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So, uh, what happened to all of the Black sitcoms after the 90s?

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Two Words

Member
The Cosby Show
Sister Sister
Family Matters
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Martin
Kenan & Kel
Hangin with Mr. Cooper
Steve Harvey Show
Smart Guy
Living Single
The Jamie Foxx Show
The Wayans Bros.
Cousin Skeeter
Moesha
etc, etc.

I'm not even trying to argue that these shows were all great. I liked some, and I didn't like others. But it seems like after the 90s, these kinds of shows just disappeared. Obviously, some newer Black sitcoms, like House of Payne, are still being created after the 90s. But it seems clear to me that the numbers have dwindled incredibly.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't watch nearly as much normal television as I used to, but I think sitcoms in general have dwindled since the 90s.
 
O

Ogodei

Member
Bernie Mac was mostly in the 2000s, right? Also Everybody Hates Chris.

No blame for ignoring the Tyler Perry stuff, but the Bernie Mac show was pretty good.
 
T

Two Words

Member
Ogodei said:
Bernie Mac was mostly in the 2000s, right? Also Everybody Hates Chris.

No blame for ignoring the Tyler Perry stuff, but the Bernie Mac show was pretty good.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, like I said, I'm not saying that they completely disappeared after the 90s. It just feels clear to me that they largely shrunk in the number of them. Even if sitcoms have died down as a whole, the proportion feels reduced as well.
 
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Slayven

Member
Two Words said:
The Cosby Show
Sister Sister
Family Matters
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Martin
Kenan & Kel
Hangin with Mr. Cooper
Steve Harvey Show
Smart Guy
Living Single
The Jamie Foxx Show
The Wayans Bros.
Cousin Skeeter
Moesha
etc, etc.

I'm not even trying to argue that these shows were all great. I liked some, and I didn't like others. But it seems like after the 90s, these kinds of shows just disappeared. Obviously, some newer Black sitcoms, like House of Payne, are still being created after the 90s. But it seems clear to me that the numbers have dwindled incredibly.
Click to expand...
It is weird that after the 90s diversity just went to shit on tv. Even in the 90s Nick had black sitcoms Kenan and Kel, my cousin skeeter, etc
 
P

PSqueak

Banned
Isn't there a running sitcom based on that Ice Cube movie (are we there yet?) in which Ice Cube appears as not his character in the movie?
 
A

akira28

Member
Blame Bill Clinton and GWBush.

Slayven said:
It is weird that after the 90s diversity just went to shit on tv. Even in the 90s Nick had black sitcoms Kenan and Kel, my cousin skeeter, etc
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diversity changed from reducing exclusivity to controlled management of minority inclusion. trickle down equality.
 
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Fuchsdh

Member
Two Words said:
Well yeah, like I said, I'm not saying that they completely disappeared after the 90s. It just feels clear to me that they largely shrunk in the number of them. Even if sitcoms have died down as a whole, the proportion feels reduced as well.
Click to expand...

Perhaps (and this is wishful thinking, since I don't have solid numbers) the integration of black performers on other shows obviated some of the need for specifically targeted "black shows"?

I'm also wondering if the issue is more demographics—the only people watching traditional TV becoming older and whiter than the gen pop.
 
D

Dereck

Member
Some from the 2000s off the top of my head.

One on One
Just Jordan
The Bernie Mac Show
That's So Raven
Everybody Hates Chris
Wanda at Large
Romeo!
Girlfriends
 
D

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
Those shows were mostly on smaller networks like WGN and UPN, which now have a bunch of nerdy shows and soap operas.
 
T

Two Words

Member
Fuchsdh said:
Perhaps (and this is wishful thinking, since I don't have solid numbers) the integration of black performers on other shows obviated some of the need for specifically targeted "black shows"?

I'm also wondering if the issue is more demographics—the only people watching traditional TV becoming older and whiter than the gen pop.
Click to expand...

I don't really see black actors in these sitcoms much. And a lot of those tv shows weren't necessarily "black shows". They simply consisted of a black family or black protagonist/main character instead of the typical white family.
 
P

PSqueak

Banned
Two Words said:
I don't really see black actors in these sitcoms much. And a lot of those tv shows weren't necessarily "black shows". They simply consisted of a black family or black protagonist/main character instead of the typical white family.
Click to expand...

This is how i felt about most shows in the OP list, specially Fresh Prince and Kenan & Kel, as a mexican i felt i could relate way more to Will in fresh prince than any white family/protagonist on tv.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
Two Words said:
I don't really see black actors in these sitcoms much. And a lot of those tv shows weren't necessarily "black shows". They simply consisted of a black family or black protagonist/main character instead of the typical white family.
Click to expand...

