Percentie 1 Joneka Percentie Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 11/6/13

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The Real Scandal on TV: An Exploration of Black Women Behind the Scenes and on the Television Screen

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The six members of my immediate family gathered in our small living room for a special occasion. The 65th Annual Primetime Emmys. What is normally a mundane evening in our household became charged with excitement and anticipation for one important reason Kerry Washington was nominated for best lead actress in a drama series, Scandal -- the first black woman nominated in the category since 1995, the year I was born. The Emmy awards recognize televisions outstanding series, actors, and actresses. In the 65 years of the award shows existence, a black woman has never won the award for best lead actress in a drama series. That night could have been the night to change it all, and my family gathered anxiously to witness it live. Watching Washingtons face appear next to the white faces of her fellow nominees was powerful to me; she is an outlier in the television world despite the talent of the cast and success of her show. Kerry Washingtons Emmy nomination was an anomaly that created buzz in the media and it made me both happy and upset. It also sparked several questions: Would Washington be the first Black woman to win the award? Why did it take over 40 years for another Black woman to be a lead on a major television network show? There was one question
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Percentie 2 that proved to be the most important. How does the lack of Black women in the pre-production process affect their portrayal on screen? I quickly began my quest to find out.
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The six members of my immediate family gathered in our small living room for a special occasion. The 65th Annual Primetime Emmys. What is normally a mundane evening in our household became charged with excitement and anticipation for one important reason Kerry Washington was nominated for best lead actress in a drama series, Scandal -- the first black woman nominated in the category since 1995, the year I was born. The Emmy awards recognize televisions outstanding series, actors, and actresses. That night could have been the night to change it all, and my family gathered anxiously to witness it live. Watching Washingtons face appear next to the white faces of her fellow nominees was powerful to me; she is an outlier in the television world despite the talent of the cast and success of her show. Kerry Washingtons Emmy nomination was an anomaly that created buzz in the media and it made me both happy and upset. It also sparked several questions: Would Washington be the first Black woman to win the award? Why did it take over 40 years for another Black woman to be a lead on a major television network show? There was one question that proved to be the most important. How does the lack of Black women in the pre-production process affect their portrayal on screen? I quickly began my quest to find out.
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Kerry Washington did not win the award, and her loss sparked several personal questions.

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Percentie 3 Why did it take over 40 years for another black woman to be a lead on a major television network show? What does a deep look at the makeup of the production team reveal about the portrayal of these black leading ladies? Television became an integral part of American lives in the 1940s as radio networks transitioned to televised broadcasts and, according to Los Angeles Times journalist Neal Gabler, to reach the broadest possible audience in order to sell sponsors' products (Cable vs. broadcast).. Three networks quickly took over broadcasting in America -- CBS Broadcasting, National Broadcasting Company, NBC, and American Broadcasting Company, ABC. In the history of these networks, only five shows have featured black women as the leading actress. A deeper look at the shows Beulah, Julia, Get Christie Love, Scandal, and Deception reveal that the role Black women have in the production process plays a huge part in the reception and success of the show. In the evolution of TV, how have the few opportunities for Black women in the production process affected their portrayal on these major broadcasting networks? Directors, writers, and producers, making up the production team, play a large role in the complete conception of any television show.
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It wasnt until 1950 that NBC would air Beulah, the first major television network show with a black female lead. In his book Blacks and White TV, Fred MacDonald summizes Beulah as the trials and tribulations of the black maid for the white Henderson household, an accurate summation of the shows three seasons (21). Watching episodes of Beulah was a strange experience for me. I was transported back in time to the days of racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, and the first show to ever star a Black woman still painted her in the stereotypes of that time. She was simply the mammy. The mammy figure -- usually portrayed as a Black maid in a

