The snarky sidekick, the snooping sibling, the meddling friend, clumsy neighbor and elitist coworker are all characters that we’ve seen quite a bit of on the television screen. And, in the midst of being snarky, snoopy, meddling, clumsy and elitist, we, as viewers, notice that those characters are also really annoying. But, despite this, we do not totally hate them. In fact, we are drawn to them. In one way or another we know that the bothersome character not only has redeeming qualities, but sometimes they have the protagonist’s best interests in mind.

Tara Thornton, True Blood

Tara Thorton perpetually wakes ups on the wrong side of the bed–but with reason. She’s suffered neglect and abuse, she’s been abducted, she’s been attacked, she’s been brain washed, and she’s been vampirized. Because of her circumstances, Tara takes every opportunity she can to complain, whine, and overreact to lighter situations. The softer side of her can usually be seen when Tara deals with Sookie, whom she loves like a sister. Tara was there for Sookie when [SPOILERS] her grandmother died; Tara routinely helps with most vampire related drama, and she even sacrificed her (human) life for Sookie.

blackenterprise.com

Spinoffs are greatly appreciated for a few reasons: they allow viewers to see lesser characters develop independently; they give viewers a different take of the characters from the previous sitcom; and, finally, spinoffs are uniquely responsible for creating that ‘neighboring effect’ on television, allowing audiences and characters, alike, feel as if they are stepping from one living room into another. This has been seen time and time again in television. Cheers begot Fraiser, Grey’s Anatomy begot Private Practice, Buffy begot Angel, and  Dr. Who begot Torchwood. Check out some our favorites over the years.

Yesterday, during my daily Tumblr search, I found a video of Issa Rae and Andrea Lewis, formerly of “Degrassi” and currently of Those Girls Are Wild. In the video they were talking about how the portrayal of black women on television has changed, for the worst over the years. They specially referenced the golden era, the 90′s. When they discussed the positive role models we had on television at the time the first woman that came to both of their minds was “Laura Winslow” (Kellie Wiliams-Jackson). They talked about how Laura was the type of girl they could see themselves being friends with. She was normal. A regular high school girl we watched evolve into a sophisticated woman when she cut her long hair into that sleek, short Nia Long look. Honestly, the conversation left me with a bittersweet feeling. Sweet because those were good times in television and bitter because things just aren’t like that anymore. Well, in an effort to remember the good ole days, here are the black women, and in some cases teenagers or young girls, we loved to watch on television.

Source: WENN

Mara Brock Akil

Calling: Television Writer/producer

Why we’re saluting her: 

Mara Brock Akil is the writer and producer behind a number of our favorite TV shows in the ’90s and 2000′s, from The Jamie Foxx Show and Moesha to Girlfriends and it’s spin-off, The Game.

Akil, who was born in LA, traveled to the midwest for college, graduating from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1992. In 1994, Akil got her first gig as a writer for the critically acclaimed Fox series South Central, but the comedy-drama was canceled after just one season and 10 episodes. Akil took her talents to UPN where she wrote for Brandy’s sitcom, Moesha, for four seasons. After which became a supervising producer and writer on The  Jamie Foxx show in 1999, and in 2000, she created and executive produced another UPN favorite, Girlftriends, with Kelsey Grammer. Akil also created and executive produced it’s spin-off, The Game, for the same network.

In June 2007, Akil and her husband, television director Salim Akil, signed to independent American film studio The Weinstein Co. for the creation of various projects, the first of which is a film about a woman who starts a business to investigate the partners of high-powered women after she is left at the altar. Mara will reportedly write the screenplay and Salim will direct it.

In 2011, the Akils also signed a  multi-year deal with BET to continue production of The Game for another season and develop new shows through Akil Productions, one of which is the upcoming dramedy, Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union. For making quality programs for brown people with brown people and allowing African American viewers to see see their tales on the small screen, we salute Mara Brock Akil.

Click here to meet all of our salutes.

The future of a kid star or teen actor is an unsure one. We learned this fact from the entire cast of Different Strokes… and, actually the stars of MOST eighties sitcoms, including Jaimee Foxworth, who played the youngest daughter, Judy, on Family Matters for the first few seasons before her character was suddenly dissolved and wound up doing adult films. So, for a star to not only survive the kid star to adult role transition–continuing to have a thriving career, but to also transition into a stunningly attractive adult, that is an amazing feat. Actresses and actors such as Hilary Duff, Dakota Fanning and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are looking better than ever, so let’s check out who’s looking better with time in our community.

