Black sitcom

A black sitcom is a sitcom in American culture that features a primarily or entirely black cast or an African American in the lead role. Although sitcoms with primarily black characters have been present since the earliest days of network television (and indeed predate network television, as popular radio sitcoms included Beulah and Amos 'n' Andy), this genre rose to prominence in the 1990s.

The favorite programs of television audiences tend to reflect their different ethnic origins and affinities. The exposure of the black community on US TV has been greater than that of other minorities but continues to reflect racial divisions within American society. (To date, there has been a scarcity of Latinos and Asians on American TV and "Latino sitcoms" or "Asian sitcoms".)

Since US networks were criticized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for allegedly failing to portray the racial diversity of real-world settings, drama shows such as The West Wing have cast more black characters. Black households make up over 20 percent of regular TV viewers.

Black sitcoms feature highly in the black audience's top 10 programs but have limited success with white audiences, attributed by Doug Alligood, senior vice-president at the advertising agency BBDO which has analyzed ratings figures, to the failure of humor to translate. The high ratings achieved by Bill Cosby have been ascribed to humor that has appealed to both whites and blacks.

In the early days of television, black actors were often cast in stereotypical roles, often as comic clowns in a tradition tracing back to the genre of black minstrelsy popular in the early 20th century. The first television sitcom to portray black people, Amos 'n Andy, was widely popular among diverse audiences. The actors on the original radio show were both white, however the show portrayed them with black actors, and represented black individuals as businesspeople, judges, lawyers and policemen. After over 70-odd episodes had been broadcast, it was taken off the air after protests from specific groups including the NAACP, who alleged that the show engaged in stereotyping. Afterwards, there were no all-black sitcoms shown in the U.S. until the 1970s.

...
Wikipedia