SECTION D

March 17-23, 2010

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE SHOW BUSINESS

Reflections

professionalism

By Steve Holsey

Maximum

It has been said that excellence is the most

effective tool for combating racism, or any other counterproductive “ism.”

One of the most outstand-

ing people on television news today is Don Lemon, who anchors the prime-time weekend version of “CNN Newsroom.”

Lemon is polished, lik-

Don Lemon

able, confident, nice looking and, of course, a total pro. His appeal is wide-ranging, which is to say he makes all viewers comfortable. His eth-

nicity is not an issue, and in an ideal society, that is how it should be.

Lemon, who was born in Baton Rouge,

Louisiana, and has been with CNN since 2006, always makes African-American viewers proud, yet at no time does he come across as “a Black news anchor.” Rather, he is “a news anchor who happens to be Black.”

There is a difference. IF YOU watch, or used to watch, “Ameri-

can Idol,” you surely remember Melinda Doolittle from season six, one of the best singers in the history of the show. (For ex- ample, her rendition of “My Funny Valentine” was stunning.)

She recently re-

Melinda Doolittle

vealed a system her mother, Marguerite Doolittle, had for defus- ing negativity. Whenever Melinda wanted to say something bad about a person, Mom would make her say three good things first.

“Of course, her advice was irritating to me

at the time,” said Doolittle, “but I have discov- ered a lot of wisdom in my mother’s simple, common sense truth.”

After saying three good things, she often lost the desire to say that bad thing.

SOMETIMES people are so good that they just have to win any award they are nominated for. One example is Jamie Foxx, who was nothing less than awesome — and thoroughly convincing — as Ray Charles in “Ray.”

And then there was Fan-

Jeff Bridges

tasia on “American Idol.” She had been building up to winning all of season three. However, when she sang “Summertime” it was obvi- ous that for her not to win

would have been a travesty. Jeff Bridges completely deserved his

Oscar in the Best Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role category for his remark- able work in “Crazy Heart.” He was “all the way there” and was completely believable as a country singer (Bad Blake) on the decline, personally and professionally. No one could have played the part better.

LUDACRIS, rapper and actor, is probably

smiling right now. That is because his new album, “Battle of the Sexes,” sold a very im- pressive 137,000 copies in one week, enough to make it the No. 1 album in the United States.

I was just looking at the cover of Leela

James’ new album titled “My Soul.” Hmmm, is she trying to outdo Erykah Badu? This gives new meaning to the term “big hair.” It’s a nice album and will be released on May 25.

It was good to

hear that Tiger Woods will be returning to the Masters Tour- nament next month. He paid enough already for his indis- cretions and, besides, it’s not like he killed someone, committed rape or anything like that. Besides, professional golf needs him. He is the best and the one who draws the largest number of people to the sport. Not to mention all the money he generates.

Leela James

This is what you call “something different”:

A trio called the Carolina Chocolate Drops has emerged, playing music from the early 20th century (jump, country string, etc.). The instruments are a banjo and two fiddles, plus vocals.

It was a mistake for “American Idol” to

allow Paula Abdul to leave. (They should have paid her the amount she sought.) It was perfect with three judges: Abdul, Randy Jack- son and Simon Cowell, each with a distinct personality and style. Plus this eliminated the possibility of a tie, especially if a crucial stay-or-go decision had to be made. Also, the show seems to be lacking something else this season. Maybe that’s partly because Adam Lambert raised the bar so high last season.

See Reflections Page D-2

Sabrina Le Beauf Keshia Knight Pulliam Malcolm-Jamal Warner Lisa Bonet Phylicia Rashad

COSBY

SHOW’

It would be difficult, if not im-

possible, to overstate the impor- tance of “The Cosby Show,” the landmark family-friendly TV pro- gram that aired from the fall of 1984 to the spring of 1992.

Eight seasons, during which

Bill Cosby

viewership was extraordinarily high, crossing all ethnic, age and cultural barriers. “The Cosby Show” was a common meeting place — for laughs, of course, but also for “warmth and comfort” because the show made you feel good.

Ratings, in fact, were so high it

was joked that NBC was no longer an acronym for National Broad- casting Company; instead it now stood for “Nothing But Cosby.”

In a sense, in terms of major-

ity acceptance of African Ameri- cans, “The Cosby Show,” much like Oprah Winfrey, helped paved the way for the election of the first Black president of the United States. Content took precedence over anything else,

including

race. For that reason, the program

has a place in the Civil Rights Movement. It was a milestone. Moreover, it is easy to believe that Dr. Martin Luther King would have been a regular viewer.

TV GUIDE said glowingly that

“The Cosby Show” was “TV’s big- gest hit in the 1980s and almost single-handedly

revived the

sitcom genre and NBC’s ratings fortunes.”

One of the most important as-

pects of “The Cosby Show” was that it showed a complete Black family — that is, with a father in the home — that was upper middle class with cohesiveness, commit- ment to education and pride in their racial history, among other attributes.

Granted, there were times when

this family seemed just a little too “ideal,” but that is a small price to pay for what the long-running series represented in the greater scheme of things.

Clearly, “The Cosby Show”

raised the bar, and that is why Bill Cosby has publicly decried some of the Black shows that came after it. They represented regression rather than additional forward movement.

“THE COSBY SHOW” has the

distinction of being one of only three television shows that were No. 1 in the ratings, as deter- mined by Nielsen Media Research,

for five consecutive seasons. (The other two are “All in the Family” and “American Idol.”)

In addition, it is the third longest

running comedy program with a pre- dominantly Black cast.

This was Cosby’s fifth series,

following “I Spy” (drama), “The Bill Cosby Show” (situation comedy), “The New Bill Cosby Show” (variety) and the animated “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.”

Although there were many seri-

ous moments and themes on “The Cosby Show” — times when laugh- ter would have been inappropriate — the show would have been noth- ing without good writing and, of course, plenty of laughs.

“Through humor, you can soften

some of worst blows that life deliv- ers,” Cosby said. “And once you find laugher, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive

it.” Everyone could relate to the situ-

ations and humor of Cosby’s show. No one was made to feel uncom- fortable, even when something was from the African-American experi- ence specifically.

THE CORE cast members of “The

Cosby Show” were Bill Cosby as Heathcliff Huxtable, Phylicia Rashad as wife Clair Huxtable, Lisa Bonet as daughter Denise, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as son Theo, Tempestt Bled- soe as daughter Vanessa and Keshia Knight Pulliam as daughter Rudy.

Seen less frequently was Sabrina

Le Beauf as daughter Sondra, Geof- frey Owens as husband Elvin and (later) Raven-Symoné as Denise Huxtable Kendall’s stepdaughter, Olivia.

Appearing often as the grand- parents were Clarice Taylor, Earle

See The Cosby Show Page D-2

‘THE

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