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M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83
**(Timothy Brown) Oliver Harmon “Spearchucker” Jones, African-American football
star for the San Francisco 49ers turned doctor and stationed at Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital 4077th Division during the Korean War. Spearchucker (whose
character also appeared in the 1970 film M*A*S*H that inspired the series) hangs
out with white surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John. His character was
written out of the show after the first season when the writers discovered that
there were no black surgeons during the Korean Conflict. In the movie
Spearchucker was played by Fred Williamson and used as the 4077th ringer for a
football game against the 121st Evac. Odessa Cleveland also appeared as black
nurse Lt. Ginger Ballis during the 1972-74 season.
MAGGIE/LIF/1998-99
**(Francesca Roberts) Kimberly, a black acquaintance of Maggie Day, a white
veterinary assistant who is going through a midlife crisis.
THE MAGIC HOUR/FOX/1997-98
*(Earvin "Magic" Johnson) Magic Johnson left the basketball court of the L.A.
Lakers to host his very own late night talk show. Also featured was Sheila E. as
his musical director and Tommy Davidson as his Ed McMahon like second banana.
Despite the show's hyped promotions, Magic's talk show host soon fizzled.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN/CBS/1998-99
*(Rick Worthy/costar) Nathan Jackson, a black gunfighter who joined forces with
a group of gunfighters to help maintain law and order in the frontier town of
Four Corners. Carl Lumbly also appeared as Nathan's father, an ex-slave. In his
earlier days, Nathan was a slave and stretcher-bearer in the Union Army. He was
almost lynched by a bunch of drunken cowhand who thought Nathan had killed their
trail boss [he died of gangrene, however]. Just in the nick of time two of his
future compatriot Chris Larabee and Vin Donner interrupted the mob's fun and
saved Nathan's life. Nathan's choice of weapon is a good knife.
MAGNUM P.I./CBS/1980-88
*(Roger E. Mosley/costar) Theodore "T. C." Calvin, a black helicopter pilot who
operated a successful Island Hopping Service among the Hawaiian Islands. T. C.,
a Vietnam veteran, is a close friend of white private detective, Tom Magnum who
also served in Nam. T. C. hometown is New Orleans..
MAIN STREET/NBC/1985-86
*(Bryant Gumbel) Bryant Gumbel, black host of this children's news program
dealing with current events wherein youthful audience members discussed on a
variety of topics including drug abuse, birth control, etc.
MAJOR DAD/CBS/1989-92
**(Marlon Archey) Sgt. Bryon James, a black United States Marine officer
stationed at Camp Singleton in San Diego, California.
MAKE ROOM FOR GRANDDADDY/ABC/1970-71
**(Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier) Rosey Robbins, a black piano accompanist for
Lebanese nightclub singer, Danny Williams in this short-lived revival of the
original MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY/ABC/CBS/1953-65.
MALCOLM & EDDIE/UPN/1996-2000
*(Malcom-Jamal Warner) Malcolm McGee, a conservative aspiring black sports
commentator (who owns a bar) sharing an apartment with Eddie Sherman, his zany
tow-truck driver friend (played by Eddie Griffin). Other cast included Angela
Brooks as Holly; Jaime Cardriche as Tim; Karen Malina White as Nicolette
Vandross (who later joins the police academy).
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE/FOX/2000-2006
**(Craig Lamar Traylor) Stevie Kenarben, an asthmatic black boy in a wheelchair
who attends a special class for gifted kids (high IQ’s) with friend Malcolm (the
show’s featured actor). When Stevie speaks, his breathing is labored and his
deliver is slow but clear. On the “Sleepover” episode Stevie invites Malcolm
over for a sleepover, and the two sneak out to a late-night games arcade, where
Stevie’s wheelchair is stolen (Malcolm ends up pushing Stevie around in a
shopping cart). Gary Anthony Williams and Merrin Dungey appear as Mr. & Mrs.
Kenarben, Stevie’s extremely overprotective parents.
