Watchmojo.com's Top 10 African-American Shows (video)

[satam55]

Good times, great drama, and the televised kings and queens of comedy. Welcome to http://www.WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 African-American Shows.

For this list, the table is open to all your African-American favorite programs, however, for criteria purposes, we are excluding cartoons like The Boondocks along with sketch comedies such as In Living Color and Chappelle's Show.

​

Spoiler: Top 10

1. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990-1996 on NBC)
2. "The Cosby Show" (1984-92 on NBC)
3. "The Jeffersons" (1975-85 on CBS)
4. "Martin" (1992-97 on Fox)
5. "Samford and Son" (1972-77 on NBC)
6. "Good Times" (1974-79 on CBS)
7. "The Bernie Mac Show" (2001-06 on Fox)
8. "Family Matters" (1989-98 on ABC)
9. "Living Single" (1993-98 on Fox)
10. "Empire" (2015-present on Fox)

Honorable Mentions

Spoiler

• "Everybody Hates Chris" (2005-09 on UPN/The CW)
• "Girlfriends" (2000-2008 on UPN/The CW)
• "Julia" (1968-1971 on NBC)
• "The Steve Harvey Show" (1996-2002 on The WB)
• "Black-ish" (2014-present on ABC)

How y'all feel about that list?

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Empire ...

 

[Milk N Cookies]

We shoulda have done this list

 

[Uncle_Ruckus]

I ain't mad, but Empire ain't seeing My Wife And Kids, Blackish, A Different World, The Steve Harvey Show or The Wayans Bros.

 

[gho3st]

always thought family matters was wack....And first few seasons of Jamie Foxx show is up there.

 

[Arishok]

Uh what is Julia?

 

[Jello Biafra]

Uh what is Julia?

Julia first aired in 1968 and was a show about a widowed mother who worked as a nurse while raising her young son after her husband was killed in Vietnam. It is considered groundbreaking because it was the first weekly TV show to feature a black actress as the star who was not a maid or mammy to some white family.
It starred Diahann Carroll.

 

[boskey]

I love Fresh Prince and its a great show. But I feel like theres a lot of revisionist history around it. People forget that the show kinda fell off after the 3rd season. Like after Will and Carlton went to college people didn't care that much about it. Matter of fact it was supposed to be canceled after Season 4 when Will went back to Philly.

Martin was more talked about with (black) people, Different World, even Living Single was a bigger deal after the first couple of seasons of Fresh Prince...

At least thats how I remember it...

 

[Ed MOTHEREFFING G]

thats a pretty legit list honestly. Id want to put What's Happenin on there but thats honorable mention status probably

 

[FTBS]

Different World being left off is a crime. The fact that they mentioned it makes it even worse. It was almost like they wanted to make sure we were aware of the omission. Empire making the list after a season and a half is comical. Love the Fresh Prince but there is no way it is over Cosby, Different World, Sanford, or Martin.

 

[satam55]

I love Fresh Prince and its a great show. But I feel like theres a lot of revisionist history around it. People forget that the show kinda fell off after the 3rd season. Like after Will and Carlton went to college people didn't care that much about it. Matter of fact it was supposed to be canceled after Season 4 when Will went back to Philly.

Martin was more talked about with (black) people, Different World, even Living Single was a bigger deal after the first couple of seasons of Fresh Prince...

At least thats how I remember it...

The revisionist history is probably becuase a lot people watched the show in syndication instead of it's original run.

 

[boskey]

The revisionist history is proobably becuase a lot people watched the show in syndication instead of it's original run.

Yeah thats definitly why. And becuz Will Smith became the biggest star in hollywood.

 

[BXKingPin82]

No A Different World??:meloohhh:

Wow

 

[MartyMcFly]

Fresh Prince better than Cosby or the jeffersons? or Sanford and son?

Family Matters being on this list THAT is some revisionist history bs right there. The hallmark of a great show is that it holds over time. Family Matters has aged like an old fart

Glad to see Living Single get its props

A Different World also shyts on Fresh Prince but I get it. It still kills it in syndication, it's never been off the air, Will blew up and the show has stood the test of time. But I gotta say I laughed more at the Cosby Show than Fresh Prince. Even now. Like someone said, Fresh Prince fell off after 3 seasons. Cosby is 8 seasons of unadulterated, pure, uncut dope. Shyt hasn't been stepped on not once

 

[FTBS]

Fresh Prince better than Cosby or the jeffersons? or Sanford and son?

Family Matters being on this list THAT is some revisionist history bs right there. The hallmark of a great show is that it holds over time. Family Matters has aged like an old fart

Glad to see Living Single get its props

A Different World also shyts on Fresh Prince but I get it. It still kills it in syndication, it's never been off the air, Will blew up and the show has stood the test of time. But I gotta say I laughed more at the Cosby Show than Fresh Prince. Even now. Like someone said, Fresh Prince fell off after 3 seasons. Cosby is 8 seasons of unadulterated, pure, uncut dope. Shyt hasn't been stepped on not once

Real shyt. The thing I love most about the show is that I was thoroughly entertained as a kid and now as and adult I am thoroughly entertained for completely different reasons. I loved the show as a kid but as an adult I am truly in awe of the genius. It's sad that it will now be lost forever .

I LOVED Family Matters as kid. I watched every Friday (until around season 6 or 7) but there is no way there are only 7 black shows better than that. I am still amazed at the turn that show took. If someone hadn't come up with "Jump the Shark" then the term would be "transformed into Stefan" .