What has happened to the ...
Question: What has happened to the black sitcom? There are no black comedies on the fall schedule on any of the major networks. There are only two that I know of still running on regular television:
Everybody Hates Chris and
The Game on the CW. Both have been moved to the dreaded Friday night for the fall. Why aren't there any comedies with a predominately black cast on network TV? And why isn't anyone talking about it?
Answer: Does it help that Fox is planning a
Family Guy spinoff built around the show's African-American character Cleveland? Probably not. (Although Fox did have a critical success with its claymated and very ethnic
The PJs a while back.) Anyway, perhaps you've noticed how few comedies altogether are on the fall lineup. Reality is the new comedy, I'm sorry to say — and bad comedy at that, if summer hits like
Wipeout is any indication — and when the whole genre suffers, so do comedies with a minority cast. All is not lost, though. Fox is developing a new comedy with Bernie Mac, with whom they had great success just a few seasons ago, and there may be others in the pipeline I'm forgetting. But believe me, we are talking about this, and especially lamenting how the CW, entranced by its new addiction to upscale teen soaps like
Gossip Girl and
90210, has "ghetto-ized" its few remaining African-American comedies to Fridays. I'd also point out that TBS on cable has a hit in
Tyler Perry's House of Payne, but that might sound like I'm recommending it. But honestly, it's almost better to have no minority representation on TV than to have it executed that terribly.