MAN AND MACHINE/NBC/1992
*(S. Epatha Merkerson/costar) Lt. Margaret Claghorn, black supervisor to a male
Los Angeles cop paired with a crime-fighting female robot
A MAN CALLED HAWK/ABC/1988-89
*(Avery Brooks) Hawk, an enigmatic, .357 Magnum wielding black man with a
mysterious past as a CIA operative who now lived on the streets of Washington,
D.C. Moses Gunn played "Old Man", an elderly black man with whom Hawk often
confided. The series was a spin-off of SPENSER: FOR HIRE/ABC/1985-88 where Hawk
was a friend of a white Boston private investigator.
MAN CALLED SLOANE/NBC/1979-80
*(Ji-Tu Cumbuka/costar) Torque, a black secret agent with a large metallic right
hand equipped with all sorts of gadgets who worked for an American
counterintelligence agency known as UNIT. He worked with white operative, Thomas
Remington Sloane.
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN/SYN/1954
*(Woody Strode/costar) Lothar, the faithful black servant of Mandrake, a 12th
century boy taught the secrets of Theton the Master of Magic. Together Mandrake
and Lothar battled evil. In the NBC TV movie pilot "Mandrake" (1/24/79) Ji-Tu
Cumbuka played the role of Lothar.
MANIMAL/NBC/1983
*(Michael D. Roberts/costar) Tyrone C. Earl, a black Vietnam veteran buddy and
assistant to white Professor Jonathan Chase who could morph into an animal.
MANNIX/CBS/1967-75
**(Gail Fisher) Peggy Fair, a black widowed secretary and girl-Friday to Los
Angeles private detective of Armenian descent, Joe Mannix. Mark Stewart played
Peggy's young son, Toby.
M.A.N.T.I.S./FOX/1994-95
*(Carl Lumbly) Dr. Miles Hawkins, a black scientist paralyzed by a bullet to the
spine during the Los Angeles Riots who developed an exo-skeleton suit to enable
him to walk and fight crime. Miles had a secret headquarters underneath his home
that housed, The Chrysalis, his futuristic car/hover craft. Also featured were
Galyn Gorg as police Lt. Leora Maxwell. The series was based on the made-for-TV
movie pilot "M.A.N.T.I.S." (1994) which featured a predominantly black
supporting cast including Carl Lumbly. When the show turned series, the amount
of black cast diminished greatly.
MARBLEHEAD MANOR/SYN/1987
**(Phil Morris) Jerry Stockton, black chauffeur for the Stonehills, a zany
wealthy white family who live at Marblehead Manor.. Rodney Scott appeared as
Jerry’s brother Dwayne, the estate handyman. (The Stonehill’s other support
staff included Dyana Ortelli as Lupe, their hispanic cook. )
MARIAH/ABC/1987
**(William Allen Young) Reverend Howard Bouchard, a compassionate black chaplain
working at the fictional penitentiary known as Mariah State located in the
Northeast section of the U.S.A.
THE MARILYN MCCOO AND BILLY DAVIS JR. SHOW/CBS/1977
*(Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis) Husband and wife team of Marilyn McCoo and Billy
Davis, formerly of the "Fifth Dimension" pop group, hosted this summer musical
variety program.
MARRIED PEOPLE/ABC/1990-91
*(Ray Aranha, Barbara Montgomery) Nick and Olivia Williams, black landlords who
rented out their Harlem Brownstone to two white couples.
MARRIED WITH...CHILDREN/FOX/1987-97
**(Harold Sylvester) Griff, a black shoe salesman occasionally featured on this
dysfunctional situation comedy during the 1994-97 seasons. Griff works at
Garry's Shoes with Al Bundy, a frustrated married white shoe salesman.
MARTIAL LAW/CBS/1998-2000
*(Arsenio Hall/costar) Lt. Terrell Parker, a black streetwise Los Angeles police
detective who assisted the cases of Captain Sammo Law, an Asian-American cop on
loan from Shanghai, China.
