European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                On the air Abc clockwise from top Sterling Macer Hattie Winston Dick Williams Montrose Hagins in  still trying to forge Way onto show by John j. Of Connor the new York times when the name Malcolm x begins popping up however casually in prime time entertainment viewers Are getting a signal that to May be gearing up to portray Black americans in their True diversity their aspirations and their occasional rage. Blacks can no longer be kept in their Standard electronic Ghat tos. A couple of weeks ago judge Clarence Thomas and professor Anita f. Hill appeared live before the Senate judiciary committee hearings into sexual harassment charges and the ratings knocked baseball playoffs and lavish minis pics for a Loop. Purely in terms of the medium itself Here was powerfully significant television its a a stars accomplished Black professionals who were clearly an integral part of the american mainstream. These arc precisely the Black people neglected on much of stateside to entertainment. Prime time too often relegates them to scattered Token roles a judge and a Litigator on . Law or an assistant . On the trials of Rosie of Neill or the clownish context of a sitcom family matters or True colors. Without the calculated efforts of a Bill Cosby the Black Middle class would be virtually invisible on the Home screen. Although its beginnings can be glimpsed on such new series As ill Fly away and Home front both Are set safely in the past. At the other end of the economic scale encompassing the majority of Black citizens today s struggling poor arc also just about ignored on prime time. For too Many viewers Blacks Are still simply the people who get busted the most on All those police a a reality shows. The diversity of the Black Community the social and political ferment within that Community is reflected Only occasionally. White and Black viewers end up shortchanged. One thing painfully Clear about this seasons new and returning shows is the almost Complete absence of a sense of profound discontent in depictions of Black life on prime time. Although sitcoms still  dream of an unhappy ending polls show that a Good Many Black people Are fed up with the drugs and crime that constantly dim their lives. Many do not dismiss conspiracy theories that most Whites would deem outlandish. Abrasive spokesmen like the Rev. A1 Sharpton or professor Leonard Jeffries May be excoriated by both the White establishment and Many Blacks but they continue to draw followers in portions of the Black Community. Rap singers uninhibited Day indict White society and Are applauded by Young audiences everywhere. Significant in All this is the renewed prominence of Malcolm a especially for Black youth. Expounding on what he called a the castration of the Black Man a Malcolm prompted an incensed Mike Wallace in a 1959 telecast to warn America of his a gospel of hate that would set off a Federal investigation if it were said by Southern  today several Young Black filmmakers Are gaining deserved prominence with their provocative explorations of the Black experience among them Spike Lee who is making a major movie about Malcolm x. The merest glimmers of these developments arc allowed to penetrate the electronic curtain of to entertainment controlled almost entirely by White males. And when those glimmers appear they Are carefully softened around the edges. In the Royal family a new lbs series in limbo because of the recent death of its Star Redd Fox a Young Muslim character was brought into one episode Only to be dismissed for his apparently silly unwillingness to appreciate Good old Down Home pork chops. Foxes True colors constructed around the racially mixed marriage of previously divorced parties a White woman with a daughter and a Black Man with two sons was considerably More provocative in a recent instalment. The younger son Lester Adam Jeffrie feeling neglected by the family suddenly withdrew to read the autobiography of Malcolm x. Quickly Lester was bad mouthing racially mixed marriages calling his brother a Clown in blackface and his sister a bleeding heart Liberal. But also quickly Lester realized the error of his ways especially after missing his own birthday party. Cake and ice Cream evidently beat Malcolm x any Day a on a sitcom. There a also a Black family on the new Abc drama Home front which goes All the Way Back to the 1940s, just after world War ii. But this show created by David Jacobs knots Landing has wasted Little time in getting Down to traditional soap opera shenanigans. Only a few weeks into the series bed sheets Are rumpled All Over this fictional town. Race relations seem to unfold in a never never land in which the local factory Boss a bigot and Union Basher plots privately with his Black chauffeur As to How to Best handle their Touchy wives. Yeah sure Jacobs. Nevertheless television has come a Long Way from 1968 when no cd a Julia with Dishann Carroll could be considered a ground breaker for having a Black heroine who Wasny to a Domestic. The entertainment schedules these Days feature Black performers in a wide Range of formats newscasts on the other hand local and National continue to be curiously inhospitable to Black men As anchors. Have to executives grown More enlightened perhaps. But a More telling explanation can be found in Bottom line profit considerations never far from a broadcasters heart. While the Overall audience figures for networks have been steadily declining Black households a accounting for 12 percent of the National pie a have assumed major importance in the totals. A recent report from Nielsen Media research pegged to the november 1990 period found that Black households across the country watched just under 70 hours of to during the average week some 48 percent More than Quot All other households. In one important subcategory Blacks age 2 to 17 watched a staggering 64 percent More than All others in that age Range. The most popular shows in the Black households a different world produced by Cosby the Cosby show and fresh Prince of Bel air a All Black oriented and As it happens on Abc. The report provides Blacks with considerably increased clout to demand More and better programming having relevance to themselves. Since so Many Black youngsters Are watching pressures on broadcasters for More socially responsible Content venturing More frequently outside the Standard Circle of criminals athletes and entertainers is Likely to get More  27 1991 sunday a Page 15