WTF happened to our shows?? Soul Train, Showtime at the Apollo, Comicview, Def Comedy Jam, etc

[JasonSJackson]

I made a thread about the Apollo last month...

http://www.thecoli.com/threads/how-did-showtime-at-the-apollo-fall-off.174716/

Saw a video on def poetry jam a few weeks ago and considered making one around that one too...........

the systemtic dumbing down of "black" people is in full swing.

 

[Azul]

A 90s mix (well 99.9 percent 90s...a few early 2000/late 80s songs sprinkled in). Nothing but bangers

Could you make a mix of 05-til' present that would last an hr?

I'm most saddened by the complete fall-off of R&B.

 

[The_Sheff]

Man do we have some comedians that can write and carry a good show now? Kevin Hart is a c00n comedian so his ass aint the one.

 

[???]

People need to forget about tv and all this fake shytty goofy nonsense so called entertainment that changes nothing, it's not going to change the condition of the black community at all.

The black community needs to come together with force and build like a family, all this buying "jordans", showing off & worldstar ratchet mentality is all just a complete waste of time.

I doubt this will happen because there is just too much dysfunction.

Stop using tv/entetainment to live under the illusion that everything is good. All these gay shows are on the internet, so who cares anyway?

 

[DaChampIsHere]

Outside of Def Poetry Jam, those shows in the title were pretty shytty.

And in the OP, the only good shows were Living Single, Cosby Show, Different World and Sister Sister and all of those shows had very long runs.

Even the shytty shows in the black community last forever, it seems. A lot of those shows in the OP were very c00ntastic and stupid to be honest. We are living in a different era of TV now. Sitcoms are boring as fukk unless the writing is extremely good (BK-99, 30 Rock, Modern Family) and many black men don't like black dramas and even encourage people/others not to watch them, so of course most things are gonna be reality tv to appeal to everyone. I don't get the complaining about black shows from the likes of a board that blasts shows like Scandal, The Game, Mary Jane, Reed Between the Lines, etc. I'm pretty sure most even disliked Girlfriends when it was out too.

Y'all so anti-everything that ain't nostalgic in nature. I wouldn't make shows to cater to you either. How can you entertain anyone who thinks the highlight of their life was 20 years ago, not now? Move on and grow up.

 

[Whitty Hutton]

It's all changed now with social media.

They brought back the arsenio show and I still don't care for it, I used to watch his show religiously back in the day but the feeling is gone.

I have seen some episodes and I wasn't even excited or looking forward to future episodes.

Word, back in the day a celebrity appearance was something special because they were out of reach most the time. Now you go on youtube and see 1,000 interviews of somebody and their life is broadcast to us all throughout the day through social media. Back when Michael Jackson was arguably the most famous person in the world you only actually saw or heard from him like 5 times a year outside of his music

And I think a large reason why the black sitcom is dead is that white America isn’t interested in the “other side” anymore. They know how black people are, there’s no coolness or edginess in black culture to them anymore. They got their fix from the 70’s-90’s, and now the goal is to just phase black culture out and turn America into the new Europe. And that’s what’s being done with hip-hop & r&b and clothing and entertainment. They’ve gotten black people to sound like Europeans, dress like Europeans. Love homosexuals like Europeans. Phase the hood out, and now Harlem, Brooklyn and DC are starting to look like San Francisco

 

[???]

Word, back in the day a celebrity appearance was something special because they were out of reach most the time. Now you go on youtube and see 1,000 interviews of somebody and their life is broadcast to us all throughout the day through social media. Back when Michael Jackson was arguably the most famous person in the world you only actually saw or heard from him like 5 times a year outside of his music

And I think a large reason why the black sitcom is dead is that white America isn’t interested in the “other side” anymore. They know how black people are, there’s no coolness or edginess in black culture to them anymore. They got their fix from the 70’s-90’s, and now the goal is to just phase black culture out and turn America into the new Europe. And that’s what’s being done with hip-hop & r&b and clothing and entertainment. They’ve gotten black people to sound like Europeans, dress like Europeans. Love homosexuals like Europeans. Phase the hood out, and now Harlem, Brooklyn and DC are starting to look like San Francisco

That's what I'm saying people need to forget about tv and all this rubbish so called entertainment.

We got the most powerful weapon of all time (the internet) and we are just allowing it to waste and just goofing around looking for some temporary fix or pleasure.

TV is not the answer to building a bright future, the internet is but people are too blind to see this and they still go around promoting stupidity and ratchetness.

 

[Lord Beasley]

I miss these days

****bumps craig mack flava in ya ear****

 

[Jone2three45]

.

