As an African-American TV ...
Question: As an African-American TV viewer, I am happy to watch a TV show that has a diverse cast. My current favorites are
Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and
Scrubs. But sometimes I miss the days of watching family shows like
The Cosby Show and
A Different World, where the central cast are African-American. I know that UPN at one time had a number of shows geared toward an African-American audience, but since the merger with the WB, that is no longer the case. Don't get me wrong, I still like to watch
Girlfriends, but the other "urban" comedies on the CW I can do without. Do you think that, with the success of
Ugly Betty (diverse cast, but built around a Hispanic heroine and a Hispanic family), good shows centered around a minority family are coming soon? Along those same lines, I also remember hearing about a new sitcom created by
Tyler "Madea" Perry called
House of Payne. Has the show been picked up by any networks, and if so, when will it be on? If not, why do you think that it hasn't been picked up yet? Even if it wasn't really good, wouldn't some network like Fox or the CW want to give it a chance? It's not like the networks haven't picked up subpar shows before. Can you say
War at Home and
'Til Death?
Answer: If the Cosby-produced shows are your model, I'm assuming (although you didn't mention it) that you've embraced
Everybody Hates Chris, which is the best of its kind I've seen in years. It is the exception, of course, and I think everyone wishes that the CW comedy block aimed a little higher (excepting
Girlfriends, which has been generally well-received critically and has always done reasonably well). As discussed earlier in this column, I have to hope that the success of
Ugly Betty in particular will encourage the other major networks to continue developing shows that reflect the experiences of interesting, entertaining characters of all colors. But I'm still concerned about
Chris being left out of this discussion. I wish it were doing better, but I think that has a lot to do with the network it's on. In terms of its creativity, not to mention bringing Chris Rock's distinct point of view to prime time, it seems exactly the sort of show that TV needs more of. As for
Tyler Perry's House of Payne, the last I heard is that it will premiere this summer on TBS, and after a 15-month exclusive window, it will be sold into syndication in the fall of 2008, on several Fox-owned stations and no doubt on many others.
