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THE A-TEAM/NBC/1983-87
*(Mr. T/costar) Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus, one of four AWOL Vietnam War veterans
on the run from the U.S. Army for a crime they didn't commit. Della Reese
appeared as B.A.'s mother who called her son, "Scooter."
THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR./FOX/1993-94
*(Julius Carry/costar) Lord Bowler (a.k.a. James Lonefeather), a towering black
unshaven bounty hunter in a bowler hat who often teamed up with white bounty
hunter Brisco County, Jr. to track down the baddest of the bad in the Old West.
When not on the dusty trail, Bowler lived in luxury and indulged his expensive
tastes. Bowler and Brisco later become special agents for President Cleveland.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR/UPN/1996
**(Oris Orhuero) Rongar, a black, knife-throwing mute sailor who accompanied
Sinbad the Sailor on his ancient mid-eastern voyages. He had his tongue cut out
for not betraying his brother.
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY/SYN/1988-91
**(Peter Jay Fernandez) Matt Ritter, a black investigator working with a young
Clark Kent, (a.k.a. "Superboy") for the Department of Extra Normal Affairs
located in Washington, D.C..
AGAINST THE LAW/FOX/1990-91
**(Suzanne Douglas) Yvette Carruthers, a black legal researcher working with an
unconventional white Boston attorney.
ALIEN NATION/FOX/1989-91
**(Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs) Sgt. Dobbs, a black Los Angeles police detective who
joked around with and teased outer space aliens known as the Newcomers on this
science fiction drama.
ALL IN THE FAMILY/CBS/1971-79
**(Sherman Hemsley) George Jefferson, a black dry-cleaning store owner and
next-door neighbor to a bigoted white man. Also featured were Isabel Sanford, as
George's wife, Louise aka "Weezie"; and Mike Evans as their teenage son, Lionel.
See also THE JEFFERSONS.
ALL THAT/NIK/1994-2005
*(Christy Knowings) Christy Knowings, one of a number of multi-ethnic group of
young performers who engaged in topical and silly skits on a weekly basis
half-hour program. Also featured were Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson who spun
off their "Good Burger" skit into the motion picture Good Burger (1997) about
dimwitted Ed and his pal, Dexter, who work at a fast food restaurant. Ed's
classic customer greeting: "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger! Can
I take your order?!"
ALLY MCBEAL/FOX/1997-2002
*(Lisa Nicole Carson/costar) Renée Radick, an attractive black deputy district
attorney working for the city of Boston who shared an apartment with her white
college chum and fellow lawyer Ally McBeal. While attending Harvard Law School,
Renée and Ally invented a prank called "The Penguin." which targeted a
"deserving" male victim. Luring him to a supposed secluded spot and suggesting
that the man drop his drawers, one of the woman made the man waddle after her
while the other accomplice took a snapshot of the humiliating moment as a
souvenir.
AMAZING GRACE/NBC/1995
**(Lorriane Toussaint) Yvonne Price, an African-American emergency room nurse
who was a friend of former nurse turned minister.
AMEN/NBC/1986-91
*(Sherman Hemsley) Ernest Frye, a black President and Deacon of The First
Community Church of Philadelphia who struggled with his congregation's new young
preacher, Reverend Reuben Gregory (played by the series co-star Clifton Davis).
Also featured were Anna Maria Horsford as Thelma Frye, the deacon's daughter who
later married Reverend Gregory; Barbara Montgomery and Roz Ryan as sisters
Casietta and Amelia Hetebrink both on the church's governing board; Jester
Hairston as elderly board member Rolly Forbes; Rosetta LeNoire as Rolly's wife,
Leola; Bumper Robinson as Clarence, a local teenager; and Franklyn Seales as
choir director Lorenzo Hollingsworth. Trivia Note: In reality, Clifton Davis
earned his Masters in Divinity in 1987 and became a pastor of a Seventh-Day
Adventist Church in California.
AMOS 'N ANDY/CBS/1951-53
*(Alvin Childress & Spencer Williams) Amos Jones and Andrew "Andy" Brown, two
black cabdrivers working for The Fresh Air Taxi Company of America, Inc. based
in Harlem. The series all black cast also included Tim Moore as the conniving
president of the local Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge, George "Kingfish"
Stevens; Ernestine Wade as Sapphire Stevens, the Kingfish's nagging wife; Amanda
Randolph as Mama, Sapphire's mother; Nick O'Demus (also known as Nicodemus,
Horace Stewart Nick Stewart and Nicodemus Stewart) as Lightnin', the slow moving
janitor; Johnny Lee as Algonquin J. Calhoun, a fast-talking, inept lawyer; and
Jester Hairston playing both roles of Leroy, Sapphire's brother and the haughty
Henry Van Horne; Blatz Beer, the sponsor of the program yielded to pressure from
NAACP and other civil-rights groups when they protested the way the show
pictured the American black man. In 1964, the Urban League Director stated "the
show depicts the Negro as a foot-shuffling handkerchief head. The station owners
who run it are going to catch Hell and the sponsor of the show will not sell the
Negro market". Reruns were syndicated until 1966 when during the Civil Rights
Movement CBS removed all copies from both domestic and overseas markets. In 1983
reruns of the program were seen in Atlanta, Georgia. The original radio series
featured the voices of white actors Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll in the
lead roles of Amos Jones and Andy Brown. “The Amos 'N' Andy Show” began with the
narration: "Out of the library of American folklore, those treasured stories
such as Huck Finn, Paul Bunyon and Rip Van Winkle-which have brought us laughter
and joy for generations-come the warm and lovable tales of Amos n' Andy;
presented by the Blatz Brewing Company, Wisconsin, on behalf of Blatz dealers
everywhere."
ANGEL STREET/CBS/1992
*(Robin Givens/costar) Anita Wellman King, an ambitious black police detective
working for the Violent Crimes Unit of the Chicago Police Department. Anita is
Catholic and grew up on the South side of Chicago. She was teamed with a
Polish-American female partner.
ANY DAY NOW/LIF/1998-2002
*(Lorraine Toussaint/costar) Rene, a successful single black attorney who leaves
Washington D.C. to return to her hometown of Birmington, Alabama where she
rekindles a friendship with M. E. Sims, a married white housewife who was once
her close childhood companion.
ARSENIO/ABC/1997
*(Arsenio Hall) Michael Atwood, a black on-air announcer and co-anchor for an
all-sports cable network based in Atlanta, Georgia. Also appearing was Michael's
beautiful new wife Vivian (Vivica A. Fox), an attorney who allowed her lazybones
younger brother Matthew (Alimi Ballard) to live with and mooch off of the
couple.
THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW/SYN/1989-94
*(Arsenio Hall) Arsenio Hall, a popular Emmy Award-winning late night talk show
host and executive producer from Cleveland, Ohio. He ran a successful six-year
run against the reigning King of late night television Johnny Carson and his
successor Jay Leno. Hall began his career in Chicago as a stand-up comedian,
eventually touring with more than 25 headliners. See also MARTIAL LAW.
AT EASE/ABC/1983
*(Jimmy Walker) Sgt. Val Valentine, a U.S. Army hustler and con-artist stationed
at a peacetime military base in Tar Creek, Texas. The series was a black version
of Sgt. Ernie Bilko character seen on THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW in the 1950's.
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