MARTIN/FOX/1992-97
*(Martin Lawrence) Martin Payne, a boisterous, macho black deejay at WZUP radio
station in Detroit. Other cast included Tisha Campbell as his long-suffering but
devoted girlfriend, Gina Waters (she married Martin in the spring of 1995); Carl
Anthony Payne as his pal Cole; Thomas Mikal Ford as his other pal Tommy; Tichina
Arnold as Tommy's girlfriend, Pam (who disliked Martin with a passion); Jonathan
Gries as radio station engineer Sean McDermott; Garrett Morris as radio station
manager Stan Kemrite; and LaWanda Page as Evelyn. From time to time Martin
dressed in drag to portray his mother and his zany female neighbor Sheneneh.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW/CBS/1970-77
**(John Amos) Gordon "Gordy" Howard, a black weatherman for Minneapolis
television station WJM-TV, Channel 12. Gordy later moved onto become a
sportscaster in a major market.
MATLOCK/NBC/ABC/1986-95
**(Kene Holliday) Tyler Hudson, a black private eye who assisted Atlanta based
father/daughter law team. Later in the series, the Tyler Hudson character was
replaced by Clarence Gilyard Jr. who played Conrad McMasters, a former police
deputy turned investigator.
MATT HOUSTON/ABC/1982-85
**(Lincoln Kilpatrick) Lt. Michael Hoyt, a black Los Angeles police detective
who was often involved with investigations of millionaire private detective,
Matt Houston.
MATT LINCOLN/ABC/1970-71
**(Felton Perry, Chelsea Brown) Jimmy and Tag, two hip young blacks who assisted
psychiatrist, Matt Lincoln with a troubled teenager hotline.
MATT WATERS/CBS/1996
*(Montel Williams) Matt Waters, a tough-talking black science teacher working in
an inner-city high school in New Jersey. Waters had just retired from the Navy
SEALS and decided to teach and straighten out kids gone bad. Montel Williams, a
former Navy officer and motivational speaker also hosted the syndicated daytime
talk show THE MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW.
MCCLAIN'S LAW/NBC/1981-82
**(Carl Franklin) Detective Jerry Cross, a black San Pedro policeman who was
fellow officer of Jim McClain, a veteran white cop newly returned to the force
from retirement.
MCCLOUD/NBC/1970-77
**(Terry Carter) Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, a black NYPD detective who assisted a
transplanted New Mexico sheriff on his assignments at the Manhattan 27th
precinct.
ME & MRS. C/NBC/1986-87
*(Misha McK/costar) Gerri Kilgore, a young black female with a prison record who
was taken in by Mrs. C, a 62-year-old white widow.
ME AND MOM/ABC/1985
*(James Earl Jones) Lou Garfield, a black ex-cop who made sure that a mother and
daughter team of private eyes didn't get too deep into trouble.
ME AND THE BOYS/ABC/1994-95
*(Steve Harvey) Steve Tower, a video store owner and widowed father of three
children, Artis (Chaz Lamar Shepherd), William, (Wayne Collins) and Andrew
(Benjamin D. LeVert). Other cast were Madge Sinclair as Mary Crock, Steve's
mother-in-law, and Wendy Raquel Robinson as Steve's girlfriend, Amelia.
MELBA/CBS/1986
*(Melba Moore) Melba Patterson, a divorced black woman who worked as Deputy
Director of Tourism (Manhattan Visitor's Bureau) for New York City. Jamilla
Perry played Tracy, Melba's nine year old daughter. Melba's best friend was a
white woman on whose parent's estate Melba grew up as daughter of their
housekeeper. Melba Moore also starred in a syndicated musical video series in
1982 called MELBA MOORE'S COLLECTION OF LOVE SONGS.
THE MELBA MOORE-CLIFTON DAVIS SHOW/CBS/1972
*(Melba Moore, Clifton Davis) Melba Moore and her husband Clifton Davis hosted
this summer replacement musical/variety program.
