WEHT: Dramatic African American TV series?

Cultural Reflections (6/18/07)

With the fall season lineups now in place and an array of mindless reality shows set to flood the networks for the summer, it’s time to ask a familiar question regarding upcoming programs for the 2007-2008 television year. Where are the African-American dramas? There’s never been a surplus of Black drama on the network airwaves, and since the failure of Under One Roof and City of Angels no one among the alphabet soup of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox or the CW seems remotely interested in doing anything with Black actors beyond comedies and putting African-American faces in supporting roles on some highly visible properties.

In fairness, Grey’s Anatomy could be stretched to fit under the thematic boundary of a drama, although in truth it is really a daytime soap opera with nighttime production values. But at least it does have Black actors in featured and key roles, and doesn’t (or at least in the past) restrict opportunities for these characters to have complete and meaningful interaction across the board. It will be quite interesting to see what the fallout from the Isaiah Washington fallout will be to the show’s direction in the fall, and also what happens on the planned spin-off.

Still, it seems hard to believe there’s no audience out there after all these decades for a dramatic show with Black lead actors. Showtime had Soul Food for five years and the ABC Family channel will be bringing back Lincoln Heights in the fall for a second year. HBO’s The Wire takes place in Baltimore and essentially operates like an urban drama. But not even Spike Lee can convince the major networks they can launch and sustain a dramatic program with either a mainly Black cast or one spotlighting primary Black faces in an ongoing series of thematic situations special to the African-American experience.

But one also wonders why BET hasn’t begun its own array of dramas. They clearly have the largest Black audience among either broadcast or cable entities, and as a Viacom subsidiary could definitely set an example by showcasing one or two possible Black dramatic productions a year. This would not only seemingly fit their mandate of being first and foremost an “entertainment” entity (something they always trot out to deflect criticism about a lack of public affairs shows), but would also put them in the forefront and provide more opportunities for African-American writers, directors and producers, all of whom are sorely underserved in the current Hollywood climate.

Talented people like Kevin Hooks, Thomas Carter, Paris Barclay and many, many others who are now serving as executive producers on shows like Prison Break would probably enjoy the opportunity to spearhead their own creations on an African-American outlet (even if it’s not black owned anymore). Whatever else anyone says about BET, no one can deny it enjoys vast audience loyalty and a reach far beyond that of its primary rival TV One, which sadly still can’t get satellite companies like Dish Network to add it to their lineup.

A few years ago this was a hot topic in television circles, but now it seems almost everyone in the Black entertainment world has consigned themselves to an absence of dramatic properties and become, if not content, resigned to a steady diet of comedies and reality shows. While commending Tyler Perry for the clout he enjoys in getting a 100-episode commitment from TBS for his new sitcom, when will (if ever) his counterpart in dramatic circles emerge?