Why doesn't TV have more interracial families? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 02-11-2014, 04:40 PM

http://t.co/SkdcNwYxhb

Mixed-race people are one of the fastest-growing demographic groups, yet their are few fictional examples of interracial families on television.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#74dhFwKRU6r12fDL.99

MacLeaper · 02-11-2014, 09:23 PM

Maybe new TV shows will. Of course, we've had interracial families on television at least as far back as "I Love Lucy".
An episode of "The Facts of Life" called "Brian & Sylvia" was meant as a pilot for a spinoff series about Tootie's African-American aunt who married a Caucasian man (the main reason I remember this episode is because Richard Dean Anderson played the husband and I'm a fan of his acting work in general because of being a huge MacGyver fan

)
I also remember watching a TNBC show on Saturday mornings in the '90s that I liked called "One World", which featured a family that adopted children from many countries around the world, so they were a racially mixed family.
The current Nickelodeon show "The Haunted Hathaways" is essentially like an interracial family since a white family has a family of black ghosts living with them- and they all exist together as one family.
"I Dream of Jeannie" was pretty diverse since we had Jeannie marrying Tony- so a human/genie marriage, just like on Bewitched we had a human/witch marriage as well, with Samantha and Darrin. And we had an alien/human marriage on "Mork & Mindy" (and again on a '90s Jim Henson show called "Aliens in the Family".) And ALF had an alien living with a human family.
(I know these are not exactly the same here, but these are inter-species families- so I thought that could work well as a metaphor for interracial families as well.)
(I should also add the early '90s series "Alien Nation", which also featured an interspecies marriage between a human male and a female alien Newcomer. That entire show was definitely a metaphorical look at race relations, at least to some degree.)
In the early 1990s there was a show called "True Colors" that had a black man married to a white woman and they raised two black sons. And of course, in the late '70s and '80s, we had shows like "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Webster" where white parents adopted black children.
To some degree, shows like "The Facts of Life" and "Saved By The Bell" are kind of like interracial families, since the girls at Eastland were pretty much a family, just like the main friends at Bayside High. I could say the same for "Chico and the Man", to some degree.
There are probably other shows I'm forgetting. Shows like "The Brady Bunch" and "Step by Step" have also featured blended families and I would say that counts for diversity as well. Of course, I'd say that for shows like "Full House" and "Family Matters" as well. Everyone, no matter what race, is different and unique and special and infinitely important in God's eyes because we're all made in His image. So I don't like to categorize too much with races and nationalities and such- it doesn't matter to me. God loves everyone and so should we.

bencasey · 02-12-2014, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacLeaper

Everyone, no matter what race, is different and unique and special and infinitely important in God's eyes because we're all made in His image. So I don't like to categorize too much with races and nationalities and such- it doesn't matter to me. God loves everyone and so should we.

Good grief.

Rookielove · 02-14-2014, 05:57 PM

I wonder why they don't have more black families on television.

MacLeaper · 02-17-2014, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacLeaper
Everyone, no matter what race, is different and unique and special and infinitely important in God's eyes because we're all made in His image. So I don't like to categorize too much with races and nationalities and such- it doesn't matter to me. God loves everyone and so should we.

Good grief.

I take it you don't agree?

comedyfreak · 02-17-2014, 02:20 PM

I think it's all in the casting and there hasn't been anyone who has the charisma to carry a show. They tried a couple of years ago and it didn't work. I forgot the name of that show a Latina married a white guy, the show was canceled after a couple of months. Another show that didn't make it was from the 70's called Love Thy Neighbor.

MacLeaper · 02-17-2014, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Tom and Helen Willis were a very popular interracial couple on "The Jeffersons" in the 1970's that probably would have had a decent run of its own if they had been spun-off for their own show, which in retrospect, could have opened the door wider for interracial families, since once a show works, others try to copy the formula.

That's a great example- can't believe I forgot to mention that. Tom and Helen were some of my favorite characters on "The Jeffersons" in fact.

EmoJoe · 02-17-2014, 05:59 PM

TV has taken a step back in terms of diversity, in some respects. When was the last time to saw a show about a non-white family on a broadcast network?

Heidi Dawn · 02-17-2014, 06:03 PM

Something else we haven't see is Asian-Americans families in a series. The last show I remember Asian families featured was "All American Girl" with Margaret Cho. They were a Korean family living in the U.S.A.

comedyfreak · 02-17-2014, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LJackson

I think the show you are referring to is "Rob", starring Rob Schneider and Claudia Bassols as the interracial couple. It premiered in January 2012 as a mid-season replacement on CBS, but lasted only 8 episodes.