 

[EducatedBrothaFromTheBank]

The whole world sees our nakedness, we can't lie anymore because the internet has exposed all our flaws.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

That's what I'm saying people need to forget about tv and all this rubbish so called entertainment.

We got the most powerful weapon of all time (the internet) and we are just allowing it to waste and just goofing around looking for some temporary fix or pleasure.

TV is not the answer to building a bright future, the internet is but people are too blind to see this and they still go around promoting stupidity and ratchetness.

For real breh...I agree with ya.

Thats why I defected towards the internet and phased out TV almost 6 years.

TV's a tool to dumb us down as people and make us complacent, while the internet has all the power to advance ourselves from the knowledge within it.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

Word, back in the day a celebrity appearance was something special because they were out of reach most the time. Now you go on youtube and see 1,000 interviews of somebody and their life is broadcast to us all throughout the day through social media. Back when Michael Jackson was arguably the most famous person in the world you only actually saw or heard from him like 5 times a year outside of his music

And I think a large reason why the black sitcom is dead is that white America isn’t interested in the “other side” anymore. They know how black people are, there’s no coolness or edginess in black culture to them anymore. They got their fix from the 70’s-90’s, and now the goal is to just phase black culture out and turn America into the new Europe. And that’s what’s being done with hip-hop & r&b and clothing and entertainment. They’ve gotten black people to sound like Europeans, dress like Europeans. Love homosexuals like Europeans. Phase the hood out, and now Harlem, Brooklyn and DC are starting to look like San Francisco

Sad but true.

It's all justified by saying nonsense like (in regards to pre-gentrification NYC, DC, etc) "it was more dangerous back then" (when it had residents of color) and "we have a black president now" (in regards to "defending" the gentrification of neighborhoods now).

Maybe that was the point of the Obama years...to divide the country racially and whitewash major US cities under the guise of "progressivism" and other shady white liberal buzzwords.

So, we have this multi-cultural figurehead promoting a nation slowly but surely turning backwards to it's isolationist and xenophobic roots...to tell us to "shut up and accept it."

 

[DaChampIsHere]

And that’s what’s being done with hip-hop & r&b and clothing and entertainment. They’ve gotten black people to sound like Europeans, dress like Europeans. Love homosexuals like Europeans. Phase the hood out, and now Harlem, Brooklyn and DC are starting to look like San Francisco

What exactly are black people supposed to sound, look, and dress like since we are all some monolith?

What you are saying actually sounds just as prejudiced as white people. What's this one thing that all black people are supposed to be like?

What the hell is wrong with San Francisco? Why do black people have to live in dirty slums that aren't taken care of?

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

What exactly are black people supposed to sound, look, and dress like since we are all some monolith?

What you are saying actually sounds just as prejudiced as white people. What's this one thing that all black people are supposed to be like?

I feel ya, but I got what he was trying to say....and it's true.

Black American identity has slowly but surely been pushed aside towards Americanization. Globalization. Homogenization. Mini-Martification. Suburbanification. Wal-Martification. The culture of America is essentially the culture of money, power, privilege, and influence.

And since this is White America, obviously we are going to be pushed as far back as possible when it comes to what we create and how much control we have over it. Simply because they have the money, power, privelege, influence...and most importantly...numbers. It shouldn't be that way, but it is and that's the reason this conversation surfaced on this board.

It doesn't help when the majority of us are in the hoods and ghettos of America and the majority of them are in the suburbs and affluent nests of America.

The number one thing America knows well is how to push a business model so that any art or creative property can be exploited for more cash until the cow has officially dried up.

That's what happened that he described.

Sure, there were many other factors that attributed to it (the drug wars of the 80s, the crack epidemic, globalization, the internet, the rising costs of living, etc)...but it's painfully obvious now that this was really planned and in the process since probably before I was born.

Why did this all happen at the same time? I mean, I know that time works in mysterious ways, bt there wouldn't be a massive number of these threads if there weren't some truth to this.

And even I agree with your post (especially when you say that black identity collectively shouldn't be seen as a monolith). But I agree with them here from an observational standpoint.

 

[Whitty Hutton]

What exactly are black people supposed to sound, look, and dress like since we are all some monolith?

What you are saying actually sounds just as prejudiced as white people. What's this one thing that all black people are supposed to be like?

I'm talking about rap & r&b music sounding like techno music now (RZA called it back in 2000)
I'm talking about the time when black people set the fashion trends, not followed them. nikkas didn't start the skinny jeans look, but they sure hopped on it. I don't recall Rakim, Kane, Big & Pac biting skateboard cac fashion and all the kids doing likewise, but it sure happened with Lil Wayne, Kanye and all these light voice nikkas and the ones that follow them