The Black Sitcom Conundrum

[redcriket]

Family matters was set in Chicago. The kids obviously live in an affluent black neighborhood, and the school they go to is predominantly black. The show dealt primarily with affluent black people. I went to Howard, and one of the biggest differences coming from PWI, was that being black was secondary. In a world where we are surrounded by ourselves, we don't deal with blatant racism or it's secondary. These shows dealt with affluent black characters surrounded by other affluent black characters. There's no need to shoehorn racist characters just to make the characters' blackness more pronounced or have every episode dealt with a vehicle of systemic racism, no these characters are able to make it in the face of the system. Thats the power in these characters and why we remember them fondly, because race is secondary and it always has been.

[EphemeralTao]

I can't remember the source, unfortunately, but I came across a great quip recently about black capitalism (I'll have to paraphrase it a bit since I can't find the original): "I keep hearing that the answer to black poverty is black capitalism. If two hundred years of capitalism hasn't ended poverty for white people, what the hell do you think it's going to do for us?"

[DJDiscipline]

Don’t hate the show Good times, Recognize the BRILLIANCE of what the writer was trying to depict about our community. Eric Monte was a gem.

[xlxl]

I personally think that it is about nuance. Black sitcoms in the late 80's and 90's and even to this day coincides with the rise of the Black Middle Class. They are there to point out that "we have arrived". But often these shows leave out or downplay the realities of Black life in America no matter how much money you have, how successful you are, or where you live. And maybe that is by design. I mean 30 minutes isn't really a lot of time to go deep into these issues and they don't want to be too preachy at the risk of losing entertainment value. And to be honest as a Black family man in America who lives in a subdivision in the suburbs and has a corporate job, I don't consciously think about these issues unless something happens to make me think about them. I just live life. And I suspect that most Black people are the same. It's just way too hard to be in activist mode all of the time and have a normal life. But because of what has been pointed out about Black sitcoms in this video I think that is why The Boondocks cartoon series is so popular. It's based the same thing essentially....Black Capitalism, but there is a TON of nuance in bedded in the message of the show. I especially love how it depicts overall White society as ignorant of and puzzled by the reality of the lives of Black people in America. The Boondocks to me resonates more than any sitcom ever did.

[Journeytoelelyon__]

I can understand top dog's frustrations about carlton not being "black" or "hood" enough but he's still absolutely wrong. Carlton made a very solid point, yeah he's rich and lives in the rich neighborhood as well but he's still fighting injustice all because he's black. He may not be fighting the same problems as top dog necessarily but he's still fighting the same concept. And instead of building and supporting Carlton like he should've done, top dog decides to push him out due to his own jealousy and by doing so you create a narrative that doesn't exist and a cycle of hating blacks just cause they worked hard and arent in your particular situation. Sorry for my long paragraph lol I just found this episode a lil bit more better than when will's dad leaves episode

[coffeegator]

I always liked Charles S. Dutton's performance as "Roc". His show never really seemed to sell any delusions of grandeur that you've mentioned in the other shows. Sadly it was cancelled after a few seasons, but it was always a show my parents and I enjoyed together. He was a regular guy who loved the people in his life.

[colonialstraits]

I think part of the problem, at least during the 90s, was most of these shows were still primarily white, behind the scenes (writers, show runners, producers, executives). The old legacy networks put everything non-white, through a white filter.

[dansheffield]

In the episode of Fresh Prince where Carlton gets snubbed from the fraternity, Carlton goes home to tell his dad (Uncle Phil) who proceeds to have a soliloquy about how he made it on top through his hard work and people like "top dog", a black man focused on classism, was always there to tear him down and laments, "When are we (black people) gonna stop doing this to ourselves" as the screen silently cuts to credits. As a white 10 year old kid who watched it when it aired I sympathized with Uncle Phil, but when I watch it now in retrospect, I sympathize with Top Dog. Thanks for making this reference, it's been on my mind.

[FuzzyKittenBoots]

I'm a foreigner who grew up with three TV-channels. Gen Z isn't the only ones need all this explained, some of us grew up a bit closer to the iron curtain :((

[kiag.]

Just about every 90's show, especially the black ones, they harped a lot on going to college. They made it seems as if you'd be a bum without a college education. Fast forward a few decades later and college isn't forced down our throats as it did in the 90's. They made it seem as if college would make or break you.

[ssjup]

How can you say that the Fresh Prince ep wasn’t about racism? The end of the episode pointed out how they were profiled and how screwed it is because no matter what you still look black.

