Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from ‘Soul Train’ to ‘Black-ish’ and Beyond

Washington Post journalist Butler debuts with a solid survey of television shows “that center Black people and their experiences” from the 1960s through the present. Profiling notable shows from each decade, Butler credits the sitcom Julia (1968–1971), which followed the exploits of a Black single mother and her son, with being “the first TV show to feature a Black family,” and discusses how Issa Rae collaborated with veteran comedy writers Larry Wilmore and Prentice Penny to retool her web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, as HBO’s Insecure (2016–2021). Butler explores sometimes complicated behind-the-scenes dynamics, explaining that Sanford and Son star Redd Foxx struggled to convince NBC to add Black writers to the first season’s all-white writers’ room; Richard Pryor was eventually hired, but soon left, displeased his scripts were changed to reflect the white writers’ perceptions of Black people. The matter-of-fact presentation, complemented by copious photographs, doesn’t include much analysis, but there are some intriguing tidbits; for instance, Butler reports that “affable [white] TV dads” were cast as racists in ABC’s miniseries Roots to “offset the guilt and shame that white viewers might feel while watching the series.” This straightforward tribute to “series that helped increase the visibility of Black entertainers” is worth a look. Photos. (Dec.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review mischaracterized the author’s beat at the Washington Post.