Cancelled Tv Shows

HERE we go again. Four years after the television diversity debate went public, little or no progress has been made, and some commentators are saying that the big four networks--ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox--are back to their old tricks, whitewashing the prime-time lineup.

The numbers are telling:

Last year, the big four only offered one new Black-oriented show, Cedric The Entertainer Presents (on Fox), which was quietly cancelled in June. This year the big four networks are offering only two Black-oriented shows.

Last year, the networks offered 16 new shows featuring Black actors in leading or recurring roles; this year, there are only 6, and 16 of last year's shows with Blacks in leading or recurring shows have bitten the dust.

To make matters worse, there's an increasing tendency to segregate Blacks in shows where Black characters only interact with other Blacks, or to pigeonhole "Black" shows, no matter the genre, and to air them back-to-back on so-called "Black nights."

New Shows, New Faces, New Attitudes!

Actress Holly Robinson Peete, co-star of the WB's new multiracial sitcom Like Family, says that the networks should take a cue from the genius of the Cosby Show, where the Black family was the focus of the show, but other nationalities were regularly included in the Black family's lives.

"For Your Love was a really great show because we had a multicultural thing going on," she says, "but the network put it on during a night with the Wayans Brothers, Steve Harvey, and The Jamie Foxx Show, and we really didn't fit in that night. We never got the audience that we wanted because we were skewed to a certain type of viewer. Thankfully, this is not the case with Like Family."

Despite continuing problems, there is some progress to report. For starters, Black women are making strides in front of and behind the camera. Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith are producers of one of the most anticipated Black-oriented sitcoms, All of Us (on UPN). The new series is based loosely on the Smiths' lives. All of Us stars Duane Martin, LisaRaye, Elise Neal, Khamani Griffin and Tony Rock.

Rap superstar Eve stars in the new UPN sitcom Eve, as a beautiful and intelligent woman trying to balance her career and her love life. Other cast members include Jason George, Natalie Desselle and Brian Hooks. Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg stars in Whoopi (on NBC) as the feisty Mavis Rae, a one-hit-wonder singer who operates a small hotel in New York, where she also sings at the hotel bar.

Brothers are making some progress as well, as evidenced by The Tracy Morgan Show, a new sitcom that is loosely based on comedian Tracy Morgan's life. In the NBC sitcom, Morgan is a hardworking, streetwise Brooklyn mechanic and family man in the pursuit of happiness. Tamala Jones portrays his beautiful better half, and Mare John Jeffries, and Bobbe J. Thompson portray his children. A much slimmer Heavy D. and John Witherspoon round out the cast.

These new additions will join the other three returning Black-oriented shows on the big four--The Bernie Mac Slow, Wanda At Large (a mid-season show that premiered last year) both on Fox, and My Wife and Kids on ABC.

NEW SHOWS

The six new shows featuring Blacks in leading or recurring roles are all dramas.

ABC introduces 10-8, a one-hour police drama co-starring Ernie Hudson. Hudson portrays training officer John Henry Barnes, the meanest, toughest veteran on the force. In Karen Sisco, Bill Duke and others pursue dangerous fugitives on Miami's Gold Coast; and the homeland security agency is the focus in Threat Matrix, where Mahershalalhashbaz Ali joins the search to seek and destroy a network of terrorists.

On CBS, Hill Harper is part of a team of secret agents who go deep undercover to crack prostitution rings, drug trafficking and white-collar crimes on The Handler.

On NBC, James Lesure and Marsha Thomason join the cast of Las Vegas, a drama about an elite surveillance team charged with securing one of Las Vegas' largest casinos. In The Lyon's Den, James Pickens Jr. is a member of a 150-year-old D.C.-based law firm that could be harboring a few seedy secrets.

RETURNING SHOWS

The big four networks' 2003 prime-time lineup also includes several returning shows with Blacks in prominent or recurring roles.

Returning shows on ABC include Less Than Perfect with Sherri Shepherd; Life with Bonnie, with David Alan Grier, Alias with Carl Lumbly and Merrin Dungey; The Practice co-starring Steve Harris; and NYPD Blue with Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon and Henry Simmons.