MEN/ABC/1989
*(Ving Rhames/costar) Charlie Hazard, a black criminal lawyer working in
Baltimore (fired by his law firm after 10 years) who opened his own private
practice. Candy Ann Brown played his wife, Margaret.
MEN IN BLACK: THE SERIES /SYN/1997-98
*(Voice of Keith Diamond/costar) Agent J, a cool heroic African-American MIB
rookie who (with his white partner Agent K) monitors outer space aliens that
either lived peacefully on Earth in an assortment of guises or threatened to
conquer the planet. This animated series was based on the theatrical film Men in
Black (1996) starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.
MERCY POINT/UPN/1998-99
*(Joe Morton) Dr. Grote Maxwell, black physician assigned aboard Mercy Point, a
23rd century medical facility that is part of the colony known as Jericho, an
outpost located on the furthest explored point in the galaxy across the
Saharactic Divide. Grote is the primary alien physiologist, specializing
non-human patients. Gay Thomas-Wilson also appeared as Dr. Rema Cook, a
well-respected psycho-surgeon from Earth.
MIAMI VICE/NBC/1984-89
*(Philip Michael Thomas/costar) Detective Ricardo Tubbs, a sexy, smart and very
cool black ex-New York Policeman who relocated to Miami to find the murderers of
his brother and later joined the Miami police force, assigned to narcotics.
Olivia Brown played detective Trudy Joplin, a fellow black officer.
MILLENNIUM/FOX/1996-99
*(Klea Scott/costar) Emma Hollis, Special Agent for the FBI who assisted Frank
Black, a serial killer profiler. Hollis' character was introduced during the
1998 season. CCH Pounder has also appeared in the role of Dr. Cheryl Andrews.
MINOR ADJUSTMENTS/NBC/UPN/1995-97
*(Rondell Sheridan) Dr. Ron Aimes, an African-American child psychologist who
shares an office with a orthodontist. Also featured were Wendy Raquel Robinson
as Ron's wife, Rachel; Bobby E. McAdams II as their precocious ten year-old son,
Trevor; and Camille Winbush as their cute younger daughter, Emma.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY/FOX/1995
**(Julius Carry) Perry, a black divorced friend of a white NYU film professor
and his younger brother. Also featured was Wesley Jonathan as Connor, Perry’s
teenage son.
MISFITS OF SCIENCE/NBC/1985-86
*(Kevin Peter Hall/costar) Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln, a seven foot, four inch black
scientist who could shrink to the size of a Ken doll. Elvin was one of four
genetic misfits who teamed up to fight crime and investigate the extraordinary.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE/CBS/1966-73
*(Greg Morris/costar) Barney Collier, a black electronics expert sent on
assignment by the U.S. government as part of an espionage unit known as the
Impossible Missions Force.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE/ABC/1988-90
*(Phil Morris/costar) Grant Collier, a black electronic wizard in possession of
the "greatest inventive mind to come out of MIT in twenty years" who now worked
with the IMF. Phil Morris was the real-life son of Greg Morris, who played
Barney Collier on the original series.
MR. RHODES/NBC/1996-97
**(Ron Glass) Ronald Felcher, a black instructor at an old conservative prep
school who interacts with newly hired Caucasian writer/teacher (Mr. Rhodes).
MOD SQUAD/ABC/1968-73
*(Clarence William, III/costar) Linc Hayes, a tough black and very cool (he
always wore sunglasses) undercover cop. Linc was one of three teens employed by
Los Angeles police Captain to form a special youth undercover police squad. All
three were on probation for some offense.
MODELS, INC./FOX/1994-95
**(Garcelle Beauvais) Cynthia Nichols, a sassy, aggressive black fashion model
who graduated from Princeton University and was now working for Models, Inc., a
Los Angeles Modeling Agency. Beauvais was born in Haiti and has herself been a
model for catalogs and cosmetic companies.
