I just read your response to ...
Question: I just read your response to L.C.'s
question and would like to say thank you. I am an African-American woman and have never found humor in any of Tyler Perry's buffoonish material. You will probably get slammed for your response, but I want you to know I really appreciate what you said about overembracing this show just because it has a black cast. I remember great shows like
Frank's Place and
A Different World, which had great writing and realistic characters. And while
Seinfeld and
Friends did not have a black cast, my experience is more in line with those shows than with
House of Payne. I just wanted to say thank you for responding to that reader the same way I would have.
Answer: Fair enough, and thanks for bringing up the remarkable
Frank's Place, which deserved so much better than it got on CBS way back when. The truth is that there probably should be room on TV for sitcoms that aim both high and low, and this takes me back to the earlier
High School Musical 2 question. When trying to assess shows aimed at a particular audience, whether it's women or kids or a racial minority, it helps to keep the target audience in mind while also holding the show to a certain standard of writing, acting and crossover relevance. Which is why there's a world of difference between a class act like
Everybody Hates Chris and a clumsily crass act like
House of Payne.