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Percentie 4 white household -- was a familiar stereotype. She emitted a certain human warmth that was sometimes difficult to discern beneath her aggressive self-confidence and implacable personality (21). Beulah, a portly, conscientious, and lovable stereotype of the black domestic, was the answer to all of the Henderson familys problems in times of crisis (21). While the show sometimes included her best friend Oriole and her romantic interest Bill, her life outside of the family was nearly nonexistent. According to the Classic TV Archive and the Internet Movie Database, all credited writers, directors, and producers of the show were men. With a production team staffed completely by males, a true and authentic representation of the shows main character was missing. The success of Beulah and her stereotyped characterizations were short lived and the show ended in 1953. Fifteen years would pass before Diahann Carroll starred in Julia, the first show to portray a Black female lead in a non-stereotypical role. Julia followed the life of Julia Baker, a nurse in SOMETHING and her new life in SOMEWHERE with her young son. In comparison to the characters seen in Beulah, Julia was the the most assimilated Black character ever to appear in the American mass media. Beyond the the stereotyped mammies and maids of early TV, she was everything that [they] are not (115). What Julia made up for in representation, it failed in creating a dialogue about social issues of the time. Hal Kanter, the shows creator, was heavily criticized: Kanter was criticized on many fronts for the shows inability to translate the complexities of black life on television. Julia could not have emerged at a less fortuitous time. With racial frustrations at a peak and with urban police often in a veritable state of war with inner-city rioters, the comfortable image of black success on Julia was in stark juxtaposition to the images seen on local and national newscasts[...]In the words of
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Percentie 5 Carroll, Julia Baker was a white Negro, the overly good, overly integrated fantasy projection of white writers acting, they felt, in a manner sensitive to decades of TV prejudice (Achem 116).
Julia failed to make any progress on the representation of the black narrative: if there were racial references, they were one-line gags said MacDonald (MacDonald 116). Carroll even questioned whether the
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Uunited Sstates would ever accept shows that are about black people who are neither stereotypes nor supersades, programs that would show black people simply relating to each other in a 1970 issue of TV Guide (1256). So far, the portrayal of black female leads on major broadcasting television networks were controlled solely by men, until Get Christie Love! made its way onto television screens. Similar to Beulah, the production team of Julia was mostly comprised of men, with four women making up the writing team. Julia ended in 1971 after three seasons, a slightly more successful stint than its predecessor.

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Teresa Graves portrayed Christie Love in ABCs Get Christie Love! The first police drama to star an African American woman followed the standard detective show formula, with each episode focusing on Christies new case to solve (Achman 171). Get Christie Love! made its way onto television screens in 1974 on the heels of Julia. Teresa Graves portrayed Christie Love in ABCs Get Christie Love! The first police drama to star an African American woman, writes Christine Acham in Revolution Televised: Prime Time and the Struggle for Black Power (171). Groovy and catchy theme song aside, Get Christie Love! followed the standard detective show formula, with each episode focusing on Christies new case to solve. The blaxploitation was apparent even in the first episode that I watched of Get Christie Love!. Blaxploitation era films and shows contributed to the sexualization of black

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Percentie 6 women, and Get Christie Love! was not an exception. The show also failed to deliver in representation in the pre-production process and was made up mostly of men--two non-black women were a part of the writing team. Get Christie Love! had a short run and ended after one season in 1975.
Fast forward over 40 years, and ABCs drama Scandal ranks first in its 10 pm Thursday slot. And the lead character is a Black woman (Vega 2013). In a report by the Directors Guild of America, in its 2011-2012 season, Scandal hired women or minority directors for 67% of its episodes. Kerry Washingtons 2013 Emmy nomination created excited buzz in the media. If she took home the award, she would be the first black woman to win for best lead actress in a drama series ever.
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and Scandal makes its way to the small screen. Former White House Communications Director, Olivia Pope, portrayed by Kerry Washington, now runs a crisis management firm that solves the problems of Washington's elite in ABCs Scandal. Pope is a no nonsense, strong, independent Black woman, yet her major fault is her relationship with the married president of the United States. When Scandal airs on Thursday nights there are near celebrations on social media networks. Watching the show is always exciting and interacting with other viewers about Scandals near soapopera drama adds another dynamic to the viewing experience. While Scandal ranks first in its 10 pm Thursday slot, and maintains a large fan base, the show does have its failings. The shows characters are shamelessly corrupt, and as a result, the show features toxic and abusive relationships that many viewers fail to acknowledge because of the arc of the plot. Of the shows discussed so far, Scandal is the first to have black women in the production process as writers, directors, and producers. Scandal is also the first to be created by a Black woman, Shonda Rhimes. This is the first time a show was created by a Black woman, starring a Black woman and directed by a Black woman