On CBS, Andre Braugher returns to the detective drama Hack; Hattie Winston and Alex Desert are once again serving up laughs on the sitcom Becker Marianne Jean-Baptiste is back in the suspenseful drama Without a Trace; Gary Dourdan returns to the hit crime-solving drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, while Khandi Alexander returns to CSI: Miami; Sean Patrick Thomas, John Amos and Roger Aaron Brown are back on The District (sadly, actress Lynn Thigpen died in March); and Richard T. Jones is back on Judging Amy.

On NBC, the beautiful Aisha Tyler re-ignites an interracial romance on the hit sitcom Friends; Mykelti Williamson co-stars in Boomtown; Mekhi Phifer and Sharif Atkins are back saving lives on the hit medical drama ER; Donald Faison keeps his patients in stitches in the sitcom Scrubs; Michael Beach and Coby Bell return in Third Watch; Dule Hill is back on The West Wing; Jesse L. Martin and S. Epatha Merkerson return to Law & Order, Courtney B. Vance returns to Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Ice-T returns to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

On Fox, award-winning music producer Randy Jackson is back making dreams come true on the run-away hit American Idol; Dennis Haysbert and Penny Johnson-Jerald are back on the thriller 24; class is back in session for Boston Public staffers Chi McBride, Sharon Leal, Brooke Harper and Loretta Devine; and Craig Lamar Traylor is back on the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.

UPN & THE WB

UPN and the WB have traditionally remained ahead of the curve in the promotion of Black talent. New shows on UPN with Blacks in lead or recurring roles include Rock Me Baby, a sitcom about relationships and parenthood through the eyes of a radio shock jock, with Carl Anthony Payne; and Jake 2.0 co-starring Judith Scott.

Returning shows on UPN with Blacks in leading or recurring roles include Girlfriends, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Persia White, Golden Brooks, Jill Marie Jones and Reggie Hayes; The Parkers, starring Countess Vaughn James, Mo'Nique, Dorien Wilson, and Yvette Wilson; Half and Half, starring Essence Atkins, Rachel True, Telma Hopkins, Valarie Pettiford and Chico Benyman; One on One, starring Flex Alexander and Kyla Pratt; and Enterprise with Anthony Montgomery.

The WB is offering three engaging comedies this year--Steve Harvey's Big Tune, a new talk/variety show where the comedian celebrates everyday people with extraordinary gifts; Like Family Holly Robinson Peete spearheads this hilarious multiethnic sitcom about two families, one White, one Black, who share the same household); and All About the Andersons, a semi-autobiographical comedy series about fathers and sons starring comic actor Anthony Anderson.

Returning shows on the WB with Blacks in leading or recurring roles include Smallville with Sam Jones III; Angel with J. August Richards; What 1 Like About You with Wesley Jonathan; Tarzan with Miguel Nunez; and Everwood with Irv Harper.

CABLE

On Showtime, Dead Like Me returns, featuring Jasmine Guy; Street Time with Erika Alexander and Terrence Dashon Howard; and Jeremiah with Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Soul Food is on hiatus, but currently, encore episodes are being shown. The fifth season of Soul Food will premiere in 2004.

On HBO, Keith Charles returns to Six Feet Under and the gritty drama series The Wire is back with Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Frankie R. Faison, Clarke Peters and Seth Gilliam.

PBS

PBS is offering two new series for its viewers. For music buffs, there's The Blues, a series consisting of seven impressionistic and interpretive films that traces the roots of the music genre from Africa, to its worldwide influence today. Viewers can enjoy some rare and exciting performances by Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, B.B. King and others. And NOVA Presents: The Elegant Universe, a three-hour miniseries where physicist and educator Jim Gates discovers the answer to one of Einstein's biggest quandaries: "The Theory of Everything."

On PBS, as on the commercial networks, there is some movement toward diversity, but critics say the future of Blacks on TV depends not only on more Black faces in front of the camera, but also on more Blacks behind the camera and in the executive suites and boardrooms.

2003 PRIME-TIME TV LINEUP

SUNDAY

8:00 p.m. (ABC) 10-8 Ernie Hudson 9:00 p.m. (NBC) Law & Order: Criminal Intent Courtney B. Vance 9:00 p.m. (Fox) Malcolm in the Middle Craig Lamar Traylor 9:00 p.m. (ABC) Alias Carl Lumbly, Merrin Dungey 10:00 p.m. (ABC) The Practice Steve Harris 10:00 p.m. (NBC) The Lyon's Den James Pickens Jr.

