Black television shows are on an ever changing cycle. From the glory days of The Cosby Show, The Proud Family, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin and many more older black sitcoms, black television has evolved over the years to bring us even more memorable series. After a few years on the downswing, black TV shows have finally found themselves on a path to redemption.
A popular criticism of popular black TV shows is that their entire plot is based around the fact that the main character is black, rather than having a main character who just so happens to be black. Some of the newer shows, such as Black-ish, are based on the fact that the main character is black. However, these shows have evolved over time to delve into more serious topics that just so happen to affect black people more frequently, such as; divorce, politics and racism.
Donald Glover’s Atlanta serves as a satire autobiography. It tells the story of a rapper rising to fame in the trap capital of the world, Atlanta. Where Black-ish provides comedy in a lighter, more family-friendly manner, Atlanta has a knack for using dark humor to provide laughs, as well as insight on social issues. The cast, while majority black, is still a diverse group of actors. Here’s to hoping season three comes out soon.
FX series, Snowfall, tells the story of drug dealer, Franklin Saint. While the struggles that he goes through are not exclusive to blacks, the fact that the show takes place in the 1980s provides challenges for Franklin that other races at the time may have been spared. Although Franklin is the main character, the show details the crack epidemic and the effects that it had on the residents of low income neighborhoods. The cycle of drug addiction, poverty and violence assist the show in shedding a light on the hurt that the crack epidemic caused.
Now, there are plenty of black TV shows that were not mentioned here, like: Lovecraft Country,The Chi, Power, Dear White People. Empire, The Last O.G., etc. These shows are great as well. This is just to show that black representation in television is on the rise again. Given the current health and social crises, it may be a while before we are able to see even more new black characters. However, when the time comes, and the characters are well-written, we will be ready to welcome them with open arms!
-Sojourner Freeman
