There Shouldn’t be any Black Sitcoms on Television Until Someone Can Come Up with an Idea That is Worth Watching

I am so sick and tired of hearing about the fact that there aren’t any “Black” sitcoms on television when the few that do exist are just downright abysmal. I can only think of a handful of African-American oriented sitcoms that were even worth watching anyway. The Cosby Show, The Bernie Mac Show, andMy Wife and Kids were quality shows without the minstrel humor that were worth watching. Just about every other show, including a lot of the favorites that I have grown to love, are just a mess. This started back in the day when I was a kid; let’s take a look at some of these different sitcoms and examine just why they weren’t any good.

The Jeffersons

The Jeffersons is a bit disturbing because it is a built on a very good premise. A self made millionaire buys a high rise apartment in New York City and lives the good life. The only problem is that the man is a buffoon and the only one with any sense in the household is his belligerent maid. His wife means well but only seems to come across as being the sophisticated Black woman that she is when she has to clean up the fine mess that he has gotten himself into. He and his wife are friends with an interracial couple that live in the complex, the fact of which was both ground breaking and controversial in and of itself because the couple is actually a White Man with a Black Woman, something you didn’t see much of in those days. The man is portrayed as being passive though, which sends a subtle message about the type of White Men that Black Women would be interested in. Were it a realistic portrayal of an interracial relationship the show could have went a long way in actually breaking stereotypes, we are only left to believe that she is with him for his money.

What’s Happening

I watch this show every time that it comes on and at some point am disgusted with myself each and every time. Roger’s little sister is smarter than Roger and his brothers and knows how to run a great con. The fact of Roger and his friends buffoonery is very disturbing and patently offensive. In fact every character in this show is a clown with the exception of Roger’s mother, which suggests that a single Black woman can only raise children that aren’t going to amount to much of anything.

What’s Happening Now

Given the buffoon that Roger is, one should not be surprised that he has a beautiful and intelligent wife who actually has common sense and knows how to keep him in check. It is a horrible portrayal of what a relationship between Blacks should be like. Roger’s little sister is going to college, but really isn’t feeling it and even tries to drop out in one episode.

Good Times

This is probably the most realistic show because it shows poor Blacks in the ghetto who were trying to make a go at it but always came up short. As depressing as the theme song is it does romanticize the old housing projects of Chicago. Yet I often wonder if every drifter in the ghetto is as much of a clown as J.J. though.