Name the classic black TV shows and the usual suspects always get named: “Cosby Show,” “Martin,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Living Single,” “In Living Color,” and so on and so forth. But we all know that the ’90s and early ’00s were the golden age for great black sitcoms, and while the ones already named got all the shine, a flurry of awesome ones deserved just as much love and notoriety for their hilarity, realness and for being just plain ‘ol good TV. Here are nine of our favorites that could have used some more love (and views), and feel free to name your own underrated joints. Be prepared to click. *winks*

Where would our favorite TV stars be without their sidekicks, eh? Sidekicks, both in real life and on 30 minute television shows, are essential. They have your back and help you make important decisions, and they’re often the best at figuring out who is in your life for the right reasons, and who needs to get the boot. Seriously though, where would Martin be without Tommy and Cole? They got him to go back to Gina when he was playing like he was over her during a bad break up. Or where would Florida Evans be without her girl, and neighbor, Willona Woods? She helped her look out for the Evans family after James died. These are some of the classic examples. Of course, we’ve found out where these people are through previous “Where Are They Now” installments, so we decided to focus this time on a few folks from some more recent black comedies that we enjoyed (aka, no Pam, Willona Woods, etc.–been done). Per the usual, be prepared to click, but it’s worth it!

Alexis Fields

For years, when it came to watching “Sister, Sister” everybody knew that Roger, who was played by Marques Houston, was the ultimate sidekick. Of course, he wasn’t around strictly to be friendly, as he was always trying to mack on Tia and Tamera, but he was there for them when they needed him. When they didn’t need him, he knew what to do–”Go home Roger.” But once the ladies graduated and found themselves at the University of Michigan, they made besties with a girl named Diavian Johnson. She was the the girlfriend who gave them the real, and occasionally started drama (remember when she made out with Tia’s fine ex-boyfriend?), but she was a good friend. Of course, I’m sure you know that Alexis Fields is the little sister of “Living Single” star, Kim Fields.

After doing “Sister, Sister,” Fields went on to have a recurring role on “Kenan & Kel,” “Moesha,” “One On One,” and most recently, popped up on episodes of “Let’s Stay Together.” She also got married and had a little cutie patootie daughter named Kaycie with her husband, Kevin Jackson. Since then, she’s focused more on mommyhood than acting, and we can’t blame her, homegirl’s got it all!

Source: gospelconnoisseur.com

Almost exactly one month since “Moesha” star Yvette Wilson announced that she was battling cancer for a second time and was in need of funds to pay for her much-needed treatment, the actress has died.

At just 48 years old, Yvette was battling Stage 4 cervical cancer on top of needing an organ donation for failing kidneys. A website known as the Yvette Wilson Cancer Sucks fund was set up to increase the actresses odds of getting the medical attention she needed, and at the time the fundraising ended on June 9, $13,000 had been raised, which was 56% of the foundation’s $25,000 goal.

Though we hadn’t seen much of the comedic star since her days as Andell Wilkerson alongside Brandy on “Moesha” and then as Monique’s best friend on “The Parkers,” Yvette was making audiences laugh long before those sitcom roles with parts in “House Party 2,” “House Party 3,” and “Friday.” After leaving the sitcom world, she went on to appear on show’s like HBO’s Def Comedy Jam doing what she did best, make people laugh.

So far, Shar Jackson is the only one of the funny lady’s former costars to speak on her passing. She had been sending out tweets over the past few days that hinted Yvette’s health was rapidly declining and last night she confirmed her death, tweeting:

Oh god….. My heart is soooo unbelievably broken ….

I wanna thank all my tweeties for their prayers but god has chosen to take my sister Yvette home.. …

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Source: starpulse.com

We’ve done our share of child star stories in the past, but we usually go searching for kids from obscure movies who literally go missing off of the face of the earth. Today, I decided to do a little research on a few kids from some of my favorite black sitcoms (and a drama) over the past few years, and see what they have been up to. From silly but smart comedies like “Everybody Hates Chris” to dramatic and thought-provoking shows like “The Wire,” these young stars were some of my favorites in their respective programs. Be prepared to click per the usual.

Source: News One

From theGrio.com

Comedienne and star of popular sitcom ’90s show “Moesha” Yvette Wilson, is determined to survive the battle of her life. Wilson, who played “Andell Wilkerson” on the hit starring Brandy, has Stage 4 cervical cancer and is in dire need of funds in order to pay her mounting medical bills.

Read the rest of the story at theGrio.com. 

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