television
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The Black Person’s Guide to The Walking Dead
Because The Walking Dead returns Sunday night and it always makes me a little upset. Although I love the show, I always get sad because every season splits everyone into two factions. In my opinion, there are only two kinds of people in the world: 1. People who watch The Walking Dead. 2. People who…
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To the ‘Unapologetically Black’ Beth Pearson of This Is Us, With Love
Editor’s note: Season 1 spoilers throughout! This Is Us has wrecked me. I hopped aboard the hype train later than most, but when I did … I bought a season (or series?) pass immediately. There’s an uncanny moment in life when you’re introduced to something that you never knew you needed until you experience it.…
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Jaimee Foxworth Speaks Out About Not Being Invited to Entertainment Weekly’s Family Matters Reunion Photo Shoot
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. The Winslows were a family from Chicago, and the series started out with patriarch Carl (Reginald VelJohnson); his wife, Harriette (Jo Marie Payton); his son,…
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A Prayer for My Emotions as This Is Us Embarks on Its 2nd Season
Let us bow our heads in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, so luminescent and full of zinc and other elements available only in theory via the periodic table of elements, I come to you in supplication, oh Lord. Tonight, Father God, the second season of This Is Us begins on your network, NBC, as all network…
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The Richard Pryor Show: A Master Class of Innovation vs. Censorship
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, all while sliding in biting social commentary along…
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7 Black Shows to Watch This Fall TV Season
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…
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5 Questions the Game of Thrones Season Finale Answered for Black America
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…
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VSB Interview with Queen Sugar's Kofi Siriboe
(Interview edited for clarity and length.) The mid-season finale of OWN’s hit show, Queen Sugar, is tonight and VSB had the opportunity to speak with Kofi Siriboe on his breakout role as Ralph-Angel, toxic masculinity and why for come he couldn’t have been in every scene in Girls Trip. Kofi Siriboe’s Ralph Angel is a…
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Insecure Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: "Hella Questions"
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. It is the day after Issa and…
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Sunday’s Game of Thrones Was a Message to Black America
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.…