In 2004 the cable station TBS, based in Atlanta, rebranded itself with
a bold slogan: "very funny." What it had to back up the tag line, at
the time, were reruns of "Seinfeld" and "Friends" -- shows that had
already proven their hilarity on NBC.
\Six years later the humor is more homegrown, and decidedly diverse. The most prominent new show is "Are We There Yet?," a family sitcom based on the movie comedies starring Ice Cube. Starting this week, that show will be sandwiched on Wednesday nights between Tyler Perry's two sitcoms, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns," while George Lopez's talk show, "Lopez Tonight," runs four nights a week.
In a television world where "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "The Cosby Show" are distant memories, TBS has quickly become the home of minority-driven comedy. Actors of varying ethnicities can be found on the broadcast networks and the biggest of the cable channels, often playing characters in ensemble dramas like "Grey's Anatomy," although some (like "CSI," which stars Laurence Fishburne) cast nonwhite actors in leading roles. But in comedy, diversity seems to hit a wall, especially since the demise of UPN, which broadcast shows like "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Moesha." The recent Fox sitcom "Brothers" was quickly pulled from the schedule after disappointing ratings. Now TBS's new block of minority-oriented programming sits virtually unopposed.
It was that momentum that led Ice Cube, the rapper turned actor turned television producer to bring "Are We There Yet?" to TBS. "I always wanted to be" on that channel, he said. "All these other stations, you can't find anybody who will give diverse programming a chance. We had a few other meetings, but I knew if we went to another network, we'd have to teach them. TBS already gets it."
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Source: Megan Angelo, The New York Times
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