African Americans in Television: 22 Important Personalities and Programs

African Americans have made an indelible imprint on every aspect of television in America. African American actors, directors, producers, newsmen and women, and innovators have contributed their talents since television began. They have entertained, enlightened, and inspired television audiences of all backgrounds for decades. Here is a short, concise list of just a few of the many African American television personalities and programs which have touched viewers lives over the years. If it interests you, discover more names in front of and behind the camera for yourself!

CHANGING THE MEDIUM

Oprah Winfrey. Few TV personalities – can you think of one? – in contemporary America have the influence of Oprah. She says buy, people buy. She says donate, people donate. Oprah’s best move was perhaps turning away from tabloid TV and turning towards covering everything from self-improvement to entertainment to social justice with intelligence and heart. Over the years, she has covered just about every topic under the sun, shared her own story and her revealed her personal philosophies on the meaning of life. She changed the talk format and grew an empire in the process. Love her or think she’s too much, you can’t deny her importance. Oprah has become one of the most powerful people in American media, African American, female, or otherwise.

Michael Jackson: Say what you want about the man, and what his skin tone actually is, but you gotta admit, no artist made a bigger imprint on video music at the dawn of the MTV age than Michael Jackson. Thriller was a mini-movie, for
crying out loud. Special effects, stories, amazing dancing, big casts, A-list film directors behind the camera, Jackson raised the bar. But while other singers had fancy stuff too (You know someone’s thinking “What about the Cars or Peter Gabriel?”), Jackson was the guy in there doing his thing, dancing, acting, not just appearing. Even in post-80s days when elaborate productions were the norm, he still gave us memorable videos with morphing “Black or White” and later “Smooth Criminal”. He may be a punch-line now, but in the 80s, the self-proclaimed King of Pop was the obvious king of trend-setting, path-breaking video music.

Robert Johnson: No, not the guitarist, the founder of BET: Black Entertainment Television. In the world of cable niche
market channels, Johnson created the first ever channel aimed directly at the African American audience.
Today, BET is a powerhouse of video music as well as African American programming including movies, syndicated series, stand- up comedy and news with an African-American slant.

The Arsenio Hall Show: Can a major late night talk show be African American and skew towards hip-hop/Black urban culture? For five years, Arsenio Hall’s answer was “yes” as he brought a mix of comedy and hip-hop style to a talk show much the same in format to The Tonight Show or The Late Show. The show was syndicated and mainly ran on Fox, which was, at that time, just getting started as a network. While the show was not long-lived and was criticized for a variety of things including Hall’s performanc, its over-appeal to white audience, and it’s lack thereof, the show and it’s host broke down another door for African American TV talent. (And we don’t mean Magic Johnson.)

NEWS

Ed Bradley: As part of the most important, famous, and most highly-rated news magazine of all time, 60 Minutes, journalist Ed Bradley has contributed hundreds of reports on everything from hard-hitting news about the war in Iraq to the story behind pop culture icons like Tina Turner and U2. Bradley has worked for the show, which has been nominated for countless awards, as a correspondent since 1981.

Bernard Shaw: Shaw was one of the first faces of CNN’s Washington coverage in a time when 24-hour news was just coming into its own. Known for his tough and controversial interviews of presidential and vice presidential candidates and coverage of American politics, Shaw anchored CNN’s Inside Politics in the late 90s. He also covered international news with The International Hour and other programs and reported live in highly watched coverage of the Gulf War and during the uprising in Tiananmen Square.

COMEDY & SITCOMS

Diahann Carroll: It’s a sitcom and the lead isâÂ?¦what?! In 1968, Diahann Carroll became the first African American woman to be the unquestionable lead in a sitcom with the show Julia. And it wasn’t just any sitcom, it was a Golden Globe nominee. In fact, Carroll’s portrayal of a nurse and widowed mom of one earned her a Golden Globe for best TV actress. Carroll and those behind the show brought African American women out of the background and proved a successful series could be built around the life of a Black woman.

Good Times: This was the first sitcom to give America a glimpse into a poor/working class African-American family’s life with all it’s similarities to life anywhere. With content that mixed comedy and social issues, the show starred Esther Rolle and John Amos as the devoted if financially struggling parents Florida and James Evans who were raising three kids in the projects. The show portrayed a multi-dimensional family that struggled with universal problems: teenagers being teenagers, parents trying to provide a good example and keep the kids in line – in the context of the ghetto/projects. Comedian Jimmy Walker had a breakthrough character in J.J. most known for his catchphrase “dyno-mite.”

