# Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-Ish and Beyond - Hardcover

by **Bethonie Butler** (Author)

**With iconic imagery and engrossing text, _Black TV_ is the first book of its kind to celebrate the groundbreaking, influential, and often under-appreciated shows centered on Black people and their experiences from the last fifty years.**

Over the past decade, television has seen an explosion of acclaimed and influential debut storytellers including Issa Rae (_Insecure_), Donald Glover (_Atlanta_), and Michaela Coel (_I May Destroy You_). This golden age of Black television would not be possible without the actors, showrunners, and writers that worked for decades to give voice to the Black experience in America.

Written by veteran TV reporter Bethonie Butler, Black TV tells the stories behind the pioneering series that led to this moment, celebrating the laughs, the drama, and the performances we've loved over the last fifty years. Beginning with _Julia_, the groundbreaking sitcom that made Diahann Carroll the first Black woman to lead a prime-time network series as something other than a servant, she explores the 1960s and 1970s as an era of unprecedented representation, with shows _like Soul Train_, _Roots_, _and The Jeffersons_. She unpacks the increasingly nuanced comedies of the 1980s from _227_ to _A Different World_, and how they paved the way for the '90s Black-sitcom boom that gave us _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ and _Living Single_. Butler also looks at the visionary comedians--from Flip Wilson to the Wayans siblings to Dave Chappelle--and connects all these achievements to the latest breakthroughs in television with showrunners like Shonda Rhimes, Ava DuVernay, and Quinta Brunson leading the charge.

With dozens of photographs reminding readers of memorable moments and scenes, Butler revisits breakout performances and important guest appearances, delivering some overdue accolades along the way. So, put on your Hillman sweatshirt, make some popcorn, and get ready for a dyn-o-mite retrospective of the most groundbreaking and entertaining shows in television history.

  

### Author Biography

Bethonie Butler is a pop culture writer who has written for the _Washington Post_, EW.com and _The__Providence Journal_. Karaoke is her super power. She lives in Maryland with her family.  

**Number of Pages:** 288

**Dimensions:** 0.91 x 9.24 x 7.35 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** December 05, 2023

## Details

- **Price:** 35.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 35.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-Ish and Beyond - Hardcover

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