GABRIEL'S
FIRE/ABC/1990-91
*(James Earl Jones) Gabriel Bird, an ex-Chicago cop who
spent 20 years in prison for shooting (accidentally) his white police
partner. When his conviction was overturned with the help of a white
female lawyer, he began working for her as an investigator. Madge Sinclair
appeared as Empress Josephine Austin, an old friend and Gabriel's love
interest. The program was later retitled PROS AND CONS/ABC/1991 and teamed
Gabriel Bird with Mitch O'Hannon, an over-the-hill white private
investigator played by Richard Crenna.
THE GAYLE KING HOUR/SYN/1997-98
*(Gayle King) Gayle King, the close friend of talk show
host Oprah Winfrey took to the air in her own talk show which featured
fashion previews, safety and real life issues.
GENE RODDENBERRY'S EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT/SYN/1997+
*(Richard Chevolleau/costar) Augur, (real name: Marcus
Devereaux) a black computer hacker who genius helps the underground
Resistance battle the seemingly peaceful aliens (Taelons) occupying the
planet Earth in the 21st century.
GENERATIONS/NBC/1989-91
*(Taurean Blacque) Henry Marshal, a black executive who
worked his way out of the ghetto to become the owner of a chain of ice
cream stores. Also featured were Joan Pringle as Ruth Marshal, Henry's
wife, the mother of three grown kids and two grandchildren; Kristoff St.
John as Adam, a handsome college student. This daytime soap opera was the
first to feature black stars in lead roles.
GEORGE/ABC/1993-94
*(George Foreman/costar) George Foster, a retired black
boxer who volunteers to spend time helping kids a local middle school.
Also featured were Sheryl Lee Ralph as George's guidance counselor wife,
Maggie; Lauren Robinson as their daughter Virginia (aka "Vee"); Tony T.
Johnson as their son, George, Jr. (aka "Bubba"); Larry Gilliard, Jr. as
Lathan; Donniel Spencer as Shasta; Cleandre Norman as Daniel; and
LaCrystal Cooke as Vanessa Jasso.
GEORGE AND LEO/NBC/1997-98
**(Darryl Thierse) Ambrose, a snooty black bookstore
employee of white employer George Stoody, a mild-mannered bookstore owner
living on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
THE GEORGE CARLIN SHOW/FOX/1994-95
**(Phil Lamarr) Bob Brown, black man who hung out in
front of the Manhattan brownstone and visited with his cabdriver neighbor,
George O'Grady.
GET CHRISTIE LOVE/ABC/1974-75
*(Teresa Graves) Detective Christie Love, a sexy black,
Los Angeles policewoman who worked undercover for the Special
Investigations Division. Det. Love's conversation was peppered with the
phrases like "Your under arrest, Sugah!" Teresa Graves formerly appeared
as a comedy regular on the NBC variety program ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN
from 1969-70 and was for a time a singer with the Doodletown Pipers.
GET SMART/FOX/1995
**(Markus Redmond) Duane, a black lab technician who
worked for research and development at CONTROL, a Washington-based
espionage agency.
GETTING BY/ABC/NBC/1993-94
*(Telma Hopkins/costar) Dolores Nixon, black Chicago
widow who worked as a social worker. She shares a home with a white fellow
coworker with two daughters. Other cast included Merlin Santana as
Dolore's fifteen-year-old son, Marcus; and Deon Richmond as her
fourteen-year-old son, Darren
GETTING PERSONAL/FOX/1998
*(Vivica A. Fox/costar) Robyn Buckley, black female
supervisor of a commercial production company who was at odds with fellow
black employee Milo Doucette (played by Duane Martin).
GIDEON OLIVER/ABC/1989
*(Louis Gossett, Jr.) Gideon Oliver, a black New York
University professor of Cultural Anthropology who often used his skills to
solve crimes. Shari Headley appeared as Zina, his grown daughter. The
Gideon Oliver character was featured on segments of THE ABC MYSTERY MOVIE.
GHOSTWRITER/PBS/1992
*(Sheldon Turnispeed) Jamal Jenkins, a black youngster
who along with a group of multi-ethnic kids solved mysteries with the help
of a spiritual entity who typed messages to them via a computer owned by
Jamal. Also featured was Marcella Lowery as Grandma Jenkins, a post office
worker who lives with Jamal in Brooklyn.
GIMME A BREAK/NBC/1981-87
*(Nell Carter) Nell Ruth Harper, a plump,
strong-willed, black housekeeper working for a white, widowed police chief
in the fictional town of Glenlawn. Nell became part of the family when the
Chief died and she stayed on to raise his children. Telma Hopkins played
Addy Wilson, Nell's best friend. In the Fall of 1986 both Addy and Nell
moved to New York City.
THE GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS SHOW/NBC/1975
*(Gladys Knight) Gladys Knight, black rock song stress
who teamed with her backup singers, the Pips (Merald Knight, William
Guest, Edward Pattern) in this one-hour summer musical variety program
that featured renditions of hit songs comedy routines.
GOING TO EXTREMES/ABC/1992-93
**(Carl Lumbly) Dr. Michael Norris, black chief
administrator of Croft University Medical School on the Caribbean island
of Jantique (where Norris was born). Also featured was Erika Alexander as
Cheryl Carter, a materialistic black woman attending Croft. Filmed on
location in Jamaica.
