Before streaming and binge-watching took over, generations of viewers rushed home to catch their favorite TV show.
Far more than just weekly entertainment.
these were cultural moments that brought families together in living rooms across America.
Good Times / CBS
Here are 10 Black sitcoms that changed the television game and influenced everything that came after.
When Redd Foxx brought his raw nightclub comedy style into Americas living rooms, audiences couldnt get enough.
The sitcom put a spotlight on the South Central junk business not exactly your typical TV setting back then.
Kids across America started copying J.J.s Dy-no-mite!
catchphrase, but the series was more than just catchphrases and easy laughs.
Nothing was off limits.
NBC
From inflation and job discrimination to teen pregnancy and gangs, Good Times tackled it all.
And the show proved you could make people think while making them laugh.
And with eleven seasons of success, the series proved that Black stories had staying power.
CBS
Diffrent Strokes (1978-1986)
When Arnold first asked Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?
nobody knew they were hearing a catchphrase that would echo through TV history.
And it made Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges two of the most recognizable kid actors on TV.
CBS
The Drummond family showed America that love knows no color.
Dr. Huxtables parenting style and his attorney wife Claires fierce intelligence shattered stereotypes.
The shows influence on how Black families were portrayed on television cant be overstated.
NBC
The show never shied away from real issues and tackled everything from dating and finals to AIDS and apartheid.
Plus, the fashion, music, and culture of HBCUs finally got their moment in the spotlight.
The running gags including Carltons dance moves and Jazz getting thrown out became legendary.
NBC
Their brownstone became the spot where career ambition met real talk about relationships and life.
The series proved that Black womens stories could sustain eight seasons of rich, nuanced storytelling.
NBC
NBC
Fox
Fox
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