HAIL TO THE CHIEF/ABC/1985 **(Glynn Turman) Secretary of State LaRue Hawkes, a black White House
cabinet official who served under the administration of President Julia
Mansfield, the first woman chief executive.
HALF NELSON/NBC/1985 *(Fred Williamson/costar) Chester Long, the black boss at the Beverly
Hills Patrol, an expensive private security service for the rich and
famous who supervised a diminutive ex-cop named Rocky Nelson. Also
featured was former NFL player Bubba Smith as Beau, one of Rocky's
co-workers.
HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER/ABC/1992-97 *(Mark Curry) Mark Cooper, a black substitute elementary school teacher
and former basketball player living in Oakland, California. Regulars
included Dawnn Lewis and Holly Robinson Peete as Mark's single female
roommates Robin (a music teacher) and Vanessa (brokerage firm employee),
on whom Mark had a crush and later married; Saundra Quarterman as Geneva,
Mark's cousin who moved in with her daughter, Nicole (played by Raven
Simone) after Robin moved out; Nell Carter as P. J., Mark's school
principal; Omar Gooding as Earvin Roman, one of Mark's school pupils; and
Marquise Wilson as Tyler, a local neighborhood kid.
HAPPY PAPPY/1949 *(Ray Grant) Ray Grant, the Master of Ceremonies of this black variety
talent program (the first with an all-Negro cast) televised on April 1,
1949 on WENR-TV in Chicago, Illinois. Also featured were the Four
Vagabonds, and the Modern Modes.
HARRIS AND COMPANY/NBC/1979 *(Bernie Casey) Mike Harris, a black auto worker who left Detroit after
the death of his wife and relocated his family to Los Angeles where he
became partner in a garage. His family members featured David Hubbard as
David; Renee Brown as Liz; Lia Jackson as Juanita Priscilla; Eddie
Singleton as Tommy; and Dain Turner as Richard Allen. Stu Gilliam and C.
Tillery Banks appeared as their cousins Charlie and Angie Adams.
HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS/SYN/1991-92 *(Kevin Peter Hall) Bigfoot, a huge forest creature who moved into a
human family's home in the Pacific Northwest. Black actor Kevin Peter Hall
was the actor beneath the hairy Bigfoot costume. Hall died in Los Angeles
at the age of 35 in 1991. The seven foot, two inch actor had previously
starred in the theatrical movies "Harry and the Henderson's" (as Bigfoot)
and in "Predator" and Predator II" as a deadly, invisible alien.
HARTS OF THE WEST/CBS/1993-94 *(Sterling Macer, Jr.) Marcus St., Cloud, a manipulative black ex-con
who worked at the Flying Tumbleweed Ranch in Sholo, Nevada.
HAVE FAITH/ABC/1989 **(Francesca Roberts) Sally Coleman, a young, overzealous black
secretary who worked for a white parish priest, Monsignor Joseph "Mac"
Mackenzie.
H.E.L.P./ABC/1990 *(Wesley Snipes) Officer Lou Burton, policeman assigned to the Harlem
Eastside Lifesaving Program, a team of police officers, firefighters and
medics serving New York City.
HE'S THE MAYOR/ABC/1986 *(Kevin Hooks) Mayor Carl Burke, a 25-year-old black college graduate
who ran for Mayor and won after he was unable to find employment in his
small Pennsylvanian hometown. He got elected because his white opponent
was caught in a scandal days before the election. Also featured were Al
Fann as Alvin Burke, Carl's janitor father; and Wesley Thompson as Wardell
Halsey, Carl's cousin and chauffeur.
HEAD OF THE CLASS/ABC/1986-91 **(Robin Givens) Darlene Merriman, an attractive black female high
school student, one of a group of IHP (Individual Honors Program) geniuses
at New York City's Filmore High School who were "mental giants but social
misfits". Darlene was the descendant of a famous black woman, Sally
Hemmings, by whom Thomas Jefferson had children. Also featured were
Kimberly Russell as Sara Nevins, a black classmate and friend; Rain Pryor
as T. J., a tough talking but talented teenage girl; and De Voreaux White
as Aristotle McKenzie, an intelligent black youth with spiked hair.
HEARTBEAT/ABC/1988-89 **(Lynn Whitefield) Dr. Corey Banks, an attractive black
obstetrician-gynecologist and mother of two, living and working at the
Women's Medical Arts Center in Los Angeles. Also featured was Robert
Gossett as Dixon Banks.
THE HEIGHTS/FOX/1992 *(Alex Desert/costar) Stan Lee, black teenage guitarist who belongs to
a blue-collar rock and roll group called The Heights. Ray Aranha appeared
as Stan’s father Mr. Mike, who owns a bar/pool hall where the band members
(mostly white) hang out and play their music.
HELL TOWN/NBC/1985 **(Whitman Mayo/costar) One Ball, pool-playing black man who assisted
Father "Hardstep" Rivers, a white ex-con-turned-priest assigned to St.