Carlton in that other ep made a really good speech. It also showed how we put others down just because they grew up a certain way or may be a bit more idealistic. I mean, geez I’m not a big fan of rap and never have been. That means I’m trying to be white and HATED that as a kid. Just because I’m black I’m supposed to automatically like something like that? I preferred MTV to BET. Both were better in the 80s and 90s, mind you. VH1 too. Used to watch all three, as they ACTUALLY played music, but MTV most but I’d keep that to myself. “MTV is for the white kids”. Those who focused on education and stuff, same thing in some cases, and there was an ep about that too on Fresh Prince…trying to be white or being a “sell out”. I get what you were trying to say, but I think you missed the point completely. Had nothing to do with political affiliation.

I used to enjoy the Cosby Show back when it was originally on. I loved seeing black people succeeding showing that we can be doctors and lawyers and not just janitors or maids or whatever which is why it probably resonated so well with audiences, especially us kids back then. School at the time we were pretty much conditioned to believe that growing up you go to college and get a good job since it would be more difficult to get one without some sort of specialized degree.

I never noticed the political thing but what normal kid would unless it’s a joke, like Alex’s character on Family Ties. He was super Conservative but his parents were hippies at one point and both liberal minded, so that’s the comedy with them.

[ReggieJ_Jones]

Well thought out and well spoken Lil' Bill. Really appreciated this as a child of the 80s and 90s. Subscribed.

[notmyname]

Lil' Bill made this video as the pretext for his upcoming 2 hour Little Bill retrospective.

[ladyraven]

Dude, I love your sense of humor, taste, and that you can discuss these subject matters in a balanced way. I've been binging 90's sitcoms on HBO. Already watched The Nanny, Fresh Prince, and am working my way through Family Matters. I've passed the Good Cop, Bad Cop episode, and agree wholeheartedly with you. Watching it as an adult really gave me perspective that I didn't have when I was younger, and it bothers me that they could have done more with that episode. I feel like, at least in part, the whole Black Republican w/money thing could have been their misguided way of showing that Black people aren't a monolith.

[LavenderJack]

I loathe YouTube people like you, Lil' Bill.

Here I was, in possession of far too many ridiculously interesting subscribees, and along you come, thrusting a highly interesting topic, via your personal understanding, into my face and ears, forcing me to add yet another subscribee to my already overflowing cue.

Damn you.

Excellent, non-biased, disarmingly funny work, guy.

I look forward to cramming my head full of your intelligence and humor in the future.

By the way, if it isn't obvious, I firmly agree with your perspective on every score you've presented here.

Cheers.

Lavender Jack...Swooping On Down.

[Xjrkid]

I feel that in the specific example of Top Dog Carlton wasn't shaded for his politics he was shaded because he was a corny black man from a rich family and top dog didn't think he was black enough. Will's height, attitude, and upbringing really are the only distinctiok between him and Carlton. Will swallows the whole Uncle Phil rhetoric about bootstraps fairly quickly. He's also not worried about his finances in University and a number of other factors he shares with Carlton.

Carlton just didn't fit into his specific criteria of blackness and was ostracized for it.

[ladyruler]

@13:32 James did not want Florida to work. He wanted her to remain a housewife. They had a huge blow up in one episode when she wanted to join a women's social club just to get a few hours away from the house.

[PeterTubaEuph]

I don't think we talk enough about how Reginald VelJohnson (FAMILY MATTERS) and John Amos (GOOD TIMES) were both in DIE HARD 2.

[eyeofodin]

I enjoyed hearing your perspective, but I think there's a point you're missing. Maybe it's because I'm a little older than you are. The incredibly vast majority of black sitcoms showed black families living in poverty. The outcry and the movement in the late '70s into the '80s and '90s from the black community was to see black success on television. Was to see us represented is more than the handyman or a factory worker living in the projects. I think it's because generations after are so used to seeing black success on television, y'all don't know what kind of revelation it was to see a black doctor, a black lawyer, or even a black cop of some considerable authority. It's easy to say these shows are 'dated', but the truth is you probably don't quite have the perspective to understand how important they were to kids like myself coming of age. The point was never the bootstrap mentality, it was literally to say to both black and white America "we're not all poor, we can succeed too."

[DanSolowastaken]

Friar Billiam,

Loved it. Keep up the good work. I also love that we're the same age and saw the same shows. It is a shame Everybody Hates Chris came out when we were older than the main character, it probably would have done us a lot of good. His dad being a security guard and doing weird odd jobs was great and was the only real grounding in reality that I saw. None of my friends dad's were doctors or judges and nobody used a dry cleaner.

Having more families shown to struggle with being average needs far more screen time.