That's it!! Couldn't think of the name.

MacLeaper · 02-18-2014, 11:33 AM

Quote:

TV has taken a step back in terms of diversity, in some respects. When was the last time to saw a show about a non-white family on a broadcast network?

I can name a few on cable channels ("Instant Mom" on Nickelodeon is about an African-American family and stars Tia Mowry-Hardrict (and of course, she does a great job- I love her work on "Sister, Sister"

), but I don't know about network channels since I rarely watch anything on the network channels anymore.
Even so, I will agree that I would be hardpressed to think of TV shows that focus on an Hispanic family or Asian family or Indian family or Native American family today. (actually, I think I'd be hardpressed to think of most any sitcom that features a Native American family as the focal point- maybe one exists somewhere.) (And of course, there are plenty of other racial and ethnic categories that could be named.)
However, as I said earlier, I don't really think of TV shows in terms of race, ethnicity and nationality. I just think of them as TV shows- I'm not really concerned about what races of people are or aren't represented.
I don't mean to get into semantics, but I don't always agree with the way the word "diverse" is used in these matters. TV shows with white families are just as diverse as TV shows with non-white families. It's funny to use a term like "white" and "black" to describe races (and funny that those are accepted, but older terms like "yellow" for Asian and "red" for Native American are generally considered unaccepted today). "Black" doesn't just comprise Americans originally of African heritage. There are also a number of people in countries around the world that are originally of African heritage and a number of them do not use the term "black"- that is more of an American thing. "White" is also a huge blanket term as that encompasses Caucasians of original British, Irish, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian, African, Caribbean, etc. descent. The classifications could go on and on- but I just don't worry about labels. Like Pete said in "The Muppets Take Manhattan", "Peoples are peoples, okay?"

And as I said before, all people are made in God's image and are infinitely important to Him and thus, they are to me as well. He loves everyone and so should we and I certainly try to do that with Jesus' help.

SitcomsOffline · 02-18-2014, 04:53 PM

To answer the OP's question, below is the reason why...

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/r...fe55a6305.html

That said, I would give it another decade.

robyrob · 02-18-2014, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heidi Dawn

Something else we haven't see is Asian-Americans families in a series. The last show I remember Asian families featured was "All American Girl" with Margaret Cho. They were a Korean family living in the U.S.A.

Sullivan and Son on TBS is a current show that features an interracial family with Asians.

bencasey · 02-18-2014, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacLeaper

I take it you don't agree?

That there's a God? No, I outgrew those fairy tales by the time I got to High School.

MacLeaper · 02-18-2014, 07:26 PM

Okay- you don't have to believe in God if you don't want to- He won't make you. I wish you would of course, since I want everyone to put faith in Jesus as Savior so they can avoid Hell and go to Heaven instead, but that's everyone's individual choice and I respect that.
Regardless of your belief or unbelief in God, do you agree with the sentiment of what I said? The reason for my convictions about every person's individual worth is because of my faith in Christ, yes- but I do believe many other people who are not Christians share that as well. And because of that, (as Mister Rogers said)

I hope everyone can come to see that everyone is special, valued and loved by The Eternal- and that you make each day special just by you being yourself. As Switchfoot said, is this the world you want? You're making it. Every day you're alive- you're making it. (I believe God Himself is the only One who can truly make the world good again by remaking every single person, of course.) But regardless of anyone's beliefs, let's all do whatever we can to make it as good as possible.

02-11-2014, 04:40 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 127,180	Why doesn't TV have more interracial families? http://t.co/SkdcNwYxhb Mixed-race people are one of the fastest-growing demographic groups, yet their are few fictional examples of interracial families on television. Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#74dhFwKRU6r12fDL.99

