AFRO-AMERICAN SERIE

Our first audiovisual memories, apart from films, are the TV series. Even at a very early age, series take an important place in our minds, and some will even build their lives on them. Concerning the African-American visual palette, as for society, black has had difficulty building a place for itself. The first were "Amos and Andy" in 1951.

A brief passage from a family of former slaves recently released from their chain in the series "Bonanza" in 1959. In 1965, it was Bill Cosby which will make its first appearance in the "I Spy" Series, a series that won a remake in the cinema with "Kelly Robinson" in the role Eddie Murphy in 2002. Unlike the film the series "The Mysteries of the West" in 1965 does not contain any black that would have been very innovative for the time.

In 1966 the first black woman arrived on the small screens, this series, which later became a cult series, had a difficult start due to its racial multitude. An Asian, a Russian in the middle of the Cold War and a black woman in charge of communication interpreted by Nichelle Nichols aka "Uhura", this series you recognized it is "Star Trek". The same year it was Greg Morris who was featured in "Mission Impossible", but it was not until 1968 that the first black series really appeared on the small screen, "Julia", a series interpreted by Good Time" et "That's my Mama" will mark a turning point in the vision of African Americans on small screens. Because meanwhile the cinema noir of the time "la Blaxploitation" highlights social and community problems, it will be the series that will make the social balance. In 1975 it was Antonio Fargas who will mark the small screens in "Starsky and Hutch" with his Huggy the good tips that will be known worldwide for his interpretation of the dealer, mack, but especially of snitch... But in the United States it will be the series "The Jeffersons" which will really be the first African-American cult series, play by "Sherman Hemsley" this series is worthy of our series now. A door was really open for African-American series, both for the viewers and for these big television channels, which saw an additional profit from consumption, in order to be able to sell their products.

F L. M le 19/09/2007