First, the TV list…
| Roots |
| The Cosby Show |
| Chappelle’s Show |
| In Living Color |
| Boondocks |
| Oprah |
| Eyes on the Prize |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air |
| Def Comedy Jam |
| A Different World |
| Saturday Night Live |
| Soul Train |
| Arsenio Hall Show |
| Living Single |
| The Wire |
| Good Times |
| The Jeffersons |
| Martin |
| Different Strokes |
| Video Soul |
| Roc |
| The News |
| Flip Wilson Show |
| Sanford and Son |
| Benson |
I was still debating Chappelle’s Show being #3 a couple days after I wrote it. Then I realized I wrote that post without mentioning Lil Jon, Prince, ‘When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong,’ ‘Piss On You’, or Tyrone Biggums coming up at all, so I’ll still argue for that one. I might be influenced by her name being in the news so much, but Oprah should be higher. One of my favorite TV shows of all time, The Wire, didn’t crack the top 10. Not enough of a crossover audience, and the Legacy issue is still debatable. Don’t say I didn’t make an honest attempt at being as objective as possible though. A few shows not on the list that people have suggested or made arguments for: New York Undercover, Girlfriends, and Comic View. The great thing about lists like this; there’s no right or wrong answer. I didn’t hear any of the shows mentioned and think “Are you insane?” You can make an argument for all three of those.
The film list:
| Malcolm X |
| Do the Right Thing |
| Birth of a Nation |
| Boyz N Da Hood |
| Glory |
| Coming to America |
| Sweet Sweetback |
| Shaft |
| Gone With the Wind |
| Richard Pryor on the Sunset Strip |
| Waiting to Exhale |
| She’s Gotta Have It |
| Beverly Hills Cop |
| Monster’s Ball |
| New Jack City |
| The Color Purple |
| What’s Love Got to Do With It |
| Madea’s Family Reunion |
| Blazing Saddles |
| In the Heat of the Night |
| Boomerang |
| Purple Rain |
| Hollywood Shuffle |
| I’m Gonna Git U Sucka |
| Car Wash |
As expected, I got called out for putting Birth of a Nation so high, but I stand by my argument. For the various complaints we have about the current state of black cinema, I have to say I could have easily gone 50 deep with films, and they’d all be movies you’ve heard of. In no particular order: School Daze, Bamboozled, Four Little Girls, When the Levees Broke (all Spike films), Menace II Society, Don’t Be A Menace to South Central while drinking your Juice in the Hood, I Am Legend, Eddie Murphy Raw, the Original Kings of Comedy, Superfly, Coffy…that’s more than 10 off the top of my head (I know I’m a film geek but you’ve heard of most if not all of those movies at some point). A lot of people assume Malcolm X is my favorite film ever. It’s in the top ten; in truth the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X is my favorite book. Like most adaptations, the book has a lot of nuance that you won’t get in the film. Neither are perfect films, but on a personal level I like Mo’ Better Blues and Crooklyn as much as I like some of Spike’s more overtly political stuff. If you’re familiar with my own style as an storyteller, you see I gravitate more towards the ‘personal’ stories, and less the ‘political’ stuff. But that’s just me.
Speaking of such, got one more ‘personal’ blog to put up before year’s end. Working on that now. ‘Til next time….
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