Oxford University Press, USA
Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television
Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television
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Following the overwhelming success of The Cosby Show in the 1980s, an unprecedented shift took place in television history: white executives turned to black dollars as a way of salvaging network profits lost to videocassettes and cable TV. Not only were African-American viewers watching disproportionately more network television than the general population but, as Nielsen finally realized, they preferred black shows. As a result, African-American producers, writers, directors, and stars were given an unusual degree of creative control over shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Roc, Living Single, Martin, and New York Undercover.
Locating a persistent black nationalist desire--a yearning for home and community--in shows produced by and for African Americans, Kristal Brent Zook shows how these productions revealed complex and contradictory politics of gender, sexuality, and class. Incorporating interviews with such prominent executives, producers, and stars as Keenen Ivory Wayans, Quincy Jones, Robert Townsend, Charles Dutton, and Yvette Lee Bowser, this study looks at both production and reception among African-American viewers. Zook provides nuanced readings of the shows themselves as well as the political and historical contexts in which they emerged.
Though much of black television during this time was criticized for being trivial or buffoonish, Color by Fox reveals its deep-rooted ties to African-American protest literature, autobiography, and a collective desire for social transformation.
Author: Kristal Brent Zook
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 05/13/1999
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 8.58h x 5.58w x 0.49d
ISBN: 9780195106121
Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/1999 pg. 216
Publishers Weekly 02/08/1999 pg. 205
Booklist 02/15/1999 pg. 1024
Library Journal 03/01/1999 pg. 88
Locating a persistent black nationalist desire--a yearning for home and community--in shows produced by and for African Americans, Kristal Brent Zook shows how these productions revealed complex and contradictory politics of gender, sexuality, and class. Incorporating interviews with such prominent executives, producers, and stars as Keenen Ivory Wayans, Quincy Jones, Robert Townsend, Charles Dutton, and Yvette Lee Bowser, this study looks at both production and reception among African-American viewers. Zook provides nuanced readings of the shows themselves as well as the political and historical contexts in which they emerged.
Though much of black television during this time was criticized for being trivial or buffoonish, Color by Fox reveals its deep-rooted ties to African-American protest literature, autobiography, and a collective desire for social transformation.
Author: Kristal Brent Zook
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 05/13/1999
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 8.58h x 5.58w x 0.49d
ISBN: 9780195106121
Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/1999 pg. 216
Publishers Weekly 02/08/1999 pg. 205
Booklist 02/15/1999 pg. 1024
Library Journal 03/01/1999 pg. 88
About the Author
Kristal Brent Zook, Ph.D., has written about culture, race, feminism, and politics for publications including The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, The L.A. Weekly, Vibe, Emerge, and The Source.
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