MOESHA/UPN/1996-2001
*(Brandy Norwood) Moesha Denise Mitchell, a black 16-year-old girl living in
Leimert Park Section of Los Angeles under the watchful eyes of her protective
parents. Also appearing were William Allen Young as her father, Frank; Sheryl
Lee Ralph as Dee, her stepmother; Countess Vaughn as Kim Parker, Moesha's zany
friend; Lamont Bentley as Hakeem Campbell, Moesha's next-door neighbor and best
friend; Fredo Starr as Quinton "Q" Brooks, Moesha's boyfriend; Marcus T. Paulk
as Myles Mitchell, her little brother; Shar Jackson as boy-crazy Niecy Jackson;
and Yvette Wilson as Andell, who runs Moesha's favorite hangout, The Den. On the
1998-99 season premiere Moesha actually meets Brandy (as herself) at a concert.
(as everybody thinks Moesha looks like Brandy except for Moesha). Brandy Norwood
was a triple-platinum, Grammy-nominated teen singing sensation before she signed
on to do this African-American sitcom. See also THE PARKERS
THE MONROES/ABC/1995
**(Darryl Thierse) Michael Bradley, black lawyer and adviser to politically
ambitious Maryland clan.
MOVIN' ON/NBC/1974-76
**(Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier) Moose, a black gypsy truck driver seen frequently on
the 1975-76 season of this transportation adventure.
MR. T/NBC/1983-86
*(Voice of Mr. T) Animated cartoon featuring Mr. T, as a black coach of a U.S.
gymnastics team that battled evil around the world.
MTV NEWS/MTV/1991+
*(Alison Stewart) Alison Stewart, black reporter and producer for MTV News and
one of the network's two black on-camera personalities (veejay Bill Bellamy is
the other)
MURDER ONE/ABC/1995-96
**(Vanessa Williams) Lila Marquette, black legal office receptionist for white
defense attorney. DB Woodside later appeared as the firm's new black associate.
MURPHY BROWN/CBS/1988-98
**(Julius Carry) Mitchell Baldwin, the new black President of news at the CBS
network Washington, DC. headquarters that produces FYI "For Your Information" a
newsmagazine anchored by veteran journalist Murphy Brown. The Mitchell Baldwin
character was introduced on episode No 105 "Black, White & Brown; and on episode
No. 129 "Black and White and Read All Over" anchorwoman Murphy Brown begins to
date Mitchell.
MUSICAL CHAIRS/CBS/1975
*(Adam Wade) Adam Wade, the first black man to host a network game show. The
program (a revamped version of a 1955 game show) featured four contestants who
competed to identify missing lyrics in a song.
MY LITTLE MARGIE/CBS/NBC/1952-55
**(Willie Best) Charlie, a black handyman and elevator operator at the
Albright's apartment building in New York City. Willie Best also played a
handyman on the comedy series THE STU ERWIN SHOW/ABC/1950-55.
MY SO-CALLED LIFE/MTV/1994-95
**(Wilson Cruz) Enrique “Ricky” Vasquez, a student at Liberty High School in
Pittsburgh. He's gay, overly romantic, half-Hispanic, half-Black, left-handed, a
Catholic, a good dancer, and loses his voice when he gets nervous. Ricky friends
at school included Angela Chase [he's hot for Angela's boyfriend Jordan]; Brian
Krakow, a nerdy genius and fellow outcast; and Rayanne Graff, a troubled female
student who abuses alcohol and sleeps around. To keep his mind off the fact that
he has an abusive uncle [who later kicks Ricky out], Ricky gets involved in such
activities as sewing and acting with the school's drama club. After Ricky's
family abandoned him [they left town without telling him] he moved in with Mr.
Richard Katimski, the new closet-gay English teacher and moderator of the drama
club. Ricky first admitted he was gay to yearbook staffer Delia Fisher [she has
a crush on Ricky despite his homosexuality].
THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF TIR NA NOG/FOX/1998-99
*(Justin Pierre/costar) Ivar, a black Moorish Prince who assisted a group of
Irish teenage warriors battle evil sorcerers in ancient Celtic Ireland. Ivar was
also known as The Mystic Knight of the Water.
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