what is the best black sitcom of the last 10 years?

[jamesanthony]

Someone started a thread that this show was the worst black show, which I don't think it is, but I don't think it's the best either. So what is? No black show of the past decade stands up to Cosby Show, Different World or the Norman Lear shows IMO. The problem with the more recent black shows is not so much the performers, but the writing which usually paints shallow characters, stereotypical acting blacks or farfetched plots. Some shows have one or the other of these characteristics. Some have all 3. Some do a disservice to black people if you ask me.

Steve Harvey's other sitcom Me and The Boys may be the best one from 1994-04 and it was the only black show to rank in the national top 20 but was axed after somenthing like 15 episodes. Cosby which ran on CBS from 96-00 is inferior to the Cosby Show, but at least the characters weren't undignifying themselves. I liked Smart Guy for what it was and Sister Sister has some appeal for a kiddie type show.

I find the performer Bernie Mac irritating so I can't watch his show objectively and I can't form an opinion one way or another about Moesha.

[TVFactFan]

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Someone started a thread that this show was the worst black show, which I don't think it is, but I don't think it's the best either. So what is? No black show of the past decade stands up to Cosby Show, Different World or the Norman Lear shows IMO. The problem with the more recent black shows is not so much the performers, but the writing which usually paints shallow characters, stereotypical acting blacks or farfetched plots. Some shows have one or the other of these characteristics. Some have all 3. Some do a disservice to black people if you ask me.

Steve Harvey's other sitcom Me and The Boys may be the best one from 1994-04 and it was the only black show to rank in the national top 20 but was axed after somenthing like 15 episodes. Cosby which ran on CBS from 96-00 is inferior to the Cosby Show, but at least the characters weren't undignifying themselves. I liked Smart Guy for what it was and Sister Sister has some appeal for a kiddie type show.

I find the performer Bernie Mac irritating so I can't watch his show objectively and I can't form an opinion one way or another about Moesha.

THIS SHOW is defintely the best black show in the last 10 years. I like how The Steve Harvey Show always made reference to the old black shows like the Jeffersons, Sanford and Son and Good Times. Other black shows make me sick that were created in the last 10 years like


My Wife and Kids
Bernie Mac Show
Parkers
One on ONe
Eve
Half and Half
Girlfriends
Malcom and Eddie
Grown Ups.



Nne of those shows can compete with Steve Harvey.

[tvje]

I am not sure of which shows are the best of the last 10 years. But Half and Half is one of the most underrated show on tv today.

[jamesanthony]

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
THIS SHOW is defintely the best black show in the last 10 years.
My Wife and Kids
Bernie Mac Show
Parkers
One on ONe
Eve
Half and Half
Girlfriends
Malcom and Eddie
Grown Ups.



Nne of those shows can compete with Steve Harvey.

My problem with this show is that it doesn't have the rewatchability of the Norman Lear shows or Cosby Show or Different World all of which I can watch repeatedly. With this if I've seen an episode I don't want to see it reran. Also, when it came on in prime time they used to air reruns on the same night at a later time, so I got tired of it. Also, compare the amount of traffic on this board to those older shows.

This show isn't horrid but it can't compete. Are we really going to be talking about this show in 20 years the way we're still talking about Good Times? I don't think so. Even with Good Times' bad writing and its other problems and the Jeffersons being toned down those shows are much much better than this or any of the black shows being made now.

Of your list Solomon I think the critics would say Bernie Mac is the best one, but he irritates me as a performer so I don't watch that show. Maybe I'll watch it when it goes to syndication. I thought Malcolm and Eddie was a terrible show. Malcolm was fine as support on Cosby Show but his acting is very stiff and the show was like an amateur production. Eve seems kind of slapped together too (I saw the pilot recently and it is very different than the series in general). One On One is too juvenile for my tastes and GrownUps was a poor show I have to admit. Jaleel White is no threat to Denzel in the acting department. One show not on your list that I think is pretty poor is Hughleys which was never good, but got much much worse with each season.

I have to say I find My Wife and Kids offensive because of the raunchy jokes and the mugging cute kids (Franklin). The son is stupid beyond words, none of them are paricularly good actors and the father is effeminate and laughs at his own stale jokes. Of the black shows that have been successful in the last 10 years this and Malcolm and Eddie are the worst IMO. Jamie Foxx isn't too good either. A fine female lead isn't enough to make up for very poor production.

[vashti1999]

Moesha, Bernie Mac and the Gregory Hines show were the best, the Steve Harvey Show is the worst.

[jamesanthony]

Originally posted by vashti1999
Moesha, Bernie Mac and the Gregory Hines show were the best, the Steve Harvey Show is the worst.

I never really had the opportunity to watch Gregory Hines' series, but I read very good things about it. I heard he and the boy from Soul Food who played his son had excellent chemistry. CBS is weird for letting this one die.

Not that these are the best qualitatively, just my taste and what I find entertaining: the Smart Guy and the Parent Hood are the two I enjoy most from the last 10 years. Smart Guy's run was short and sweet and it is a hit in reruns on Disney. Parent Hood ran in syndication in my area for 4 seasons after it ended.

I can't decide on Moesha. Maybe I'm a little too old for this show, or because I'm a male I find it a bit boring. I do think it got worse when RayJ showed up as a regular and it seems like they could have resolved the cliffhanger ending if they wanted to. It seems like they stopped caring after awhile.