The Jeffersons: If Good Times showed family life in the ‘hood, The Jeffersons portrayed African Americans who had, as their theme song said, “finally got a piece of the pie” and were quite affluent. Sherman Hemsley and Isabelle Sanford starred in this Norman Lear spin-off of his All In the Family. They played of course George And Louise “Weesy” Jefferson who’d made their money in the dry-cleaning business. Lear also created this show and it contained his trademark social commentary, except this time, with an African American in the role of bigot. Hemsley was as prejudiced and outspoken as Archie ever wanted to be while Louise tried to keep him in check. Marla Gibbs earned fans as the sarcastic maid who was constantly bickering with her boss. The show notably featured sitcom’s first interracial couple with neighbors, Tom & Helen Willis (Frank Cover & Roxie Roker). Mike Evans, who originated the role of the Jefferson’s son, Lionel, went on to co-create the series Good Times.

Redd Foxx: Foxx’s character Fred Sanford of the 70s hit Sanford & Son has a place in history as one of the most inimitable sitcom characters ever. From his fake heart attacks “This is the big one, ElizabethâÂ?¦”) to his running down of everyone from his son “big dummy” Lamont to favorite target Aunt Esther, to his unabashed prejudice against whites, Puerto Ricans, and just about anyone who was friends with his son, Foxx as Sanford was a complete original who took the show to high ratings. He Foxx argued for increased presence and influence of Black people behind the cameras as writers and directors of his show and in general. Also a popular (and blue) comedian, Foxx did other TV shows, but his portrayal of Fred Sanford remains his biggest TV legacy.

What’s Happenin’: This silly and fun sitcom featured the friendship of three L.A. teens: Raj, Dwayne and Rerun (who became something of an iconic sidekick character.) Enjoyed by millions of fans to this day, it was based on the influential movie Cooley High (which wasn’t set in L.A.).

Bill Cosby: Recently, Bill Cosby has come under fire by some for taking aim at what he feels is wrong with African American youth – and their parents – today. He was under fire back in the 80s, too, by some, for portraying African American family life through a distinctly professional, middle-class lens. The criticism didn’t stop him, and the show was a runaway ratings success, helping NBC gain a Thursday night foothold it would maintain for over a decade. He portrayed an African-American family in a way white America had not seen it portrayed on TV and hit upon the very funny universals of raising a family which cut across racial lines.

Chris Rock: In 2005, Chris Rock’s sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris” got big buzz. This is par for the course for Rock. With his work on HBO, both standup specials and “The Chris Rock Show” (97-2000) and his blunt take on any issue he thinks up, Rock has become one of the most praised and popular, and occasionally controversial, comedians on TV and in contemporary America. He’s also known for his work on Saturday Night Live (characters like Nat X) and for a successful hosting of the Oscars.

Dave Chappelle: Dave Chappelle’s “Chappelle’s Show” may not have made it to its third season, but the irreverent Comedy Central sketch show made a dent in TV history by being an enormous seller as a dvd, sparking increased industry interest in putting television programs on dvd for home use. Chappelle and his show tackled many aspects of modern life include racism and race relations, sex, love, and music, pleasing critics and fans. Chapelle, who has also done stand up comedy specials and other programs, will undoubtedly continue to contribute to comedy and television. His influence on new comedians and sketch tv is already obvious.

Girlfriends – The Show and the Concept: Hitting its 2005-06 season, Girlfriends became the longest-lived sitcom on it’s netlet, UPN. Advancing in years, its often still the top-rated program among African American audiences. Girlfriends gains its significance from telling the story of four middle class best gal pals in L.A. The lead character, Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross) is a lawyer with ongoing love problems who supports and seeks support from secretary-turned-author Maya, a high maintenance Toni and hippy freeloader Lynn. Another show which succeeded with this same set up was Fox’s Living Single which also portrayed African American professional women (including Queen Latifah and Kim Fields) of diverse personalities living together and dealing with their lives, jobs, and man-related issues. Both programs (created by Mara Brock Akil and Yvette Lee Bowser, respectively) moved away from some of the stereotypic or sidekick roles usually offered Black women in sitcoms and put their lives front-and-center.

