so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. and help life underwater flourish. (upbeat music) well, we re movin on up movin on up to the east side movin on up - the jeffersons was an aspirational show. you have the great theme song sung by ja net dubois about moving on up. you had a different situation from good times, where it s a poor black family, to a rich black family living in a high-rise apartment. - your family started at zero, and look what you ve got now, a lovely wife, successful business, and a beautiful apartment. - that s right, buddy. - i don t need you to tell me that! (audience laughs) (mid-tempo r&b music) - the character of george jefferson was a rich black man who was unapologetic about that, and that was very, very groundbreaking in 1970s. - george jefferson with the walk out the bank move, the hit the cliff. that s how i walk out the bank when i make withdrawals.
writers, creators directors. - and that s a big difference in what we saw before. - [announcer] the adventures of ozzie and harriet, starring the entire nelson family. - [announcer] father knows best. (soaring instrumental music) - the tv landscape in the 1950s was considered the golden age television. you would have these great shows like i love lucy, classic television shows, but you didn t have black representation until you started seeing shows like beulah. - cereal, miss alice? - [ernie] amos n andy was the first all-black sitcom. - mornin , andy. - mornin, amos. - [ernie] but it was boycotted by the naacp, and after only two seasons in 1953, the show was canceled. - my problem with amos n andy is that there were no black writers in the room, obviously. that often can lead to stereotypes. - these shows mocking black voices, sort of making real caricatures of black life. - i learn a lot of things. i just don t retain em. - so you had these examples of black represent
saladin, who had a good take on it. - so i think it s time that we talk with you about sex. - can t we just whoop the boy like god intended? - yeah, mama, i ll take the whooping! - i came on board and we decided to set the show in the cradle of the civil rights movement. - and not just the tragedy and the pain and the trauma because we ve carried that for so long, and we continue to, but trying to build family and community and celebrate and have love in the midst of that. - what makes cupcakes taste so down home? - slavery and bacon grease in the pan. - abc understandably so had a lot of concerns. then as soon as we started turning in material, the note always was, can you make it funny? you told us that you wanted real life. trust us. it ll be funny when it s supposed to be funny, and then it ll be heartfelt when it s supposed to be heartfelt and dramatic when it needs to be dramatic. - and so that s what s really special about the wonder year s reboot is telling the story
- so they said, tell you what. why don t we kill him off, and we ll all get on with our lives. - killed in an auto. - my god! - so that taught me a lesson that i wasn t as important as i thought i was to the show or to norman lear s plans. (glass shatters) - damn, damn, damn! - as good as good times was, it still did not resonate with everyone as to how this was a characterization of black america. you had organizations like the black panthers pressuring norman lear who had helped create good times to give us something different, and with that, he came up with the jeffersons. - i wear the pants in this family. - and when you zip them up, include your mouth. (audience laughs and applauds)
- america was changing. you re in the middle of reaganomics and trickle down economies. - the social policies of that era were really splintering black families and the black community in this country. - in the early 1980s, the landscape of primetime television was dominated by these hour-long dramas. some of them were very gritty. - one of the things people were all saying was the comedy on television was dead. ( the bill cosby show theme song) - but then there s this juggernaut of a show in the form of a black family comedy, and it completely reinvigorates the sitcom genre. - i am your father. i brought you in this world and i ll take you out. (audience laughs) (soft upbeat music) - the cosby show absolutely created a phenomenon of must-see tv. - the cosby show is consider the pinnacle black sitcom. gives you a black family that s not just incredibly tight knit. - listen. let s put on some music round here. - it was also a family that was doing very well for themselves, that was