I think we're disagreeing about what "black show" means. I'd argue that those shows were at the time specifically designed to appeal to black people given the dearth of other representations. Having a black family *was* still relatively novel. Whereas I don't think of Blackish as being so targeted because the context has changed (although I think we'd all agree not to as large a degree as might have been hoped in 20 years.)

If someone has more info about the business from the time, I'm happy to be proven wrong. I only experienced these shows through syndication as a kid so I can't speak to the contemporaneous impacts.
 
E

EzekelRAGE

Member
Dereck said:
Some from the 2000s off the top of my head.

One on One
Just Jordan
The Bernie Mac Show
That's So Raven
Everybody Hates Chris
Wanda at Large
Romeo!
Girlfriends
Click to expand...

The Game, Malcom and Eddie.

Would The Game count? Only saw it in the background, but seemed to focus mostly on black football player?
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
Sitcoms in themselves have dwindled in numbers due to a shift in the demographic. Seriously, I can't even name as many sitcoms as you just listed in general, let alone black based ones.
 
E

EzekelRAGE

Member
O yea, I think Opra's channel has a couple? Cedric's and some more stuff?


All of Tyler Perry's stuff off air? At least new stuff, instead of reruns.
 
P

PSqueak

Banned
Zibrahim said:
Over saturation. Just like 20 years from now, "what happened to all the super hero movies?" will be a question.
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Well, isn't the cycle actually clocked at 20 years? more like 10 years from now we'll wonder what happened to super hero movies, 20 years from noiw they'll be "in" again.
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
PSqueak said:
This is how i felt about most shows in the OP list, specially Fresh Prince and Kenan & Kel, as a mexican i felt i could relate way more to Will in fresh prince than any white family/protagonist on tv.
Click to expand...

I find this way of thinking weird. Like, they have to be a specific way to be considered black. Think that's the entire point of the show Black-ish.
 
S

SecretMoblin

Member
because yall abandoned Brandy in favor of trash.


buy "Two Eleven" on iTunes to repent and maybe she'll bestow upon us an entirely new golden era of black sitcoms.
 
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tearsintherain

Member
seems like there's a lot more diversity on now with stuff like

Masters of None
Angie Tribeca
Black-ish
Fresh off the Boat
Jane the Virgin
Dr Ken
Mindy Project

there are a TON of Disney/Nick shows like Victorious, Pair of Kings, Austin & Alley, etc that are all diverse casts.

and of course when you factor in drama it explodes dramatically. The list you gave also covered like a decade, i'm sure if you did that for 2010-now the list would be even bigger.

In the 90s a show basically was all white, had a token black actor, or was all black. Now you see really diverse casts in pretty much every new show, barring period comedies like Goldbergs.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
sitcoms overall dropped and the two strongest networks for them, CBS and NBC, are blatantly racist in their casting and show approval. When CBS bought out and merged UPN, they cancelled all the black shows and replaced them with white-casted teen dramas.
 
P

PSqueak

Banned
tkscz said:
I find this way of thinking weird. Like, they have to be a specific way to be considered black. Think that's the entire point of the show Black-ish.
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It's not that they're "not black", but that the premises are universal and you don't feel they target specifically black people.

For example, Fresh Prince did have episodes where racial issues were explored (the episode in which Carlton didn't realize he was being racially profiled is one of the best episodes in the show to me), but in the end it was a fish out of water story of a poor dude from the hood moving with his rich relatives, which for me was easier to relate to than average white families on tv with white people problems.

Get what im saying? Not saying it's not legit Black entertainment, im saying is very universal AND it featured a black cast as the protagonists.
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
PSqueak said:
It's not that they're "not black", but that the premises are universal and you don't feel they target specifically black people.

For example, Fresh Prince did have episodes where racial issues were explored (the episode in which Carlton didn't realize he was being racially profiled is one of the best episodes in the show to me), but in the end it was a fish out of water story of a poor dude from the hood moving with his rich relatives, which for me was easier to relate to than average white families on tv with white people problems.

Get what im saying? Not saying it's not legit Black entertainment, im saying is very universal AND it featured a black cast as the protagonists.
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I understand you now and honestly feel that's a better way of creating those types of shows than sticking to stereotypes. I mean, I got nothing against Martin or The Waynes Brothers, actually really like both those shows, but I like the idea of anyone of any color being able to relate to someone based on their life and personality, rather than just the color of their skin and a stereotypical way of growing up for that type of person.
 
T

Two Words

Member
tkscz said:
I understand you now and honestly feel that's a better way of creating those types of shows than sticking to stereotypes. I mean, I got nothing against Martin or The Waynes Brothers, actually really like both those shows, but I like the idea of anyone of any color being able to relate to someone based on their life and personality, rather than just the color of their skin and a stereotypical way of growing up for that type of person.
Click to expand...

There's no reason they can't all co-exist. I understand the appeal of a tv show that resonates with your lifestyle or upbringing.
 
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