Television drama and representation of ethnicity

How did Roots and The Cosby Show challenge previous sterotypical representations of black people in TV dramas?


Roots  confounded the TV industry's prior expectations, with up to 140 million viewers for all or part of it, and over 100 million for the second series. For the first time on U.S. television some of the realities of slavery--brutality, rape, enforced de-culturation--were confronted over a protracted period, and through individual characters with whom, as they fought to escape or survive, the audience could identify. Against this historic first was the individualistic focus on screenwriter Alex Haley's determined family, presented as "immigrant-times-ten" fighting an exceptionally painful way over its generations toward the American Dream myth of all U.S. immigrants. Against it too, was the emphasis on the centuries and decades before the 1970s, which the ahistorical vector in U.S. culture easily cushions from application to the often devastating here and now. Nonetheless, it was a signal achievement.


The Cosby Show (1984-92) was the next milestone. Again defeating industry expectations, the series scored exceptionally high continuing ratings right across the nation. The show attracted a certain volume of hostile comment, some of it smugly supercilious. The fact it was popular with white audiences in the South, and in South Africa, was a favorite quick shot to try to debunk it. Some critics claimed it fed the mirage that racial injustice could be overcome through individual economic advance, others that it primly fostered Reaganite conservative family values. Both were indeed easily possible readings of the show within contemporary U.S. culture. Yet critics often seemed to think a TV text could actually present a single monolithic meaningfulness or set up a firewall against inappropriate readings.

Opening Credits - Friends

In the opening credits on friends, the music, camera shots and editing immediately help the audience recognise the genre of the TV show and sets the tone and atmosphere in the episode.

The opening credits consist of the various small clips from some episodes of the program, with clips of each character when their name is on the screen. They do this so people that hasn't seen the show before, briefly know the type of characters they are and some of there characteristics.

The theme music in the opening credits is a the song "I'll be there for you"by The Rembrandt's. This song fits the opening credits and TV show perfectly because the song is about friendship and the show is about a group of friends. The song is up beat with a high tempo so it sets a fun atmosphere and encourage the audience to continue watching.

The editing in the opening credits is very quick as it doesn't stay on one clip for more that two seconds, so it stays in sync with the tempo of the music and so it looks exciting to the viewer.

The opening credits to friends is recognised by many people, partly due to the success of Friends but also by its uniqueness and its distinctive features like the music and the editing.