DRAMA:

Alfre Woodard: Yes, in 2005 she became one of the Desperate ladies on Wisteria Lane joining a highly-rated show as a regular star. But before then, Alfre Woodard was already in the middle of an enduring and highly-awarded TV career. She has earned four Emmys over the span of almost twenty years. She has nine other nominations. Three of her Emmys came from guest appearances on acclaimed shows (Hill St. Blues, LA Law, The Practice). The other, she was awarded for from her lead actress performance in the HBO movie Miss Evers Boys. Woodard has largely been relegated to small roles in features films (she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for Cross Creek). Whether she has mainly done small, one-shot roles on TV (since the 80s and St. Elsewhere) by choice or due to the neglect of the industry, who knows other than her? But Alfre Woodard remains living proof that great actors can create indelible characters in less than 44 minutes. She remains, on Wisteria Lane or not, the most honored African American actress in television, and one of America’s best actresses, in general.

Alex Haley and ROOTS: This 1977 mini-series tells the history of African Americans from pre-slavery to the 20th century. It is based on Haley’s own family history, told in his book by the same name. To this day, it’s the most in-depth, sweeping fictional account of Black History ever on television. The story not only depicted the story of Haley’s family, but put African-American actors, notably LeVar Burton, front and center on a major television production. Roots still ranks as one of the most highly-rated mini-series ever, and is respects as a seminal piece of long-form American television. By sharing his book, Hayley shed light on often untold history and enlightened millions of viewers.

Andre Braugher: Braugher’s gripping performance as Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life On The Street defined intensity and earned him an Emmy award for best actor in a dramatic series, the first awarded to an African American actor. One of the few true African American leads on a 90s TV drama, Braugher was central to the critically acclaimed Barry Levinson produced series about the mean streets of Baltimore. He has gone on to be one of the few African American actors given leading roles in dramas- including Gideon’s Crossing and an upcoming series on FX about a world-class thief.

Cicely Tyson: Oscar-nominated actress Tyson, with five Emmy nomination and two wins, is an elder stateswoman of television. While she received one nomination for appearing in Alex Haley’s Roots, Tyson is perhaps most known for her work based on the novels of Ernest J. Gaines: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying. She won an Emmy for the former and was nominated for the latter.

Avery Brooks: As Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek:Deep Space 9, actor, musician and professor Brooks went where no African American had gone before – into the captains chair on a Star Trek franchise series. With his boom baritone and his commanding but likable presence, Brooks was natural in the role of a leader. His character also had a gentler side as displayed in scenes with his son. Playing a by-the-book officer in TV’s most storied sci-fi franchise was a departure for an actor who was best known for playing real-life controversial figure Paul Robeson on stage and streetwise Hawk on TV’s Spencer For Hire.

BEHIND THE SCENES:

Debbie Allen: You may know her best as dance teacher Lydia Grant on 80s hit Fame, but Allen has done most of her most
acclaimed work behind the scenes as a Choreograper of Oscar telecasts and other special events, leaving her
artistic imprint on programs that are iconic. She’s been nominated for ten choreography Emmys and has won another
three. She also produces and directs and was one of the guiding forces between African American college life
sitcom A Different World.

Paris Barclay: Name a great contemporary drama, from The Shield to The West Wing to E.R., and chances are Paris Barclay will have directed it at one time or another. He was also a producer with Steven Bochco’s breakthrough TV cop drama NYPD Blue and won multiple Emmys for his directing work on the show. He later went on to produce short-lived, Black-led City of Angels with Bochco. He’s earned other Emmy and Director’s Guild of America nominations for his work.

Suzanne De Passe: An Oscar-nominated writer, producer De Passe is one of the forces behind acclaimed mini-series as Lonesome Dove and has been involved with six different Emmy-nominated specials include those about Michael Jackson, The Temptations, and Motown. Named producer of the year in 1995 for by The American Film Institute, De Passe was excutive producer of the 2005 Black Movie Awards.

While people of color, including African Americans, continue to make serious inroads in television, the percentage of non-white faces behind and in front of the camera, in the production and writing rooms, and running networks remains low. By increasing the perspectives television programming covers while seeking high quality content, TV can only get better and be more useful, enlightening, and fun for viewers in the new century.