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SABLE/ABC/1987-88
**(Ken Page) Joseph “Joe” Tyson, aka “Cheesecake,” a black, blind and corpulent
computer hacker who provided information to John Sable, a black-clad freelance
crime fighter. For services rendered, Sable paid off Tyson with “Cheesecakes”
(Strawberry is his favorite). The inside of the cheesecake box contained
messages in braille.
SAFE HARBOR/WB/1999
**(Orlando Brown) Jeff, a black kid and friend of a white kid named Chris who is
the son of the local sheriff in the coastal town of Magic Beach, Florida. Jeff
and Chris attend Douglas Jr. High School.
ST. ELSEWHERE/NBC/1982-88
**(Denzel Washington) Dr. Philip Chandler, a black physician in residence and
one of the several young physicians who worked at St. Eligius Hospital, a
run-down hospital in Boston. Alfre Woodard appeared as Dr. Roxanne Turner, an
obstetrician-gynecologist who became Dr. Chandler's love interest during the
1985-87 seasons. Also featured were Eric Laneuville as Luther Hawkins and Byron
Stewart as Warren Coolidge, two black orderlies. Luther Hawkins later became an
emergency medical technician.
SALVAGE I/ABC/1979
**(J. Jay Saunders) Mack, a black assistant to Caucasian salvage magnate and
inventor Harold Broderick who owns Jettison Scrap and Salvage Company.
SAMMY AND COMPANY/SYN/1975-77
*(Sammy Davis, Jr.) Sammy Davis, Jr., the multi-talented singer and entertainer
who hosted this syndicated talk variety show which ran mostly in the evening
hours.
THE SAMMY DAVIS JR. SHOW/NBC/1966
*(Sammy Davis Jr.) Sammy Davis Jr., the popular black singer, dancer and all
around entertainer who starred in this short-lived primetime musical variety
program as well as THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE/ABC/1964-70 (an occasional host); THE
NBC FOLLIES/NBC/1973 (a regular on the show); SAMMY & COMPANY/SYN/1975-77 (his
own talk/variety show); and BARETTA/ABC/1975-78 (sung the theme song "Keep Your
Eye On The Sparrow"). Davis lost his left eye in an automobile accident on
November 19, 1954 while driving from Las Vegas to Hollywood. He recovered from
his injury at the Community Hospital in San Bernardino. Soon after the accident
he began to wear an eye-patch. It was replaced by a glass (actually plastic)
eyeball. When he returned to work at Ciro's, he received a ten minute ovation.
Mr. Davis Sammy Davis Jr. died in 1990 at the age of 64. Perhaps, his most
remembered TV moment occurred on the February 19, 1972 episode of the CBS sitcom
ALL IN THE FAMILY when Sammy Davis, Jr. (as himself) comes to the home Archie
Bunker to retrieve a suitcase he left in Archie's cab. While there, Sammy
encounters Archie's ideas on race including "If God meant us to be together,
He'd have put us together. But look what He done? He put you in Africa and He
put the rest of us in all the white countries." Astonished Davis said "Well, You
must of told Him where we were 'cause somebody came and got us!" Before Davis
leaves, he asked to have a picture taken with his new friend Archie Bunker. Just
before the camera flash goes off, Davis plants a big kiss on Archie's right
cheek.
SANFORD/NBC/1980-81
*(Redd Foxx) Fred Sanford, an elderly black Watts junkyard owner who goes into
business with two new partners while his son is away working the Alaskan
pipelines. Marguerite Ray starred as a wealthy Beverly Hills widow, Evelyn "Eve"
Lewis, who became Fred's girlfriend. Percy Rodrigues played Evelyn's brother
Winston, who disapproved of his sister choice in suitors.
SANFORD AND SON/NBC/1972-77
*(Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson) Fred Sanford, an elderly black Junk dealer living in
Watts who ran his "empire" with the assistance of his grown son, Lamont played
by Demond Wilson. Also featured were Slappy White, Dox Bexley and Whitman Mayo
as Fred's friends Melvin, Bubba Hoover and Grady Wilson; Nathaniel Taylor as
Rollo Larson, Lamont's streetwise close friend; Lynn Hamilton as Fred's love
interest, Donna Harris; LaWanda Page as the feisty, bible-pounding Aunt Ester
Anderson who called Fred a "fish-eyed fool"; Raymond Allen as Woody Anderson,
Ether's husband; and Hal Williams appeared as a neighborhood police officer, "Smitty"
Smith. In the spin-off series THE SANFORD ARMS/NBC/1977 Fred and Lamont moved to
Arizona and Aunt Ester watched over his investments and collected the monthly
mortgage payments from a white widower who put a down payment on the Sanford
House, junkyard and boarding house in an attempt to turn the property into a
successful inner-city hotel. Whitman Mayo as Grady Wilson and Don Bexley as
Bubba Hoover appeared as regulars.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE/NBC/1975+
**(Garrett Morris) Garrett Morris, a black comedian who played a number of comic
skits on the program including a Puerto Rican baseball player whose catchphrase
was "Baseball's been berry, berry good to me". He also played a convict in a
sketch who auditioned for a prison talent show with the song which featured the
lyrics "I'm gonna get a shotgun and kill all the whitey's I see". In later
years, a young comedian Eddie Murphy became a member of Saturday Night Live. His
characters included a grown-up version of the Little Rascal black boy named
Buckwheat; a black fitness instructor named Little Richard Simmons (a
combination of nutrition guru Richard Simmons and rock 'n roller Little
Richard); a ghetto children's shw host that parodied Mr. Rogers; and finally a
black convict poet who wrote an insightful poem called "Cill My Landlord". In
the 1990's black comedians Chris Rock, Ellen Cleghorne and Tim Meadows were
regulars.
