday's review of the review of the day before that

We must understand that through these reviews, we can see how the author thinks of his audience. A short entry? C'mon I'vebeen better than that and it makes it seem like I don't enjoying talking/blogging. The real issue here is commitment. The more real issue hiding behind that mask of commitment is my own stuggles on how to talk to others. What do I want the reader to care about? I don't care. See! That's the problem. Sure, I am writing this for myself but to what extent? I already made this more reader friendly-- didn't I? The struggle is to look at yourself and truly allow yourself to be honest. You are kind of doing that. But that is still a kind of. Choose a side. No one needs to know anything about your long term goals, or anything about yourself. They just are here to read a blog entry. And this one isn't doing it as much as you would hope. But then again, it might be more than you hoped- sure it's a concept, and damned if you're struggling with it. Just keep pushing through. Spinning the wheel is what makes it mostly a wheel. Just don't too wrapped up in yourself. Yesterday's review was a slow ride, take it easy. There was no passion and no concern for yourself. Just an entry to be done. And that's a cop out. Don't pussy foot around, take things seriously. There are ways to be happy and it starts with me being serious about these entrys that aren't supposed to be serious. I'll enjoy it more. And quit confusing yourself and everyone else by changing tenses. That is really annoying. I know you were doing it on purpose to us. It's just that this is a review of another review about a review. You're going to lose your place. Now go out there, this entry is a stepping stone. Use it as light and the path shall be shown unto you. Hurry! This is the day.

Reviewing: Yesterday's Post

The thought process was there, but there weren't as many wheels turning as one would like. It was of the moment, sure- but didn't discuss much. This entry should discuss much more simply because it has that much more retrospect. 'A day more of retrospect' sounds like a decent high school band that won't ever materialize to anything. So basically- that entry tried. Which is what I got from re-reading it, you re-retard. Still, there needs to be more time with it. There is a point to make that if the posts continue like this- that first entry becomes the center of the onion behind the layers- but this isn't about the future of the entries (it actually is), but about yesterday's entry- which depends on the future (see?). So do I end this entry quick? It's not about this entry. Yesterday- yesterday's entry didn't review as much as I wanted it too, but it was as dumb as I wanted it to be. And if you can't one word in your title working, make sure the other one is. And that should be quick enough

Reviewing: This Post

Alright. What do we say to something when we're saying it already? We say it normal. Not louder. No, never louder. Well this post is about this post and how much this post will effect the following: future posts, current posts, and arguably, past posts (right in there, right in that context). This post is a way for me to express feelings about what I am writing right now. Which, to me, isn't half bad. Pretty good so far. In time, maybe I'll grow to love this post, maybe put it in a best of collection. But they don't have those. In reviewing this post, I have to look at the circumstances of the day and usually, my feelings on any post coincide with my feelings of that day. So maybe this is a worser post than I thought because I am having a good day? Maybe this is a great post, full of bemusement. But I didn't do any word play or say anything ridiculous or silly or even fun... but this post isn't about what I come to expect of myself or hypothesizing what this post is. This post is about this post. And I'll let it stand on its leg. Post legs. Christopher Reeves. Ha. Anyway, I, right now, am amused by this post. Only because it was easy enough to write. Stream the conscious, don't you know? Humbling itself is the only way to humble myself. Humble probably isn't the best word to use here, but you didn't write it, and you don't have to deal with me.