MONDAY

8:00 p.m. (UPN) The Parkers * Countess Vaughn James, Mo'Nique, Dorien Wilson, Yvette Wilson 8:30 p.m. (UPN) Eve * Eve, Jason George, Natalie Desselle, Brian Hooks 9:00 p.m. (UPN) Girlfriends * Tracee Ellis Ross, Persia White, Golden Brooks, Jill Marie Jones, Reggie Hayes 9:00 p.m. (The WB) Everwood Irv Harper 9:00 p.m. (NBC) Las Vegas Marsha Thomason, James Lesure 9:30 (UPN) Half and Half * Essence Atkins, Rachel True, Telma Hopkins, Valarie Pettiford, Chico Benyman 10:00 p.m. (CBS) CSI: Miami Khandi Alexander 10:00 p.m. (NBC) Third Watch Michael Beach, Coby Bell

TUESDAY

8:00 p.m. (UPN) One On One * Flex Alexander, Kyla Pratt 8:00 (Fox) 24 Dennis Haysbert, Penny Johnson-Jerald 8:00 (NBC) Whoopi * Whoopi Goldberg, Wren T. Brown 8:30 p.m. (UPN) All of Us * LisaRaye, Duane Martin, Elise Neal, Khamani Griffin, Tony Rock 9:00 p.m. (UPN) Rock Me Baby Carl Anthony Payne 9:30 p.m. (ABC) Less Than Perfect Sherri Shepherd 10:00 p.m. (ABC) NYPD Blue Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon and Henry Simmons 10:00 p.m. (CBS) Judging Amy Richard T. Jones 10:00 p.m. (NBC) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ice-T

WEDNESDAY

8:00 p.m. (UPN) Enterprise Anthony Montgomery 8:00 p.m. (The WB) Smallville Sam Jones III 8:00 p.m. (ABC) My Wife and Kids * Damon Wayans, Tisha Campbell-Martin, George O. Gore II, Parker McKenna Posey, Jennifer Freeman 8:00 p.m. (NBC) Ed Daryl (Chill) Mitchell 9:00 p.m. (NBC) The West Wing Dule Hill 9:00 p.m. (Fox) The Bernie Mac Show * Bernie Mac, Kellita Smith, Camille Winbush, Jeremy Suarez, Dee Dee Davis 9:00 p.m. (The WB) Angel J. August Edwards 9:00 p.m. (UPN) Jake 2.0 Judith Scott 9:30 p.m. (CBS) Becker Hattie Winston, Alex Desert 9:30 p.m. (Fox) Cedric The Entertainer * (show is no longer in production, previously unaired episodes only) 10:00 p.m. (ABC) Karen Sisco Bill Duke 10:00 p.m. (NBC) Law & Order Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson 10:00 p.m. (CBS) The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H. Cleo King

THURSDAY

8:00 p.m. (The WB) Steve Harvey's Big Time * Steve Harvey 8:00 p.m. (NBC) Friends Aisha Tyler 8:00 p.m. (ABC) Threat Matrix Mahershalalhashbaz Ali 8:30 p.m. (NBC) Scrubs Donald Faison 9:00 p.m. (CBS) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Gary Dourdan 9:00 p.m. (The WB) What I Like About You Wesley Jonathan 10:00 p.m. (NBC) ER Mekhi Phifer, Sharif Atkins 10:00 p.m. (CBS) Without a Trace Marianne Jean-Baptiste

FRIDAY

8:00 p.m. (Fox) Wanda At Large * Wanda Sykes, Phil Morris, Dale Godboldo, Robert Bailey Jr., Jurnee Smollett 8:30 p.m. (The WB) Like Family Holly Robinson Peete, BJ Mitchell, J. Anthony Brown 9:00 p.m. (Fox) Boston Public Chi McBride, Sharon Leal, Loretta Devine, Brooke Harper 9:30 p.m. (The WB) All About The Andersons * Anthony Anderson, John Amos, Roz Ryan, Damani Roberts 9:30 p.m. (ABC) Life With Bonnie David Alan Grier 10:00 p.m. (CBS) The Handler Hill Harper 10:00 p.m. (NBC) Boomtown Mykelti Williamson

SATURDAY

9:00 p.m. (CBS) Hack Andre Braugher 10:00 p.m. (CBS) The District Roger Aaron Brown, Sean Patrick Thomas 10:00 p.m. (ABC) L.A. Dragnet Evan Parke

* Denotes a Black-oriented series. All times are Eastern Standard

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

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