and so, they were more open to new ideas. the casting, the music, definitely meant it was a non-network kind of show, or a new network kinda show, if you will. so, new york undercover in a way is a precursor to a lot of the crime dramas with black leads that now we take for granted. - we were very intentional with a show like new york undercover. there s so many people that guest starred on that show. tay diggs, terrance howard, aunjanue ellis, tyra banks. new york undercover was the shit. (laughs) it was. it was. the wire is widely considered one of the best television shows in history. i would argue, i d put new york undercover right up there with that. - yeah man, this, we got stepped on shit we got out here. get these fiends agitated. - well look at em, they still buying it though. - yeah, they buying twice as much, and only getting half as high. - for a while, there were several really popular crime series following black characters. oz, corner, wire,
- i m really proud to have stumbled into playing the first black lesbian cop ever on television. again, way too late in history for that to have happened, 2002. - the wire inspired me so much because, again, we were with those young people, but we were also in their very adult world in their very adult challenges. in fact, it s one of the reasons why i reached out to michael b. jordan to be a producer for david makes man, because i thought his performance as wallace in that show. i don t wanna cry. (laughs) we looked up in that young, powerful, caring individual, living at all of that turmoil. - do it goddam it, if you gonna- (gun firing) - he was gone. i know wallace. i was wallace. - i think the legacy of the wire, is that it s now being taught in schools.
- yeah. - we sat right here. - auntie, you know i was scared to death. - how has oprah changed the game? ownership. that is how it changed the game, having her own network in own, and saying, this is the type of programming i want on my network, and this is what we are going to do. and so, they did it. - federal government. - no backtalk. (bright upbeat music) - by having these three very different shows on at the same time, queen sugar, david makes man, green leaf, there are myriad of stories to tell about black people. and you don t have to have like, well, if we have our one, right? we ve done our job. because then other networks, other channels can look at the success of those shows on that network, and hopefully, try to replicate it. will i die for living numb? - [david] i come from dirt. - when i was trying to find a place for david makes man,
the best tua, you are going to have to work, work your tights off. i ain t wearing no tights when you were a kid there was something with black people in it, it was appointment tv. when you saw black folks were going to be on you were sitting in front of the tv at that time. especially in the 70s? there is time that goes by and there is nothing and this is the only representation you have of yourself. the growth of african american actors in dramas have been amazing from being a guest star to lead characters to now we have shaundaland. one of the most incredible genius people of our time. right from the very beginning she never shied away from letting the character speak their truths how long have you been here in l.a.?
and we weren t spending quite as much time with our white classmates cause we were a little pissed off. and i think we were also pissed off because we hadn t learned this in school. (chicken clucking) - bad chick. - one of the things about roots, is that it was a book adaptation by alex haley, which led to other mini series, which were adapted by books by black authors, like the women of brewster place, which was produced by oprah winfrey and starring oprah winfrey. - so, what s your idea of enjoying life butch fuller? running after every woman you see? - glory naylor s book, women of brewster place was a part of black feminism, which was a huge thing that started happening in black literature. so, when oprah got the rights to women of brewster place, it had a track record that it was a significant enough piece. and because oprah was a big enough star at that point, she could populate it with people who had some name recognition. - i bet you got a new fellow? - i do have someb