Dominic's parish in the ghetto area of East Los Angeles. Also featured was
Vonetta McGee as Sister Indigo.
HELLO, LARRY/NBC/1979-80 **(Meadowlark Lemon) Meadowlark Lemon former Harlem Globetrotters
basketball star (playing himself) as the black owner of a sporting good
store in Portland Oregon.
HERE AND NOW/NBC/1992-93 *(Malcolm-Jamal Warner) Alexander "A. J." a young black graduate
psychology student who worked at the Manhattan Youth Center in New York
City. Also featured were Charles Brown as Uncle Sydney, a hotel doorman
who shared his home with A. J.; Rachel Crawford as Sydney's daughter,
Danielle; Darryl "Chill" Mitchell as A. J. 's friend and coworker "T"; S.
Epatha Merkerson as Ms. Claudia St. Marth, the director of the youth
center; Pee Wee Love as Randall; Michel Alexander as Malik; Shaun Weiss as
William; Amir Williams as Everett; Afi McClendon as Shonna; and Victoria
Williams as Rahina.
HERMAN'S HEAD/FOX/1991-93 **(Jason Bernard) Mr. Paul Bracken, a gruff but fair black editor and
supervisor of a group of researchers for a magazine publisher. Mr. Bracken
seemingly "knows facts about everything".
HIGH INCIDENT/ABC/1996-97 *(Blair Underwood) Mike Rhoades, black uniformed gang-unit officer
working for the El Camino Police Department in California. Lisa Vidal
plays officer Jessie Helgado, one of Rhodes' fellow officers.
HIGH PERFORMANCE/ABC/1983 **(Jason Bernard) O. T. "Fletch" Fletcher, black computer expert who
assisted a crack team of security agents based at High Performance, a
security training facility.
HIGHCLIFFE MANOR/NBC/1979 **(Ernie Hudson) Smythe, black valet to the late Berkley Blacke (killed
in a laboratory explosion) who now serves his widow living at Highcliffe
Manor, a huge stone mansion on the mysterious island off the coast of
Massachusetts.
THE HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES/SYN/1992-98 **(Philip Akin) Charlie DeSalvo, a black martial artists who owned a
gym later purchased by a 400-year-old immortal called Duncan MacLeod. When
MacLeod returned to Paris, France, he gave the business back to Charlie.
Still later Charlie went off to fight in a revolution in a foreign country
and gave the martial arts business back to MacLeod.
THE HIGHWAYMAN/NBC/1988 **(Tim Russ) D.C. Montana, hip black electronics wizard who maintained
a high-tech twelve-ton eighteen-wheeler black Mack truck used by special
agents called Highwaymen to tracks down criminals for the U.S. Government.
HILL STREET BLUES/NBC/1981-87 **(Michael Warren) Bobby Hill, black police officer working in an large
unidentified American city precinct known as Hill Street Station. Also
featured were Taurean Blacque as a black streetwise plainclothes detective
Neal Washington; and J. A. Preston as Ozzie Cleveland, the city's black
mayor.
HITZ/UPN/1997-98 *(Claude Brooks/costar) Busby Evans, a black A&R talent scout at
HiTower Records who searches local nightclubs for signs of new musical
acts that he can present to his seemingly evil boss.
HOGAN'S HEROES/CBS/1965-71 **(Ivan Dixon) Corporal James Kinchloe, a black radio operator and
American prisoner of war detained in Stalag 13, a German P.O.W. camp
behind the enemy lines of World War II. Later in the series Kenneth
Washington appeared as Sgt. Richard Baker, who replaced the Kinchloe
character from 1970-71
HOMEBOYS IN OUTER SPACE/UPN/1996-97 *(Flex/costar) Tyberius Walker, a black space explorer who traveled the
space corridors of the 23rd century in a spacecraft called the Hoopty with
his partner Morris Clay (played by Darryl M. Bell). Rhona L. Bennett
costarred as the sassy, opinionated computer personality Loquatia, whose
face was displayed on the ship's TV monitor. Also featured were Kevin
Michael Richardson as Vashti, Ty‘s brother-in-law; and Paulette Braxton as
Amma, a gorgeous bounty hunter.
HOMEFRONT/ABC/1991-92 **(Hattie Winston, Dick Anthony Williams) Gloria and Abe Davis, a black
husband and wife team of domestic servants (maid and chauffeur) working
for a wealthy white family at the end of the WWII in the town of River
Run, Ohio. Sterling Macer, Jr. appeared as their son Corporal Robert
Davis, who found it difficult adjusting to home life after all the
fighting in Europe and to the obvious preferences all of the white
soldiers were given on employment opportunities.
