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jesmimi50 · 6 years

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How Black people are (de)valued at TV networks

This is about to be lengthy AF yet important.

During Mara Brock Akil’s interview on The Breakfast Club, alongside her lead actors for her newest show, Love Is__, she broke down how “Black sitcoms and series” are only “valued” to draw in money for networks who haven’t had a vast pulling power, before they cancel our shows to bring in “White shows and sitcoms,” which they invest marketing into.

“Let’s talk real on this. We’re talking about value in this industry, in this country, and in this world. […]

“Let’s go back to the ‘90s. If you really think about it, although it was a really great time—romantic, hopeful, inspirational—the tech industry was starting to open up, the whole [school-to-prison] pipeline monetization. There was money flowing. The interesting thing is corporate America, at that time, starting to realize, ‘Oh, we can monetize Black culture!’ So our music really took off, our fashion. Our shows were used, in my opinion, because sitcoms were the least expensive to produce content to put on the air to open up new channels. Our product was used to launch UPN and CW and even Fox.

“I was [a writer] at [the sitcom] South Central. South Central was on at Fox and then as soon as they got football, we lost South Central. In Living Color started to taper off. It was no longer. We weren’t needed.

“Even when the CW came, as soon as we hold the audience, then here comes 90210 and they get all the money, the marketing and we get nothing. But we were holding it down with no—For Girlfriends and The Game there was no marketing budget… And not until we got to BET. I will give BET the credit. They had to market but it was also a time of a Internet, which was a whole different beast at that time of promotion. But my first marketing campaign, like legitimately so, was at BET…

“I used to write so many letters to the head of the network asking for a marketing plan, pitching my ideas. Most of that show was built upon on the publicity side, which is more of a hustle. But literally spending dollars on billboards, advertisement, commercial…there was barely any budget for Girlfriends and The Game.

“I’m really appreciative, especially to Black women, because they recognized it first. When Black women love, we love strong, hard and long. They loved us and they spread the word. That’s how it stayed on the air.”

You can watch the whole interview here.

Black sitcoms/series are what have kept a number of networks afloat from the past to the present. They’re lucrative. The high numbers for our shows have always been there. Once we’re considered disposable in order to free up space for a “White show” to roll in or there’s a disagreement between the network and the show’s creators, we get tossed.

Case in point: A Different World drew in 25 million throughout their six seasons on NBC before being canceled because of their Rodney King episode:

Back in the 90s, sitcoms Martin and Living Single (the blueprint for Friends), and the hour-long police drama series, New York Undercover, used to draw in huge numbers on Thursday nights for FOX. There was no official reason put out as to why Martin was canceled in 1997 (despite the sexual harassment allegation at the time), and the other two were canceled the following year.

My guess for New York Undercover is that FOX wasn’t feeling the show’s leads contract holdout, stalling production, and demanding to be paid what they felt they rightfully deserved. It explains why Eddie Torres was killed off that upcoming season (season 3), creating the downfall of the show’s direction. Here’s an LA Times article from 1996:

The stars of Fox’s “New York Undercover” were back on the beat Thursday, ending a contract holdout that briefly delayed production on the police drama. Actors Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo didn’t report to work on Monday to begin shooting the program’s third season.

Universal Television, which produces the show, and executive producer Dick Wolf, played hardball in dealing with the pair’s demands, which, according to Wolf, included $75,000 per episode for one of the actors plus more creative input, “a gym and a star trailer and better food.”

That salary is estimated to be about three times what the stars make currently. DeLorenzo also wanted assurances that he would be allowed to direct episodes of the series. The matter was resolved late Wednesday, Wolf said, reporting that the pair returned to work “under the terms and conditions of their original agreement.”

In addition to issuing a harshly worded statement calling such public demands “a virus” in the entertainment industry, Wolf threatened to write the actors out of the show. Universal also filed a $1.2-million suit against them alleging breach of contract, maintaining that the delays were costing the production company $60,000 per day.

Observers think the “Undercover” stars may have been emboldened to hold out by the much-publicized salary dispute involving NBC’s “Friends,” whose six cast members are each seeking raises to more than $100,000 per episode.

Source

Mmm hmm. The Friends cast got $100,000 per episode, which was later upped to $1 million per episode. In syndication, the cast makes $20 million each in residuals each year. The cast of Living Single also had a walkout.

Erika Alexander who plays Maxine Shaw revealed their reasoning and dished on how much they were paid during her interview with The Breakfast Club:

“Living Single was originally called Friends. We were originally called My Girls when we first did our pilot and it didn’t test well. So they came down, we were now filming the actual series and one of the executives had a whole list of names, and he read them out. ‘Living Single, Friends blah blah blah.’ And they chose Living Single for us and then the next year they created Friends. The same people—We were both at Warner Brothers. We were on the ranch lot and [Friends] was on the big lot. We called the ranch the ghetto lot because we had nothing on that lot. We actually had no air conditioning or heat. We had a walkout because we you know our craft service table was basically rice with Tabasco sauce and Ritz crackers.

