Blacks on Network TV!Political Economic Context:" American in the Late 1940s!•! Nazism defeated!•! Post-war industrial boom!•! Nascent civil rights movement!•! Military desegregates (1948)!•! South remains segregated!Television’s Rapid Diffusion!•! Percent of homes with television!1940: .4%!1950: 25%!1956: 65%!1960: 75%!Rapid Increase in Airtime!•! As airtime increases, TV needs blacks!•! Blacks in variety of roles and formats!•! By 1950, black stereotypes prevail!•! Common roles: maids, servants, valets!Stereotypes, 1950s !•! The Beulah Show (1950-52)!! Starring Louise Beavers!•! The Jack Benny Show (1953)!! Co-starring Eddie Anderson!B/R!Stereotypes, 1950s!•! Subservient roles common in 1950s!•! Buelah and Rochester roles: !-- Comedic not dramatic!-- Servants to whites!-- No families of their own!-- First names only!Why the Shift…?!•! From acceptance of blacks to stereotypes!-- Didn’t want to offend Southern audience!-- Reliance on proven formulas!-- Adapted successful radio shows for TV!Amos ‘n’ Andy, 1951-53!•! Adventures of three black friends!•! On radio, two white actors play the roles!•! TV cast is all black!•! In syndication until 1966!•! “Sponsored” show!The Stars!•! Radio!–! Freeman Gosden (l)!–! Charles Correll (r)!•! TV!–! Spencer Williams (l)/ Andy!–! Tim Moore (c)/ Kingfish!–! Alvin Childress (r)/ Amos!Amos ‘n’ Andy!•! Amos ‘n’ Andy generated controversy!•! Black community was split !Amos ‘n’ Andy!•! Arguments against the show!-- Demeaning stereotypes!-- Ignored real-life problems faced by blacks!-- Inaccurate depiction of black middle class!Amos ‘n’ Andy !•! Arguments for the show!-- Provided jobs for black actors!-- Normalized black life!-- Depicted black professionals!A/A!Amos ‘n’ Andy!•! Despite the problems and controversy, the show was historically important!-- First nuclear black family on TV!-- Includes breadth of character types!-- Demonstrates TV industry’s support! for African American performers!-- Public sees many accomplished black actors !Blacks on TV: 1960s!•! Increasing number of black characters b/c:!–! Networks eliminated “sponsor” system!–! Civil rights movement is growing!–! Networks see emerging market of black consumers !Blacks on TV: 1960s!•! Roles were mostly non-stereotypical!–! High-level professionals!–! Highly intelligent!–! Perfectly integrated!Two Shows, Two Stars!•! I Spy, 1965-1968!Starring Robert Culp &!Bill Cosby!•! Julia, 1968-1971!Starring Diahann Carrol &!Marc Copage!vid!I Spy, Julia!•! Significant breakdown of black stereotypes!•! BUT they also established a standard for black inclusion in prime time:!–! Blacks are acceptable as long as they are teamed with white co-stars and don’t display racial heritage!Blacks on TV: 1970s!•! Number of roles for blacks continues to increase!–!Black middle class growing!–!Black political clout growing!One Show, One “Event”!•! All In the Family, 1971-1979!!Starring Carol O’Connor!•! Roots, 1977!!7-part mini-series!All in the Family!•! Explicitly included racism (and other social issues) in the plot!•! Lead character is a bigot!•! Success allowed producer Norman Lear to create spin-offs with black stars!•! Further success leads to more “black” programming!vid!All in the Family!•! Important milestone: frank discussion of race relations and racism in America!•! BUT also established a standard by which these issues could be depicted:!–! Dealing with race and racism in the US is acceptable in comedy programs !Roots!•! 85% of homes saw all or part of the show!•! Major effort to depict black culture accurately and thoroughly, in Africa and America!vid!Roots!•! First major TV drama to feature a primarily black cast, and deal with white racism and black slavery in prime time!•! BUT also established a standard by which white racism against blacks would be depicted:!–! Racial oppression by whites against blacks could be shown, but in historical settings, not the present!Blacks on TV: 1980s!•! The Cosby Show, 1984-1992!vid!The Cosby Show: Challenging Established Standards!•! Primarily black cast, not teamed with whites!•! Black culture, history is central to the show!•! Contemporary social issues frequent theme!•! BUT… it’s a comedy!vid!Frank’s Place, 1987-88!•! Black cast and setting!•! Black culture and history!•! Contemporary race-related themes!•! Drama!vid!Frank’s Place: Challenging Established Standards!•! Not a mixed race cast!•! Not culturally generic !•! Not set in the past!•! Not a comedy!Frank’s Place!•! Went beyond the TV industry’s accepted standards of black representation!•! Cancelled after 22 episodes!Today!•! Many TV shows deal with contemporary issues of race and racism against blacks!•! Many TV shows are infused with black history and culture!•! Blacks are not confined primarily to situation comedies (2/3 of black actors in dramas)!Today!BUT!•! All black casts primarily in comedies !•! Blacks are lead stars primarily in comedies!•! Shows with black stars mainly on CW!•! Few TV dramas have black actors in lead role, carrying the show!Conclusion!•! The story of blacks on network TV:!!Two steps forward, one step
View Full Document
Unlocking...