Category: Culture

It’s A Different World – How A TV Show 30 Years Later Still Effects A Generation

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In the era of ShondaLand and Empire, A Different World’s impact is still felt.

Creator of Love & Basketball’s Gina Prince-Bythewood and husband, co-creator of FOX’s Shots Fired were both staff writers on this show.

Papa Morton from Scandal was first Byron Douglas who was infamously interrupted by Dwayne’s impassioned speech to convince Whitley to run off with him instead.

Debbie Allen is the mother of Jesse Williams’ character and now executive producer for Grey’s Anatomy and when rumors surfaced of a Blackish spinoff centered around Yara Shahidi’s character going off to college an outcry of consumers wanted ADW reincarnated.

The 90’s Are All That

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In 1994 two shows premiered that would go on to define a generation.

It was a tale of two coasts.

In Los Angeles one centered around six caffeinated 20-somethings trying to make it in New York.

And in Orlando the other was a cast of characters with different races and personalities.

 

In sketch comedy there has been one main constant, Saturday Night Live.

There were those who tried like Fridays & Saturday Night Special and those who were more successful like In Living Color and later MADtv but SNL for 40+ years has reigned supreme.

At the time there were no sketch comedy show targeted towards children, the options were staying upto watch or tape the shows. 

 

This changed when Nickelodeon added a new show to their lineup, All That.

The Resurgence: A look at Black Hollywood from Stepin Fetchit to ShondaLand

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Blacks have been portrayed in media since cinema has begun. 

Starting from minstrel shows, complete with blackface, working actors like Mantan Moreland & Stepin Fetchit kept working by taking the only roles available but even with the degrading roles their talent shone throughout. 

Decades after the groundbreaking Beulah & controversial Amos & Andy the birth of The Jeffersons, spinning off from All In The Family, was arguably one of the first examples of a black American family prospering on television. This Emmy award winning show is one of the longest running shows in American television history.