Black sitcom

Not to be confused withBlack comedy.

TV cast ofThe Amos 'n' Andy Show(1951-53).Spencer Williams(Andy),Tim Moore(Kingfish), andAlvin Childress(Amos)

Ablack sitcomis asitcomthat principally featuresblack peoplein its cast. Prominent black sitcoms to date typically come from theUnited StateswithAfrican Americancasts, forming a branch ofAfrican American comedy.Although sitcoms with primarily black characters have been present since the earliest days of network television, this genre rose to prominence in the 1990s, mostly then onupstart networksoutside theBig Three.

History

Early twentieth century

See also:Dialect comedy

In the early days of television, black actors were often cast in stereotypical roles, often as comic clowns in a tradition tracing back to the genre of blackminstrelsypopular in the early 20th century thru the late 1940s or as servants, usually maids.In 1948, the sitcom,The Laytonsstarred singer and actress,Amanda Randolph.It was the first time a black actor was a series regular on a network TV series in theUnited States.Randolph portrayed a problem solving maid to a whitesuburbanfamily.

1950s

The first television sitcom to principally portray black people,Amos 'n' Andy,was widely popular among diverse audiences. The actors on the original radio show were both white, but the 1951–53 CBS television show portrayed them with black actors, and represented black individuals as businesspeople, judges, lawyers and policemen. After over seventy episodes, it was taken off the air after protests from theNAACPand others who alleged that the show engaged instereotyping.Beulah,a CBS radio sitcom 1945–54 and ABC television sitcom 1950–53, centered on a black woman character in a racially mixed cast and faced similar criticism.

1960s

Julia(NBC, 1968–71) andRoom 222(ABC, 1969–74) each had a black performer as first-billed lead of a racially mixed cast.The Bill Cosby Show(NBC, 1969–71) had Cosby as its sole billed star. For her portrayal of Julia, actressDiahann Carrollbecame the first black woman to receive anEmmynomination.Otherwise, afterAmos 'n' Andythere were no new sitcoms with an all or mostly black permanent main cast in the U.S. until the 1970s.

1970s

Several popular black sitcoms appeared in the 1970s, includingSanford and Son,Good Times,That's My Mama,The Jeffersons,andWhat's Happening!!While the sitcoms were widely popular among diverse audiences, celebrated black culture and addressed social issues,they were critiqued for an excess of loud and buffoonish characters, mostly in lower socioeconomic classes with the exception ofThe Jeffersons.Impressed with child actorGary Coleman,the president ofNBCcreated the sitcomDifferent Strokesspecifically as a vehicle for him. Coleman would eventually become NBC's highest paid actor on a comedic series during its run.Although the series starred two black child actors and addressed social issues mainly from their perspective, it featured an otherwise all white cast and in retrospect has been criticized by some as aWhite Saviornarrative.Good Timeswas adapted into the British sitcomThe Fosters(ITV,1976–77), one of the first British series with an all black cast.

1980s

In the 1980s sitcoms such asThe Cosby Show,A Different World,227,andFrank's Placechallenged stereotypical portrayals of black people, with subtler comedy and characterization and much increased representation of theblack middle class.These series were well received with diverse audiences.The Cosby Showbecame the most-watched series of any genre on television for five consecutive seasons and in the top 20 for all its eight seasons.

1990s

After the 1980s, the major U.S. television networks appeared to lose interest in black sitcoms. In the 1990s, newer networks such asFox,The WBandUPN,anxious to establish themselves with a black audience, featured black sitcoms such asMartinandLiving Single,which drew high ratings among black households and were profitable even with a limited white viewership.Several black sitcoms of the 1990s were successful with both black and white audiences, especially family, adolescent, and young adult oriented series likeFamily Matters,The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,Moesha,andSister, Sister.Roc,about a working-class family, was critically acclaimed for combining comedy and drama with a cast led by theater veterans.