Percentie 7 on network television, but its only a first as far as a big three network goes, says director Ava DuVernay in an interview with Ebony Magazine (Moore). The shows third season is well on its way, and it looks that there is no stopping Scandal anytime soon. In response to Scandals success, NBC premiered Deception in 2013, starring Meagan Good as Joanna Locasta. After her childhood best friend is killed, Locasta, who is an LAPD officer, decides to go undercover to solve the murder. Watching Deceptions pilot was difficult. Ten minutes into the show, I didnt know the lead characters name, a love triangle was developed, and two people were murdered. It was too much. Other viewers agreed and the show received poor ratings and in its final season received a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 3.63 million total viewers, according to TV Series Finale (Deception: Season One). After one season Deception was canceled. Despite its failed plot, Deception succeeded in including more black women in the writing and directing process. NBC canceled Deception and it ended in its first year. Studies reveal that the state of women in the television, specifically women of color, is despairing. According to a report by the Womens Media Center, in the 2010-2011 television season, women made up 11 percent of directors (Pugh Yi). A study by the Directors Guild of America shows that in the 2011-2012 season, four percent of episodes were directed by minority females (DGA Report). Watching episodes from the five major broadcasting network shows featuring Black women in the forefront was fun, but a deeper look shows reveal that while more women have roles in the production process, the number, especially for Black women, is still very small. A compilation of the writers, directors, and producers of the five major network shows to star Black women supports that much improvement can be made (see Table 1).
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Percentie 8 A deeper look at these shows reveal that while more black women have roles in the production process, the number is still very small. and the makeup of their respective production teams paints a pretty bleak picture. Some may argue that they do not accurately portray the success that black women have had on television show. A study by the Directors Guild of America shows that in the 2011-2012 season, 4 percent of episodes were directed by minority females. The television shows Girlfriends and Living Single both feature diverse Black female ensembles. After eight seasons and 172 episodes, the CW Network show Girlfriends, ended in 2008. Living Single became one of the most popular African-American sitcoms of its era, ranking among the top five in African-American ratings in all five seasons, according to the television network TV ONE that caters Black television (Top Ten). Both shows featured Black female ensembles, reached wide audiences, had long on-air runs, and received positive critical reception. What does this mean for shows that showcase a Black woman as the lead? Girlfriends and Living Single were not broadcasted on any of the major three networks--does the target audience for these networks allow for black women as major characters?
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Table 1: The makeup of directors, writers, and producers in the five major network shows to headline Black women (Beulah Company Credits Julia Company Credits Get Christie Love! Company Credits Scandal Company Credits Deception Company Credits).

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Interviews with Black female filmmakers and directors revealed that they have something to say about the lack of representation of Black women on the television screen and how it correlates to the lack of Black women working in the production process. Their personal experience of working behind the scenes gives insight to the impact pre-production work has on a television show. Filmmaker Tchaiko Omawale spoke on the importance of diversity in the creation of art: If youre an artist, who you are and how you see the world comes out in what you do. So if you have a medium where its a majority of one type of person making that medium, youre gonna get that one type of persons perspective. I think its just really important to allow other voices to be present., said (Omawale). Television writer and director, Lena Waithe, expressed similar sentiments: If you dont have any people of color working on a show, and yet you have a person of color in the cast, its sort of doing a disservice to that character[...]I think that at the end of the day, we need--with our casts and our own screen talent-- a desire to have diversity, to really show we are a diverse country. But I feel like thats not always being reflected behind the scenes. The writers room and the crew and all of those things, thats really important. I think a big deal is having more executives of color, said (Waithe).

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Hearing the experiences and thoughts from women directly involved in the television and film industry was moving. These problems not only affect the young viewers that process these images and representations, but it also affects the women that strive to one day make it big in an industry that refuses to make a space for them. Listening to them express their disappointments only convinced me that I was not alone in my frustrations.

Percentie 10 My initial questions after watching the Emmys with my family were still rattling in my brain. After exploring the production of these television shows and their varying success I am still left with questions. Why are black women given less credibility and opportunities in the production process of the television industry? What steps are being taken to increase the diversity on the TV screen? Why are black women given less credibility and opportunities in the production process of the television industry? There is a domino effect -- Black womens role behind the scenes affects their portrayal on TV, but in turn how do these representations of black women affect black women and their personal lives? Kerry Washington did not win the Emmy award, and my family and I watched the remainder of the awards show feeling defeated and dejected. While the talent and skill of Black women is clearly abundant, there is still a lack of fair representation and acknowledgement in the television industry. Exploring these television shows, and experiencing firsthand the writing and portrayal of the characters of the five major network television shows to feature Black women, left me in a strange state. I was satisfied by the information that I gleaned from my research, yet there are still so many questions that need answers. Despite insufficient answers, the available information has shown that there is still progress to make. Who is constantly in control of the narratives of black women on TV? Not black women ahhhh.
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