“At the end of our run, we were being paid a lot less and people say ‘Well you had a smaller market share.’ I say ‘Compared to what?’ If you think about how much they made [off Living Single] paying so little and how much they made in syndication all around the world all these years.

“[The cast of Friends got] $2.5 million [each] to [the cast of Living Single] $55,000 per episode [each]. Every week. We didn’t get marketing—There were a lot of things in place to keep the hold down and make you not feel as valuable. I’m sure if they looked at it, and how much they made versus what they put in, I’m sure we’re on par if not way beyond what they made.”

FOX is something else. Not to mention that FOX had a desire to make New York Undercover “whiter” as revealed here, which explains the cast shakeup, but that’s another topic…

Fast forward. All of this reminds me of how Nicole Beharie was treated on the FOX series, Sleepy Hollow. (Not necessarily a “Black show” but it had a Black lead.)

She was the lead character, the face of the show before being killed off in season 3. In the following season, the show unveiled a heavily white cast and it was canceled that next year. Ironic, huh…

Remember Taraji P. Henson’s excellent portrayal as Detective Carter, one of the main characters in Person of Interest?

Mmm hmm. Yep. You guessed it. She too was killed off in season 3 (before the white rollout) and the show started to take a nose dive. It was canceled by season 5. Not to mention, during the promo for the show before it premiered, there was controversy around the show because Taraji had tweeted: “WOW!!!! TV Guide is NOT including me on the cover with my cast members…I am the female lead of a 3 member cast and I’m not included on the cover!!!!!! Do you see the shit I have to deal with in this business…..I cram to understand!!!!“ They only wanted the two white guys on it.

Rewind. In the late 90s, the budding networks, UPN and the WB, which both launched in 1995, were viewed as “Black channels” because that’s where all the Black sitcoms lived at that time. But as usual… Smart Guy and The Wayans Bros brought in numbers for The WB, but they were both canceled by 1999.

Moesha and In the House (which had been picked up after being canceled by NBC), brought in numbers for UPN before being…Yep, canceled.

Hell, I bet some of y’all didn’t know that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was actually canceled TWICE by NBC.

Yep. One of the most popular sitcoms of all-time with the most quotable theme song of all-time was canceled twice. Granted, in 1996, Will Smith was transitioning from the small screen to the big screen after the huge success of Bad Boys and Independence Day. So the network decided to cancel the it after the face of the show was parting ways. Here’s an article from the LA Times from 1996:

With the final episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air airing tonight, Smith’s show is one of the rare programs that weathered NBC’s struggling years–before Jay Leno was beating David Letterman and ER and Friends were household names. A testament to the show’s wide-ranging popularity is the fact that during its six-year run, “Fresh” has never been moved from its original Monday slot at 8 p.m.

Because Smith has gone from being a novelty rapper to a budding film star–with the 1995 hit Bad Boys and the likely summer blockbuster Independence Day–he decided this season would be the series’ last and that it was time for the show and actors to move on.

Source

However, the first cancelation was uncalled for.

After NBC canceled Fresh Prince in its fourth season, the finale had Smith’s character heading back to Philadelphia. After fan outcry, however, NBC decided to bring the show back; its fifth season opens with an NBC executive pulling Smith into a van to drive him back to California, saying “It’s called the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, not The Fresh Prince of Philadelphia.” Ultimately, the show had six seasons.

Source

You know it was from the “White fan outcry.” Let’s be honest, Black people don’t have that kind of pulling power nor do they care about our outcry.

Now look at TV today. FOX needs Lee Daniels’ Empire and Star…for now…

The CW canceled Girlfriends in 2008, and pushed Everybody Hates Chris and The Game to Friday nights (which is considered the “death slots” in tv) before canceling them the following year. Ten years later, the CW is reminiscing on the huge viewership and the coins those shows drew in for their network.

Well, well, well. Looky, looky. Tryna get that old thing back…

The CW needs Mara Brock Akil’s show, Black Lighting…for now….

Now…it explains the shakeups that have been going on recently with blackish, the show’s creator, Kenya Barris, and the show’s network, ABC. Notice the pattern. Will it be renewed next year?…

Reminds me of what happened to NBC’s hit show, at the time, The Carmichael Show. Too many disagreements that the show’s creator left and the show was axed from the network…

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jesmimi50 · 6 years

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Grand Rising 😊

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jesmimi50 · 7 years

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Summer Soul Sis: Vibin’ in the Divine Black Queen Garden

Last week was somewhat stressful. I had spent the whole week plotting and planning how I would take care of my expenses. It seems as if there is a bill that needs to be paid damn near every week and my income just doesn't cover it all. The pressures of “adulting” weighed heavily on me and I could feel my energy depleting with each passing day. So for the weekend I decided to escape and go to the Fire Dance. This was the medicine that I needed for my soul to escape.

