The 70th Primetime Emmys opened with several racially charged jokes, talk of diversity and a celebrity-laden musical number called “We Solved It,” touting the most diverse group of nominees in Emmy history.
Everybody knows Wendell Pierce.
Love her or hate her, one thing’s for sure: Mona Scott-Young is a boss.
Since leaving the air 20 years ago today, Jan. 1, Living Single continues to resonate in the hearts of loyal fans. Its legacy alone has dismissed critics (i.e., Newsweek’s 1993 article with its “booty-shaking sugar mamas” comment), paving the way for shows like Insecure, and still reigns as a beloved fixture of black…
I remember the first time I saw She’s Gotta Have It, Spike Lee’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed and very first “joint,” which premiered in 1986. When it debuted on HBO a year later, I was 12, a latchkey kid, and the parental controls that would lock me out of my parents’ premium channels after school had…
A little backstory on how we got to the point where this is even a thing: On Nov. 17, 2016, I wrote a piece called “Queen Sugar Hits This Dad Right in the Feels.” By the end of that day, life was different; anything was possible. The piece published first thing in the morning that day. By 2 p.m., I received a call…
A Different World was an American sitcom that aired for six seasons beginning in September 1987, making it 30 this year. The show focused on students attending a fictional historically black college in Virginia, Hillman, the alma mater of Clair and Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show.
Because The Walking Dead returns Sunday night and it always makes me a little upset.
Editor’s note: Season 1 spoilers throughout!
In 1989, five years after The Cosby Show aired, a new black-family sitcom made its way to prime-time television, and the world was introduced to the Winslows on Family Matters.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
The severity of Richard Pryor’s influence on comedy—black comedy especially—cannot be quantified. The late comedian-actor shaped the art form with his uncanny ability to retain all the unique turmoil of his upbringing and disdain for institutional prejudice, and use it to tell amazing, gut-busting stories and jokes,…
The fall season is near, and I have to be honest: I don’t care about trees changing colors (I live in Los Angeles, where it’s green ... everywhere), and pumpkin spice makes me as excited as a vegan lion. But what I am enthusiastic about is what autumn entertainment will bring. Whether it’s the return of an oldie or…
By now we shouldn’t have to discuss how Game of Thrones parallels the social, political and economic climate of black America. But this season, the show wasn’t just a metaphor for being black in America—it was a guide for survival. It was a parable about resistance. It was a preamble for the resistance (and by “the…
(Interview edited for clarity and length.)
The on again, off again dynamic between Issa and Lawrence has been the primary dramatic fulcrum of Insecure. But there have been hints that Insecure is ready to give the Issa and Lawrence storyline some time apart, and "Hella Questions" suggests that storyline might be tabled for a while.
For three weeks, we have preached about how Game of Thrones teaches us everything we need to know about white America. So, this week, you might expect us to joke about how Sansa should’ve cooked for Bran when he came home from that long road trip, or how Euron Greyjoy is turning into Anthony Scaramucci. I bet you just …
I haven’t studied my black-history textbook lately, but I think the lineage of civil rights heroes goes from Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King Jr. to Malcolm X to HBO Programming President Casey Bloys.
Dearest Rachet Proliferation Bae,
Even though we’ve discussed how Game of Thrones teaches us everything we need to know about white America, breaking down the political and social metaphors embedded within each episode requires a keen eye and the ability to understand the language of literary analogy. The messages hidden beneath the layers of turmoil…
