Black Tv Shows

A wide variety of Black talent will e featured on TV this fall as Black stars are showcased in new and returning shows.

Comic king Bernie Mac takes on prime-time television in the only new show of the fall season on the big four networks with a Black-dominated cast.

On Fox TV's "Bernie Mac Show," the comic is a husband who suddenly finds himself playing father. The show also includes Kellita Smith, Camille Winbush, Jeremy Suarez and Dee Dee Davis.

Bernie Mac may have the only Black-dominated show on the big four, but there is some daylight on the WB and UPN networks as each showcases a variety of programs with Black performers in dominant roles. UPN has Kyla Pratt and Flex Alexander in "One on One" and Richard Gant in the sci-fi drama "Special Unit 2." The WB offers Sam Jones III in "Smallville" and Jason George in "Off Centre."

But there are a number of new prime-time programs with Blacks featured along with Whites and performers of other ethnicities. Getting a lot of attention is hot comic Bill Bellamy, who gained fame on cable's MTV. He is featured on the WB comedy "Men, Women & Dogs."

Other Blacks joining primetime television for the fall season include Carl Lumbly (ABC's "Alias"), Regina Taylor (CBS' "The Education of Max Bickford'), Rocky Carroll (CBS' "The Agency"), Dennis Haysbert (Fox's "24") and Sherri Shepherd (NBC's "Emeril"). Gloria Reuben, who starred for many years on "ER," returns with a recurring role on the CBS drama "The Agency" about the CIA. Donald Faison is featured in the NBC comedy "Scrubs."

Courtney B. Vance, who was in the films Tuskegee Airmen and The Preacher's Wife, joins the new "Law & Order" installment "Criminal Intent." The peacock network also features Mahershalalhashbaz Ali in the medical drama "Crossing Jordan"; Dondre T. Whitfield ("All My Children") and Fox TV sportscaster Kevin Frazier star in the sports comedy "Inside Schwartz"; Bruklin Harris (Dangerous Minds) in "UC: Undercover."

ABC's new entries include Karyn Parsons ("Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and Bill Nunn in "The Job" and DB Woodside in "The Court." Merrin Dungey is also featured in "Alias."

CBS' only new series featuring Blacks in high-profile roles are "The Agency" and "The Education of Max Bickford." Gloria Reuben told JET that she chose to return to weekly television because the show is so dynamic and the script so well-written. After she left "ER," she went on tour as a background singer for Tina Turner.

Far more Black faces are returning than are new. Coming back to shows on NBC are: Coby Bell and Michael Beach in "Third Watch"; S. Epatha Merkerson and Jesse L. Martin in "Law & Order"; Dule Hill on "The West Wing"; Eriq LaSalle and Michael Michele in "ER"; Ice-T in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and Samaria Graham in "Providence."

Returning for CBS are "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," which features Gary Dourdan; "Touched By An Angel" with Della Reese; "Family Law" with Salli Richardson; "The District" with Sean Patrick Thomas, Lynne Thigpen, John Amos and Roger Aaron Brown; "Becker" with Hattie Winston and Alex Desert; and "Judging Amy," which features Richard T. Jones.

ABC's returning shows include "My Wife & Kids" with Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin; Garcelle Beauvais and Henry Simmons in "NYPD Blue"; Lisa Gay Hamilton and Steve Harris in "The Practice"; Kellie Shanygne Williams in "What About Joan" and Wayne Brady, who attracted big ratings with his summer show, is back in the hit "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

The highly regarded "Boston Public" is back on Fox, featuring Chi McBride, Sharon Leal, Rashida Jones and Loretta Devine. Other returning Fox shows with Black characters are "Malcolm In The Middle" with Craig Lamar Traylor and "Dark Angel," which co-stars Valerie Rae Miller.

"The Parkers," the most popular show last season with Black audiences, returns on UPN with Countess Vaughn, Mo'Nique, Dorien Wilson and Yvette Wilson. Also returning on UPN are "Girlfriends" with Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White, Jill Marie Jones and Reggie Hayes, and "The Hughleys" with D.L. Hughley, Elise Neal and John Henton.

The WB's returning programs include "The Steve Harvey Show" with Steve Harvey, Wendy Raquel Robinson and Cedric "The Entertainer." "Felicity," which features Tangi Miller in a recurring role, is also back for another season.

Up the dial for many TV watchers are the cable channels giving Black viewers such programs as "Soul Food" on Showtime with Boris Kodjoe, Rockmond Dunbar, Vanessa Williams, Nicole Ari Parker, Malinda Williams, Darrin DeWitt Henson and Aaron Meeks. The A&E network features LaTanya Richardson on the critically acclaimed, behind-the-scenes courtroom drama "100 Centre Street." Lorraine Toussaint and Dawnn Lewis are back in "Any Day Now," a series that explores racial divisions and similarities. And busy director/actress/choreographer Debbie Allen is back on the Women's Entertainment (WE) network with the series "Cool Women."

Daytime television has two more Black women jumping into the talkshow ring. Ananda Lewis and Iyanla Vanzant are putting their unique spins on various contemporary issues.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

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