Have I betrayed my people? – Monthly Musings

When I look at the African-American headed shows that premiered and failed in the past couple years (Undercovers), or whose leads came and went (Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, CSI), I wonder why I didn’t do more to support them.

Back in the ’80s and ’90s, whenever shows headed by African-Americans appeared, I, my family members, and our immediate social circle dashed out to support them. When Dihann Carroll premiered in Dynasty, suddenly my eighth grade self could legally watch the show. When Generations, the all African-American NBC soap, debuted, my mother set our VCR to tape it every day. When Mario Van Peebles’s Sonny Spoon hit the airwaves, I watched EVERY SINGLE episode, until they cancelled it. Whenever  a show featuring African-American or minority characters in the core cast, it suddenly became my instant favorite from the Young Riders (think a low-rent version of Young Guns) to 21 Jump Street to Silver Spoon. But, I won’t lie, these were also good shows. At the same time, although I loved Family Ties, Growing Pains, Small Wonder, Alf, Mr. Belvedere, MASH, Murphy Brown, Taxi, Golden Girls, Quantum Leap, etc., I also loved California Dreams for its increasingly multi-racial cast.

Although shows with African-Americans in the lead cast increased in the ’90s, they still remained a relative rarity. I cried when the brilliantly written Roc went off the air, ceasing to showcase the talents of Charles S. Dutton and Rocky Carroll. I wished the smartly written Living Single had a larger audience. When Showtime turned the 1997 film Soul Food into a TV series, my mother’s friends either registered for cable or upgraded their subscriptions to watch it.

However, as shows with an all-Black cast  increased at the century’s turn, I still felt unsatisfied. A lot of the new shows didn’t strike me as smart or well-written when juxtaposed with similar shows I remembered from the ’80s. My Wife and Kids was essentially King of Queens which was essentially According to Jim (which was essentially not good). I never liked The Game’s CW pilot and the less I say about Tyler Perry the better. In one way, these shows increased televised diversity, which I greatly appreciated. But, I didn’t just want presence. I wanted to see more African-Americans in smart, mainstream shows.

Luckily, shows featuring characters of African descent as the second lead increasingly appeared (Scrubs, Psych). Even better, these characters weren’t “the Black character” (put there to assuage angry voices like mine *cough, cough* Betty Applewhite *cough*) but well-written, well-developed figures “who happened to be Black.” And, I thought, “Finally! Mainstream TV gets us. They’re not just writing the ‘Black’ character, who is defined by his/her race, but a character who is human and defined by his/her personality.” I did a little Snoopy dance of joy. But, still I wasn’t satisfied.

Then, in the past two years, we saw an increase of mainstream shows with *gasp* African-American leads (Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, CSI ) or African-American casts (Undercovers). I was ecstatic. We had reached the pinnacle. Mainstream TV finally understood and recognized us as an audience.

But … I didn’t watch.

That’s right …

I didn’t watch them.

I loved Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (CM:SB). I found it well-done, well-written and well-acted. Forest Whitaker proved an apt lead. When the characters referenced him as a genius, I actually believed them. A smart actor playing a smart character – who woulda thunk it? I also loved Janeane Garofalo’s feminist liberal character. Seeing her on the small screen reignited my ’90s love for her. Plus, any show featuring a hot British actor I’ll watch at least once. So, why didn’t I watch CM:SB? Well, the storylines felt EXACTLY like Criminal Minds. EXACTLY. What’s the point of making the group red cell, when the writers didn’t show a difference in the cases or the formula? I stopped watching CM:SB because it felt like déjà vu, with different faces.

In some ways the producers did everything I wished CBS had done concerning NCIS:LA’s premiere. They didn’t overhype CM:SB (or its stars) and they didn’t invert the CM formula. Plus, keeping the pilot low key gave the show time to grow. But, NCIS:LA succeeded because they DID hype it (both the show and its star power). And, they changed the formula so you didn’t watch the SAME show twice. I hated NCIS:LA’s first season, but it’s still on the air. CM:SB isn’t. I hoped they’d at least make CM:SB less torture porn centric, but, they didn’t EVEN do that. So, I stopped watching and then CBS cancelled it.

I loved Undercovers’ pilot, but mid-way through the season I stopped watching. Each episode proved well-acted and well-written. And, any show featuring Major Dad tugs my soft spot. But the show went from a hot, sexy, passionate Mr. And Mrs. Smith to a too-cute-for-comfort-couply-focused Hart to Hart. Seriously, how can you go from Brad and Angie to an ‘80s show with shoulder pads? Frustrated, I stopped watching and then NBC shelved it.

Although I loved Jada Pinkett-Smith as an actress and Michael Vartan’s hotness, I couldn’t stand watching HawthoRNe. Outside of the two lead actors, the hospital’s other storylines seemed saccharine and annoying. I didn’t really care about the other bland nurses and plotlines. So, I stopped watching. And TNT stopped producing it.

So, I wonder, did I fail my people? What happened to the culturally-ingrained fanaticism my mother drilled into me in the ’80s and ’90s? If I had watched these shows each week and hyped them to my friends, would they have stayed on? When I asked my brother why he didn’t watch Undercovers, he stated he figured the networks wouldn’t keep minority-led shows on the air and he didn’t want to get attached. So, is that why these shows failed? Is it because of the writing, the leads’ race, or people just feared getting attached?

While we still have shows with African-Americans characters as secondary leads (Grimm, Psych), 2009-2011 proved a great time for trying new leads with different skin tones. Yes. We still have smart mainstream-geared shows with African-Americans in the lead (House of Lies) or a core African-American cast (Key & Peele), but when I look at shows I love like Grimm or Psych, I wonder. What if Russell Hornsby’s Griffin played the lead? What if Psych focused on Gus over Shawn?

I like TV. In fact I love TV. But, every now and again I want to see myself reflected in it, as I see myself  — not as the “Chocolate Columbo” sidekick, but as the lead.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Feb 06, 2012 @ 10:00 EST5EDT