You guys know that I LOVE my television shows. You can frequently catch me on Twitter LIVE tweeting everything from presidential debates to Game of Thrones to Scandal. My palette is wide and I like a bit of everything. I am a staunch binge watcher from WAY back. I was binge watching The Stand back before binge watching was cool. Back when BlockBuster was a thing. Now we have Netflix, a zillion channels and various devices to stream them on. We can watch whatever we want, whenever we want. Heaven for a girl like me. It’s a great time for television and its an amazing time for BLACK television. There are some stellar series out right now. I have watched and enjoyed each and every one of them and so should you. When you watch you support Black Film. When you support Black film we get more Black series with Black characters and who doesn’t want more of that? That being said, each one of the series that I am about to tell you about have predominately Black casts and leads.
5 Black TV Series That You Should Be Watching
The Get Down
Network: Netflix
This amazing series set Netflix ablaze over the Summer. It is part musical and part drama. A period piece set at the end of the Disco era and the beginning of Hip Hop. South Bronx is the backdrop as well as main character of this series. Other characters include: Ezekiel, Mylene, Dizzee (Jaylen Smith), Shaolin Fantastic and more! Millions of dollars went into this project. Rapper Nas lends his voice to the rap narrations of an older Zeke, the main character. Nas is also an Executive Producer. This series is serious and sometimes very tragic addressing issues that go on with teenagers and with society at the time. But the message is always in the music and there are great messages throughout. It’s a great way, I think, to reintroduce the loosely based history of Hip Hop to the youngins and very entertaining. I was just kid during the 70’s but I remember the beginning of Hip Hop and watching the Get Down takes me right back to those beautiful days of Afros and beads and music and Black Pride. I love every overly exaggerated character that exists in this series. It’s “Beat Street” meets “Grease” in the Bronx. Jimmy Smits as Papa Fuerte and Giancarlo Epsosito as Pastor Ramon Cruz are icing and candles on the cake. Word has it that Season 2 is in progress.
Airs: Stream Anytime on Netflix
Atlanta
Network: FX and XFinity On Demand
Created by and stars quadruple threat, Donald Glover. Filmed in Atlanta. What more do you need to know? It’s about 2 cousins who are surviving and trying to thrive in Atlanta’s rap game. Its a sitcom that honestly reminds me of Seinfeld. I know, I know you don’t get it… but Seinfeld was a fav series of mine and it wasn’t about anything other than George, Jerry and them trying to make it in the city and all the randomly hilarious shit they encountered while doing so. That’s Atlanta. It’s good. Watch it.
Airs: Tuesday Nights
Insecure
Network: HBO
I just recently checked out Issa Rae’s new HBO series Insecure. Its based on her web series Awkward Black Girl. As a fellow vlogger I’ve always admired Issa and met her once at a blogging conference. She is hilarious and so is this series. It’s her perspective on womanhood, relationships, career, life, everything and I love seeing things through her eyes! Imagine if everything you thought was out loud? The show also gave me a “Girlfriends” vibe that I was happy about. I can really relate to her character and I am looking forward to getting to know more of the characters of this creative series. Kudos and congratulations to Issa Rae. Please watch and support this series, you won’t regret it.
Airs: Sundays (next Episode airs October 16th)
Blackish
Network: ABC
I’ve been a fan of Blackish since it aired in 2014. Traci Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson are brilliant together in this series which I have written about many time before because of their emphasis on natural hair and beauty. Even though it is a comedy they also use that comedic spin to address issues and current events that affect the Black community. It’s a great show. If you are not watching it you should be.
Airs: Wednesday
Luke Cage
Network: Netflix
What can I say about this brand new series that just hit Netflix a week ago? I can tell you that it’s awesome and it’s ALL Black. Luke Cage is a member of the Marvel Universe. He is basically a bulletproof Black super hero in a hoodie. This comic book character has always been Black. Stan Lee has been known to address many political and societal issues through his comics and Luke Cage is no different. It is set in Harlem and address everything from the use of the “N” word to Police brutality and dirty politics. Its very “comic booky”. Like a graphic novel come to life, ie: exaggerated, intense and over the top. You can almost see the thought bubbles over each character. Speaking of characters you have, Luke Cage, Misty Knight (Natural Hair Goddess!), Cotton Mouth, Black Mariah (played by the incomparable and divine, Alfre Woodard) and more. This series has the BEST villians. It’s bloody and action packed and worth every second of my time. Support this series.
P.S. You do not have to watch everything Marvel to understand what is going on in this addition to the Marvel Comic series. Just watch Luke Cage and then go watch the other ones if you haven’t already.
Airs: Stream Anytime
Please check out all of these series and support Black artists, actors and creators. If you know of any series that are not mentioned here that you think that I should go check out just leave a comment. …and one more thing. Go see Birth of a Nation.
Have you watched any of these shows? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you have a favorite?
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