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Forum nameOkay Activist Archives
Topic subjectRoc
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=20646&mesg_id=20670
20670, Roc
Posted by murph25, Tue Oct-17-00 06:16 PM
Now, I'm not black, so I'm not gonna try to pass judgment on which shows are "better for black people", but I will offer my opinion as a viewer.

The first two seasons of the show Roc were probably the best example to date of a TV series that centered on a black family. Charles Dutton and the rest of the cast were really solid actors. The writing was way better than what most sit-coms, and it bridged the serious issues with comic situations. So, maybe that show could serve as a model for what TV producers CAN do if they get the right talent together.

Of course, FOX was willing to take a lot of chances back when they showed Roc (i.e. Garry Shandling, Get a Life, etc) Nowadays, the sit-coms that make it to air don't take those kind of risks. One of the things that made Roc successful in its first couple seasons was that it had real money behind it. A lot of the "black-oriented" programming on UPN and WB seems to be thrown together on these shoestring budgets, and that really hurts them across the board: writing, directing, sets, etc.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

peace,
murph