SAVED BY THE BELL/NBC/1989-93
**(Lark Voorhies) Lisa Marie Turtle, a beautiful black teenage girl attending
Bayside High School. Lisa originally appeared on GOOD MORNING MISS BLISS/DIS/1988-89
which was revamped into SAVED BY THE BELL. On the spin-off SAVED BY THE BELL:
THE NEW CLASS/NBC/1993+ Bianca Lawson played black teen Megan Jones.
SCARECROW AND MRS. KING/CBS/1983-87
**(Mel Stewart) William "Billy" Melrose, a black government executive of a
secret government espionage division called the"Agency" who gave assignments to
operatives Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
SEAQUEST DVS/NBC/1993-95
*(Don Franklin/costar) Jonathan Ford, the black commander of the 1000-foot
research submarine Seaquest that roamed the oceans of the world in the year 2018
(and later in a smaller vehicle after the Seaquest was destroyed.)
SECRET AGENT MAN/UPN/2000
*(Dondré Whitfield/costar) Davis, black secret agent and the “agencies” newest
recruit. Davis was handpicked by management to monitor the wildcard behavior of
a fellow agent named Monk.
THE SECRET DIARY OF DESMOND PFEIFFER/UPN/1998-99
*(Chi McBride) Desmond Pfeiffer, an exiled black Englishman who becomes the
trusted aide and confidant of president Abraham Lincoln during the chaos of the
Civil War. The historical sitcom drew many negative reviews because of its
light-hearted approach to such serious subjects as slavery.
THE SECRET WORLD OF ALEX MACK/NIK/1994-98
*(Darris Love) Raymond Alverado, black youth and friend of a white girl named
Alex Mack. Ray helped keep Alex's "morphing" ability a secret from those who
would misuse her special powers (the result of a chemical spill). Also featured
was Alexis Fields as Nicole, a pretty black female acquaintance.
SEINFELD/NBC/1990-98
**(Phil Morris) Jackie Chiles, black money-hungry New York City defense attorney
hired on occasion by Cosmo Kramer to handle a variety of silly cases which often
mirrored stories in the news (such as hot coffee spilled in the lap and lawyers
getting irrational amounts of money for pain and suffering). The Jackie Chiles
character is a comic homage of black attorney Johnny Cochran who defended (and
won) the murder case of former pro football player O .J. Simpson accused of
killing his wife, Nicole (“If the glove won‘t fit, you must acquit”). Chiles
appeared in the episodes “The Maestro”; “The Caddy”; “The Friar’s Club”; “The
Abstinence”; and on the “The Finale” - the last two episodes of the series
wherein Jerry Seinfeld and pals were arrested under the Good Samaritan Laws of
Latham,. Massachusetts for standing by and mocking–not helpinga citizen being
attacked. Unfortunately, Jackie Chiles lost the case and his clients were
sentenced to prison for up to 5 years. But Jackie did get to sleep with a woman
(Teri Hatcher) whom Jerry tried to bed unsuccessfully. As Jackie left Jerry to
his jail sentence, he commented "They are real!" - referring the the woman's
breasts").
THE SENTINEL/UPN/1996-99
**(Bruce A Young) Captain Simon Banks, black police supervisor in the town of
Cascade, Washington who monitors the activities of Jim Ellison, a former US Army
Ranger turned police detective imbued with heightened sensory perceptions.
SESAME STREET/PBS/1969+
*(Roscoe Orman/costar) Gordon, one of the first black cast members working in
the magical neighborhood of Sesame Street. Other black residents included Alana
Reed as Gordon's sister, Olivia; Loretta Long as Susan; Miles, Gordon's adopted
son (Gordon's real-life son, Miles); David Langston Smyrl as Mr. Handford who
began operating Mr. Hooper's Store in 1989; and as of 1993 Angel Jemmott as
Angel, the day car center worker; with Syvae and Rachael McDaniel as her
daughter Kayla; and Jou Jou Papailler as Jamal, her park ranger husband. Harry
Belafonte was the first of hundreds of stars to visit Sesame Street. In 1973
song stress Lena Horne performed "It's Not Easy Being Green" and pointed out
"Its the same for me as it is for Kermit". TRIVIA NOTE: Soon after its premiere
in 1969 SESAME STREET was banned for a month in Mississippi because of its
racially mixed cast.
7 DAYS/UPN/1998-2001
*(Don Franklin/costar) Captain Craig Donovan, a black military advisor for a
clandestine time travel project-code named “7 Days” that can send one person
back in time for exactly seven days.
7TH HEAVEN/WB/1990-2007
**(Dorian Harewood) Reverend Morgan Hamilton, a black minister and friend of
white preacher Eric Camden in the town of Glenoak, California. The reverend’s
wife, Patricia “Patty” Morgan (Olivia Cole) was once married to a white man who
is now crippled. The Morgan‘s have four children - Keisha, Nigel, Lynn and John
Hamilton (Chaz Lamar Shephard), a friend of Matt Camden both of whom work as
orderlies at a local hospital. John has hopes of becoming a singer.
704 HAUSER/CBS/1994
*(John Amos/costar) Ernie Cumberbach, a liberal African-American auto mechanic
who moved into the former house of Archie Bunker in Queens. His family members
included Lynnie Godfrey as Rose, his deeply religious wife and T. E. Russell as
their ultra-conservative son Thurgood Marshall "Goodie" Cumberbach who dated a
Jewish girl.
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