HOMEROOM/ABC/1989 *(Darryl Sivad) Darryl Harper, a black advertising jingle writer who
left his job to teach fourth graders in an inner city environment. Other
cast members were Penny Johnson as Darryl's wife, Virginia "Vicki" Harper,
a medical student; Bill Cobbs as her disapproving father, Phil Drexler;
and Selone Araya, Trent Cameron, Jahary Bennett and Billy Dee Willis as
Darryl's grade school students.
HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET/NBC/1993-99 *(Yaphet Kotto/costar) Lt. Al “Gee” Giardello, a tough-talking black
Sicilian police supervisor in charge of a group of homicide detectives
stationed in a inner city precinct in Fells Point, Baltimore. MD. Lt. Al
“Gee” Giardello’s character is based on white Italian Baltimore police
detective Lt. Gary “Dee” D’Addario. When Giardello ran for Mayor of
Baltimore, he was shot and killed by a man angry over the death of his
child. Gee’s homicide case was #298. Other Blacks featured on the program
included Clark Johnson as streetwise Detective Meldrick Lewis; Andre
Braugher as the very intense Detective Frank Pembleton (who later
resigned); Ami Brabson as Mary Whelan Pembleton, Franks’ wife; Michael
Michele as Lewis' new partner, Detective Rene Sheppard; Toni Lewis as
Detective Terri Stivers; and Giancarlo Esposito as Special FBI Agent Mike
Giardello (Lt. Al Giardello’s estranged son introduced during the 1998-99
season). Note; Yaphet Kotto was raised in Harlem-as a Jew. Yaphet (which
means beautiful in Hebrew) was a descendent of African royalty. His
father, Njoki Manga Bell, was the great-grandson of King Alexander Bell
who ruled the Doula region of the West Africa nation of Cameroon in the
late 19th century. Kotto is entitled to a chieftaincy in Camaroon should
he decide to journey back to the land of his family roots.
THE HOOP LIFE/SHO/1999-2000 *(Mykelti Williamson) Marvin Buxton, hot-tempered black basketball
player hired to hit hoops for the New England Knights, a pro basketball
team of the UBA. “The Hoop Life” follows the lives of three basketball
players trying to survive the high-stress environment of big money, big
egos and overnight fame Among the other players: Rick Peters as Greg Marr
(Rick Peters), a womanizer going through a messy divorce; and Cirroc
Lofton as Curtis Thorpe, a high school sensation recruited by the Knights.
Other cast were Dorian Harewood as Eliot Pierce; Lynda Gravatt as Celia
Thorpe; and Michelyn Emelle as Sharon Thorpe. The 6 feet 3 inches tall,
Mykelti Williamson played Bubba in Forrest Gump.
HOUSTON KNIGHTS/CBS/1987-88 **(John Hancock) Clarence, aka "Chicken," a beefy, black owner of a
greasy roadside ribs/chili joint which was the hang out for two white
police detectives, Sgt. Joey La Fiamma and Sgt. LeVon Lundy.
HOTEL/ABC/1983-88 **(Nathan Cook) Billy Griffin, a black ex-con gone straight working as
head of security for the San Francisco's posh St. Gregory Hotel. Shari
Belafonte-Harper played counter receptionist Julie Gillette.
THE HUGHLEYS/ABC/1998-2002 *(D. L. Hughley) Darryl Hughley, a successful black vending-machine
businessman who moved his family to the comfort of a California suburbs to
become the only blacks in a sea of white folks. Also featured were Elise
Neal as Darryl's wife, Yvonne; Ashley Monique Clark and Dee Jay Daniels as
their children; and John Henton as Darryl's best (and black) friend. The
show, based on the life of stand-up comic D. L. Hughleys, begs to ask the
questions "Is this black man losing his blackness while he tries to keep
up with the Jones?" and "When Daddy loves Marvin Gaye and his son likes
Hanson, can racial harmony be far behind?" See also LOVE THY NEIGHBOR.
HULL HIGH/NBC/1990 *(Trey Parker) Rapper #1, one of the four rapping/dancing high school
students ("The Hull High Devils") who wandered the halls of Cordell Hull
High School. Also featured were Philip DeMarks as Rapper # 2; Carl Anthony
Payne II as Rapper # 3; and Bryan Anthony as Rapper #4.
HUMAN FACTOR/CBS/1992 **(Eriq LaSalle) Michael Stoven, black medical intern and one of a
number of students being instructed by Dr. Alex Murphy, a talented veteran
physician working at U.C.I., an inner city teaching hospital.
HUMAN TARGET/ABC/1992 **(Kirk Baltz) Philo Marsden, black makeup maven who created computer
generated masks as disguises for Christopher Chance, a decoy-for-hire who
impersonated endangered people. Philo was headquartered aboard a huge
black high-tech aircraft called Blackwing.
HUNTER/NBC/1986-91 **(Garrett Morris) Arnold "Sporty" James, a black, streetwise hustler
introduced in the fall of 1986 season. Comedian singer, Garrett Morris was
formerly of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1975-80).