The WB released multiple sitcoms such asThe Jamie Foxx Show,The Parent 'Hood,Smart Guy,The Wayans Bros.,andThe Steve Harvey Show.The Famous Jett Jacksonalso debuted on theDisney Channelalong withHangin' with Mr. CooperonABC.Beyond the sitcom format,In Living ColorandKenan & Kelinnovated insketch comedy,andDef Comedy Jamshowcased blackstand-up comedians.In Britain,Desmond's(1989–94) became the longest-running sitcom by number of episodes to originate onChannel 4.

2000s

Black sitcoms in the 2000s experimented with genre conventions.The Bernie Mac ShowandEverybody Hates Chrisusedsingle-camera setupand narration.The Boondocks,anadultanimated sitcommade for cable television, ran four seasons intermittently from 2005 to 2014. Its blunt style and social critiques were sometimes controversial. It won anNAACP Image AwardandPeabody Award.The Disney Channel also released the popular animated family sitcom,The Proud FamilyandThat's So Raven,both of whom would see a revival and return to TV in the 2020s.

From 1997 to 2001, the number of black sitcoms on U.S. television declined from 15 to 6 as white viewership declined,and that decline generally continued into the 2000s.Civil rights organizations accused networks of denying minorities equal opportunity as well as a broader participation in general television programming.The explosion ofreality televisionand the decline of broadcast audience numbers in the 2000s also challenged the sitcom genre. In Canada,Da Kink in My Hair(Global,2007–09) had a successful first season but ratings faltered after rescheduling for its second season.

2010s

By the early 2010s, black sitcoms had faded from broadcast television but there were signs of a comeback on cable includingThe Game,canceled byThe CWin 2009 then renewed onBET,A.N.T. FarmonDisney Channel,Are We There Yet?,Tyler Perry's For Better Or WorseonTBS,Love That Girl!onTV One,andLet's Stay TogetherandReed Between the Lines,on BET. Popular black sitcoms from prior decades returned in reruns on BET,BET Her,Bounce TV,TV Land,TV One,MTV2,and TBS.

In 2012,Tyler Perry's House of PaynesurpassedThe Jeffersonsto become the longest-running sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast by number of episodes.

Also in 2012,Debbie Allen,showrunner ofA Different Worldfrom 1988 to 1993, wrote onTwitterthat she wanted to reboot the series. Over a million people onFacebook,Twitter, and blogs reacted to the tweet signalling approval of the potential reboot.

In 2014,Black-ishpremiered on ABC to over 11 million viewers and mostly positive reviews.The show addressed many current racial issues.Black-ishspawned the spin-offsMixed-ishandGrown-ish,also with African-American leads and addressing racial issues.

2020s

Abbott Elementary,aworkplace comedyabout the staff of a predominantly black Philadelphia public school, debuted in 2021 on ABC. By its second season it was the network's most-watched comedy and received universal critical acclaim.The Wonder Years,ABC's 2021 series about a black family in the 1960s – areimaginingofthe 1988 series of the same nameabout a white family in the 1960s – lasted two seasons.

Analysis

The favorite programs of television audiences tend to reflect their different ethnic origins and affinities. The exposure of the black community on U.S. TV has been greater than that of other minorities but continues to reflect racial divisions within American society.

After U.S. networks were criticized by theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) for a lack of racial diversity, drama shows, such asThe West Wing,began casting more black characters.

From the 1980s to early 2000s, Black sitcoms such asThe Cosby Show,Family Matters,Living Single,Moesha,andOne on One,showed an evolution of how the lives of African Americans were portrayed.

Black sitcoms feature highly in the black audience's top 10 programs but have limited success with white audiences, attributed by Doug Alligood, senior vice-president at the advertising agency BBDO which has analyzed ratings figures, to the failure of humor to translate. The high ratings achieved byThe Cosby Showhave been ascribed to humor that has appealed to both whites and blacks.Black households make up over 20 percent of regular TV viewers.