because after the last incident, i had children bussed in. - when i think about the history of black television, i think about when black folks watch, we watch to zero in on us. - instead of making us celebrate your holidays, why don t you celebrate some of ours? what about tupac s birthday? - and when you have so little, it means everything. all of those shows, they all matter so much. - it feels like there s been more of an ebb and flow and an evolution. - it is so important for us to have true authenticity. - why we always the only black people here? - that s why representation matters, black stories told by black people. - i m trying to tell you something. - [man] we set the pace for sit comedy. - you hear that, elizabeth? i m coming to join ya, honey? - from sanford and son to the other black shows. - what is this? - loved the jeffersons. - monogrammed shirt, brand new silk tie. - is that a tie? i thought your tongue was hanging out. - good times is one of my favorite sitcoms
(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - as times change, we re beginning to see this evolution of black television. - this is rochester van jones. he s my butler. - we finally get to see a realistic depiction of ourselves. - issa, what s on fleek? - and the only way that that could be done was by changing the people who were telling the stories. - i don t know what that means. i know what that shit means. - by putting more seats at the table for black storytellers, 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
mara went from writing for moesha to creating the influential sitcom girlfriends. - hey, girl. - hey! - the vision i had for girlfriends is i wanted to document our existence as black women. i was a big fan of sex and the city, and i appreciated that it wasn t centered around a man s opinion about how women were. - i ll be on my way and leave you to your hot lesbian action. - we were trying to figure out if we could have it all. all my black girlfriends were wondering that, too. we wanted it all. we wanted it all. (upbeat music) (bernie whistles) - give me a chance. (men laugh) i ll take wb. i ll take upn. i ll take usa. - by the early 2000s, networks are only looking for big name black comedians to headline their shows. - when you talk about the bernie mac show, you get a slice of life, of african american life. - yeah, my sister s on drugs. what am i supposed to do? allow these three kids to go to some foster home? - you don t know what you re getting yourself into. - i d
a realistic depiction of ourselves. - issa, what s on fleek? - and the only way that that could be done was by changing the people who were telling the stories. - i don t know what that means. i know what that shit means. - by putting more seats at the table for black storytellers, 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
throughout the history of black tv, which is having black creatives needing the co-sign of a white person in order to make their thing, even though it s based in the stories they know. - by season two of good times, john amos was complaining about how his character was not being written in a very authentic way. - 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 l