![]() ![]() ![]() While these shows may not be the worst offenders (that would be HBO's "Def Comedy Jam"), they fit into a disturbing TV pattern degrading images of black men and women coupled with a message that seems to encourage aberrant and anti-social behavior. And so on.Īs every viewer knows, exaggerations and stereotypes appear in all sitcoms the dual problem here is the target and the cumulative effect. On "Goode," a college professor finds his tea party turned into a barbecue (ribs, of course). On "Malcolm," a man is ridiculed for reading poetry - and he's a fat man, which is supposed to make it twice as funny. Any behavior that borders on the intellectual is mocked any sign of "uppity" aspiration is crushed. The only significant difference is that the originals were better written and better acted.Īlmost without exception, men in this UPN quartet are portrayed as sex-crazed idiots or stuffed shirts women as shrews or sex-pots. Look closely at the network's four brand-new sitcoms, "Malcolm & Eddie," "Goode Behavior," "Sparks!" and "Homeboys in Outer Space," and you'll see the same stereotypes that have haunted the black community for generations "Amos' " gullible Andy and conniving Kingfish "Porgy and Bess' " lecherous Sportin' Life the cinema's cowardly Stepin Fetchet. Thirty years later, Amos, Andy and their various cultural cousins are back - albeit with new names and a new home, the fledge-net UPN.īut this time, the shows are being pitched directly at the black "urban" audience.Ĭan this really be what that audience wants? In 1966, after years of protests, black audiences finally forced "Amos and Andy" off the air. ![]()
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