02-11-2014, 09:23 PM	#2
MacLeaper Child of the 80s Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 20, 2001 Posts: 3,359	Maybe new TV shows will. Of course, we've had interracial families on television at least as far back as "I Love Lucy". An episode of "The Facts of Life" called "Brian & Sylvia" was meant as a pilot for a spinoff series about Tootie's African-American aunt who married a Caucasian man (the main reason I remember this episode is because Richard Dean Anderson played the husband and I'm a fan of his acting work in general because of being a huge MacGyver fan ) I also remember watching a TNBC show on Saturday mornings in the '90s that I liked called "One World", which featured a family that adopted children from many countries around the world, so they were a racially mixed family. The current Nickelodeon show "The Haunted Hathaways" is essentially like an interracial family since a white family has a family of black ghosts living with them- and they all exist together as one family. "I Dream of Jeannie" was pretty diverse since we had Jeannie marrying Tony- so a human/genie marriage, just like on Bewitched we had a human/witch marriage as well, with Samantha and Darrin. And we had an alien/human marriage on "Mork & Mindy" (and again on a '90s Jim Henson show called "Aliens in the Family".) And ALF had an alien living with a human family. (I know these are not exactly the same here, but these are inter-species families- so I thought that could work well as a metaphor for interracial families as well.) (I should also add the early '90s series "Alien Nation", which also featured an interspecies marriage between a human male and a female alien Newcomer. That entire show was definitely a metaphorical look at race relations, at least to some degree.) In the early 1990s there was a show called "True Colors" that had a black man married to a white woman and they raised two black sons. And of course, in the late '70s and '80s, we had shows like "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Webster" where white parents adopted black children. To some degree, shows like "The Facts of Life" and "Saved By The Bell" are kind of like interracial families, since the girls at Eastland were pretty much a family, just like the main friends at Bayside High. I could say the same for "Chico and the Man", to some degree. There are probably other shows I'm forgetting. Shows like "The Brady Bunch" and "Step by Step" have also featured blended families and I would say that counts for diversity as well. Of course, I'd say that for shows like "Full House" and "Family Matters" as well. Everyone, no matter what race, is different and unique and special and infinitely important in God's eyes because we're all made in His image. So I don't like to categorize too much with races and nationalities and such- it doesn't matter to me. God loves everyone and so should we.
	__________________ "Oh boy!" - Dr. Sam Beckett "You can do anything you wanna do if you put your mind to it." - MacGyver "Have mercy!" - Uncle Jesse "Ha, I kill me!" - ALF "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life. No man comes to The Father but by Me."- Jesus Christ (John 14:6) Last edited by MacLeaper; 02-17-2014 at 01:10 PM.

02-17-2014, 02:20 PM	#6
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,061	I think it's all in the casting and there hasn't been anyone who has the charisma to carry a show. They tried a couple of years ago and it didn't work. I forgot the name of that show a Latina married a white guy, the show was canceled after a couple of months. Another show that didn't make it was from the 70's called Love Thy Neighbor.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

02-17-2014, 05:59 PM	#8
EmoJoe Cool cool cool Forum Addict Join Date: Apr 23, 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 71,478	TV has taken a step back in terms of diversity, in some respects. When was the last time to saw a show about a non-white family on a broadcast network?
	__________________ "I know the difference between TV and reality, Jeff. TV has structure, it makes sense, there are likable leading men. In real life, we have this. We have you." - Abed Nadir, Community www.sitcomsarestupid.blogspot.com

02-17-2014, 06:03 PM	#9
Heidi Dawn Muppets Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 01, 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 883	Something else we haven't see is Asian-Americans families in a series. The last show I remember Asian families featured was "All American Girl" with Margaret Cho. They were a Korean family living in the U.S.A.
	__________________ Complete Series Box Sets I own: MASH, Three's Company, Gilligan's Island, The Dukes Of Hazzard, The Golden Girls, The Monkees, The Brady Bunch, Full House, I Dream Of Jeannie, Bewitched, Taxi, Gimme A Break, Dallas, Charlie's Angels, Joanie Loves Chachi, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, The Cosby Show, The Facts of Life, Family Ties, Diff'rent Strokes, Green Acres.

02-14-2014, 05:57 PM	#4
Rookielove Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 14, 2011 Location: America Posts: 235	I wonder why they don't have more black families on television.

02-18-2014, 04:53 PM	#12
SitcomsOffline Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 03, 2013 Posts: 492	To answer the OP's question, below is the reason why... http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/r...fe55a6305.html That said, I would give it another decade.

02-18-2014, 07:26 PM	#15
MacLeaper Child of the 80s Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 20, 2001 Posts: 3,359	Okay- you don't have to believe in God if you don't want to- He won't make you. I wish you would of course, since I want everyone to put faith in Jesus as Savior so they can avoid Hell and go to Heaven instead, but that's everyone's individual choice and I respect that. Regardless of your belief or unbelief in God, do you agree with the sentiment of what I said? The reason for my convictions about every person's individual worth is because of my faith in Christ, yes- but I do believe many other people who are not Christians share that as well. And because of that, (as Mister Rogers said) I hope everyone can come to see that everyone is special, valued and loved by The Eternal- and that you make each day special just by you being yourself. As Switchfoot said, is this the world you want? You're making it. Every day you're alive- you're making it. (I believe God Himself is the only One who can truly make the world good again by remaking every single person, of course.) But regardless of anyone's beliefs, let's all do whatever we can to make it as good as possible.