THE GOLDEN PALACE/CBS/1992-93
**(Don Cheadle) Roland Wilson, competent black manager/desk
clerk working at the "Golden Palace," a small Art Deco hotel in the trendy
South Bay section of Miami Beach.
GOOD NEWS/UPN/1997-98
*(David Ramsey/costar) Pastor Randolph, an idealistic
black minister who takes over the pulpit of a South Central Los Angeles
church and begins professing his message of faith by welcoming gay members
into the congregation and handing out condoms to his flock. Other regulars
included Guy Tory as Little T; Roz Ryan as Mrs. Dixon; Tracey Cherelle
Jones as Cassie; Alexia Robinson as Mona Phillips; Rose Jackson as Vera
Hudson; and Jazsmin Lewis as Venita Stansbury.
GOOD SPORTS/CBS/1991
**(Cleavant Derricks) Jeff Mussberger, black reporter
for "Sports Central," broadcast on the ASCN (All Sports Cable Network).
Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Jim Brown and George Foreman were seen during the
comic interview segment "Sports Chat."
GOOD TIMES/CBS/1974-79
*(Esther Rolle, John Amos) Florida and James Evans, a
poor black married couple who lived in the Chicago projects. Their family
included Jimmie Walker as teenage son James "JJ" Jr.; BernNadette Stanis
as daughter Thelma; and Ralph Carter as their younger son, Michael. Other
cast members included Ja'net Dubois as neighbor Willona Woods; Janet
Jackson as Penny Gordon, Willona's adopted daughter; and Johnny Brown as
building super Nathan "Buffalo Butt" Bookman. The Florida Evans character
first appeared on the CBS situation comedy MAUDE from 1972-74 where she
worked as the maid for an outspoken white female named Maude Findlay.
(Esther Rolle died on November 17, 1998 at age 78 from complications due
to diabetes). Good Times inspired the UK sitcom known as The Fosters
that aired on London Weekend Television from 1976-77. The program followed
Samuel Foster (Norman Beaton) and his wife, Pearl (Isabelle Lucas) as they
set up housekeeping in a tower block in London after emigrating to England
from Guyana with their three children, Sonny (Lenny Henry), Benjamin (Lawrie
Mark) and Shirley (Sharon Rosita).
GOOD Vs EVIL/USA/1999-2000
*(Richard Brooks/costar) Henry McNeil, a black man from
the 70's who teams with Chandler Smythe, a white reporter killed by a
demonic-looking gang member. Together as heavenly agents for the “Corp,”
they travel the streets of Hollywood fighting evil Morlocks. Deacon Jones
as himself narrated the program storyline.
GOODE BEHAVIOR/UPN/1996-97
*(Sherman Hemsley) Willie Goode, a black man paroled
from Federal Prison after 15-years who appears on the doorstep of his son
Franklin (played by Dorien Wilson) to live under a mandatory house arrest.
Unfortunately, his son is now the dean of Chapel Hill University and the
chemistry between the long lost street-smart father and his now
respectable son, is to say the least, uncomfortable. Also featured were
Alex Datcher as Barbara Goode, Franklin‘s wife; and Bianca Lawrence as
Bianca Goode.
GRACE UNDER FIRE/ABC/1993-98
**(Ernie Hudson & Penny Johnson) Thad and Bailey
Alford, the new African-American next-door neighbors of Grace Kelly
introduced on episode No. 20 "Love thy Neighbour. Grace's mother-in law,
Jean thinks Thad is a thief, and her grown son Jimmy (Grace's ex-husband)
assumes he's the plumber because he is black. After an awkward dinner
conversation involving racism, Grace becomes fast friends with Thad's
wife, Bailey.
GRADY/NBC/1975-76
*(Whitman Mayo) Grady Wilson, an elderly black man who
moved from Watts to Santa Monica to live with his daughter and her family.
Other cast included Carol Cole as Ellie Marshall, his daughter; Joe Morton
as Hal, her schoolteacher husband; Rosanne Katon as their daughter,
Laurie; and Haywood Nelson as their son, Haywood. The Grady character was
a spin-off of SANFORD AND SON/NBC/1972-77. When this short-lived series
was canceled, his character was reinstated on THE SANFORD ARMS/NBC/1977.
GRANDPA GOES TO WASHINGTON/NBC/1978-79
*(Madge Sinclair) Madge, the trusted black secretary of Joe Kelley, a
66-year-old man elected to the Senate in Washington, D.C.`
THE GREGORY HINES SHOW/CBS/1997-98
*(Gregory Hines) Ben Stevenson, a black, widowed book
publisher/editor from Chicago who tries to get back into the dating game
after 20 years while trying to balance job and his family life, namely his
12-year-old son Matty Stevenson (played by Brandon Hammond). Also featured
were Wendell Pierce as Carl Stevenson, Ben’s brother; and Bill Cobbs as
James Stevenson, Ben and Carl’s father.
GROWN UPS/UPN/1999-2000
*(Jaleel White) J. Calvin Frazier, an ambitious single
24-year-old black professional (he works in a box factory) whose life and
romances are eyed with envy by his white married best friend.
GUYS LIKE US/UPN/1998-99
*(Bumper Robinson) Jared, a conservative black bachelor
sharing an apartment with Sean, a white free-spirited musician. Suddenly,
the two have to contend with Jared's 6-year-old brother (played by Maestro
Harrell) who moves in on the both of them.