I came across this event called Summer Solstice Fire Dance that was held in the Divine Black Queen Garden. The sistas that held the event were women I’ve seen at events in the community before. Maati Ra and Suge two sweet spirits held the event. Everybody was invited and children of all ages came out to embrace the change into summer. In the moment I was there I was surrounded by beautiful people. It was like a dream. There was music, good food, drinks, and just positivity all around. I was drunk with good feelings. As corny as it seems I felt like I was in the chorus of a Frankie Beverly and Maze song. A sweet summer afternoon in a tucked away garden filled with blessings.

The yoga in the garden started in divine time. Everyone was sitting in lotus position taking in the scenery and the smell of Frankincense and Muir was putting even the flies in a trance. At one point the resin had stopped burning and a swarm of flies took over the space we were meditating in. Later I would realize those flies were like the stress of the week. Flying thoughts swirling through my mind only to be calmed by the scents that burned in the distance. Even through the meditation I felt my triggers trying to get the best of me. The laughs of the babies playing in the garden sounded like my youngest son who I haven't seen in 6 months. The agony of not having him there to laugh and play with the other babies almost brought me to tears. But just like the flies, I quiet the noise in my mind to bring me back to center. The feeling didn't leave right away this time though. I was forced to acknowledge it and to move through it.

Once the practice was over my oldest son and I stuck around for the bon fire. As we gave thanks to the ancestors we wrote down things that we wanted to let go of. Now the weekend before last I visited a Conjure Man who explained that if I wanted to “cut and clear” out all the things that were making me weary that I need to write all of these negative things down and replace them with the medicines that healed my soul. I decided that this was the very thing that I needed to bring to the fire. I knew that I would have triggers and things that might even haunt me if I let them. Being able to move through life experiences and still have and create self love makes the bad times not so bad. Real self love is contagious because others feel it. Its hard to not share that love with others and if its real it never dies. Peace

#selflove summersolstice love meditation healing triggers blackyogimagic

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jesmimi50 · 7 years

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jesmimi50 · 7 years

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#tbt The night that I was FINALLY FULLY comfortable in my skin. It was a Friday night and I was headed to a party downtown by myself. I had been amping myself to go to this party since I learned of it. I didn’t care who was going to show up as long as my favorite dj was going to be there. I fell in love with Dj Anarchy’s sound ever since I attended the Edubalicious Treats farewell event at Project Row House in 3rd Ward. I couldn’t wait to let myself vibe out to the music and be free. So as usual as the day got close I tried to convince myself to back out.

I had gone through a lot in the last 6 months and so has my body. I don’t even want to know how much weight I’ve gain since January and I’m not even going to stress myself by caring. I just knew I was growing uncomfortable that my body had changed and that those cute crop tops I could fit last December weren't going to cut it at this party. Now mind you this isn’t one of those bourgeois parties thats all over the scene in Houston. You know the ones. Extra made up women, extra dressed up men all standing around to look at each other to be all ....extra. This was a party where people are all dancing and really mingling and I wanted to be there.

One of the things I promised myself besides going out more was self acceptance. Coincidentally, I saw this video on IG by @_autumnskky_ who made a viral video about the “IG Bra”. She is an entertainer and comedian who made a video about how this bra is suppose to support even large size breasts. Now I have a love-hate relationship with my breast. I have nourished two babies with my body but I hate the way they hold me down when I am trying to run on the treadmill. I have the HARDEST time finding a bra that actually fits. I could go on and on but really that’s another post for another time and I have work in a few hours.

So anyway I saw this Empress on IG being admired by thousands of people who just loved the video and embraced who she was. She wasn't model thin or an ultra famous sex siren but she was very beautiful and a “plushy” like me. What I admired about her was how she embraced how her body and her self confidence came through in every picture and in every video. I decided to reach out to her by sending her a dm and she gave me the pep talk everyone should have with a stranger online. I felt empowered and courageous and I decided I would wear what I want. Hell,I am a grown ass woman and as long as I am comfortable who gives a fuck right?

The time came and I got dressed. I gave myself a good look in the mirror and thought, “This is about having a good time and coming out of your shell. You don't have to act extra this or that. Just be yourself. You are enough”.

Needless to say I had a great time. The music was live and so was the party. I even set a trend. It was so hot in there that when the other ladies saw my bra top they started to take off there shirts and wear their bra tops too. Nobody gave a fuck about what I had on...well...except for the fine ass security guard at the door lol

#beyou #loveyourself #tig ol bitties #storytimewithjane #storytime

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