Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502240013
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARC GUNTHER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``I walked into offices, and I spoke the way I'm speaking to you, and I never got a job,'' Carter recalled in a recent interview. ``I had to learn how to `street it up' a bit to get work.''
``That's fine,'' he went on, ``because there are a lot of people who live like that. But, you know, most people of color in this country get up every day, they go to work, they have to raise their kids and they have the same problems that the rest of us have.''
Those people aren't seen on television, he says, at least not in true-to-life settings. ``I look at television, and I don't see myself,'' Carter says.
He's got a point. Turn on your TV, and you can see black news anchors like Bryant Gumbel and Bernard Shaw, black talk-show hosts like Oprah Winfrey and Montel Williams, and plenty of blacks on sitcoms, ranging from ABC's ``Family Matters'' to NBC's ``Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' to Fox's ``Martin.'' Indeed, black-oriented sitcoms have been TV staples since the mid-1970s.
What's missing, though, are dramas that explore the black experience, particularly family life. Two first-year series, ``The Cosby Mysteries'' on NBC and Fox's ``New York Undercover,'' feature blacks in lead roles, but neither is a hit.
Carter, who played James Heyward on the late '70s ``White Shadow,'' wants to change that. He gave up acting to become one of television's most sought-after dramatic directors, directing the pilot episodes of such series as ``Miami Vice'' and ``St. Elsewhere,'' and then turned to producing. His latest creation is a black family drama for CBS called ``Under One Roof,'' starring Joe Morton, Vanessa Bell Calloway and James Earl Jones. The show is expected to debut next month, but no time slot has been announced.
When it does, it'll face a tough road, say network executives, partly because the handful of black-oriented dramas that have been tried have flopped. And, beyond that, family dramas of any kind have always been a tough sell to viewers.
The list of critically acclaimed but low-rated family dramas is a long one, stretching back from ``My So-Called Life'' and ``I'll Fly Away'' to ``A Year in the Life,'' ``Call to Glory'' and ``Family.''
Don Ohlmeyer, the president of NBC West Coast, says: ``It's difficult to launch any family drama with wide appeal. This is not a racial issue. This is an issue of the form.''
The dearth of blacks in prominent roles on all kinds of dramas is harder to explain. Nielsen ratings show that while white and black viewers will watch blacks in comedy roles, fewer want to see blacks in serious settings.
Dick Wolf, a veteran drama producer, says rural and Southern white viewers and, to an extent, older white viewers, historically have shown little interest in watching blacks in dramas.
``I put on a show starring Lou Gossett, and nobody watched south of the Mason-Dixon line,'' said Wolf, referring to a short-lived ABC show called ``Gideon Oliver'' that starred Gossett as a crime-fighting professor.
Wolf now produces ``New York Undercover,'' which features a black actor, Malik Yoba, and a Hispanic actor, Michael DeLorenzo, in the lead roles. The show's a success for Fox, which caters to young, urban audiences, but it attracts almost no viewers over 50 and few in rural areas.
``This is clearly a Fox show,'' says Wolf. ``I wouldn't submit this show to the other three networks, but on Fox it's a different ballgame.''
NBC's Ohlmeyer says he's a strong supporter of diversity on the airwaves, but he also says that the networks can't be expected to solve social problems or overcome prejudice.
``Nobody elected us to be the agents of social change,'' he said. ``If you're looking for truth, go to God, go to your guru. Our job is to provide entertainment for large numbers of people. We're trying to do good things, but we can't solve all of society's problems.''
Veteran black actor Sidney Poitier, who stars in an upcoming CBS miniseries called ``Children of the Dust,'' says the sheer number of blacks seen on television reflects gains.
``I come from a time when it was an event to see a black person on television,'' Poitier said. ``So there has been motion. Clearly.''
by CNB