The Black Behind the Camera

Not long ago I was complaining about the lack of Black programmes on TV. Well it seems as though someone was listening to me because we now a good selection of Black shows currently on the networks or about to hit the small screen. The most prominent of them is The Game which made it's widely anticipated comeback two weeks ago much to a lot of excitement. Running for four seasons on CW, The Game was suddenly axed but after having witnessed the sudden departure of Girlfriends in 2008, the African American viewers were not going to sit back and let the same happen to The Game. So on 11th January BET aired the fifth season of the popular sitcom. That night The Game was followed by brand new sitcom, Let's Stay Together which is about five friends who are juggling relationships in their different stages. We have Tasha and Jamal who are married with a little boy, Stacy and Charles who are recently engaged and Kita who is taking a break from dating. Lets Stay Together is produced by Queen Latifah under her company, Flavor Unit Productions.

Over on TV One we have Love That Girl starring Tatyana Ali. Tatyana plays a divorcee who moves back home with her family in order to get her life back on track. The four part series is created by a predominately Black crew including Martin Lawrence and Bentley Kylie Evans while Tatyana acts as producer. This is Tatyana's second producing role - you might remember that she created the web series Buppies with her sister in 2009 and Lawrence and Evans have worked together before on Martin and The Jamie Foxx Show. Coming soon is Single Ladies which is another Queen Latifah joint and is a dramedy about three best friends who live in Atlanta. Starring Lisa Raye, Lauren London and Stacey Dash, the series covers sex and relationships set to the background of music, fashion and celebrity. Not surprIsingly. Single Ladies has been compared to Girlfriends and of course Sex and the City. The series has been picked up by VH1 and will air on 30th May in the USA with a special two hour pilot and will feature celebrities such as Common, Chilli, Eve and Kim Porter. The actual series starts in July. I cannot tell you how great it is to see so many TV projects starring Black talent in fuition. Even more pleasing is the amount of Black talent behind the camera. This is what everyone has been going on about; that in order to make a change we need more people of colour in powerful positions. Let's not forget that The Game might be produced by Kelsey Grammer but it is actually the brains of Mara Brock Akil. It looks like 2011 is going to be a great year for Black people behind the camera.

You can watch full episodes of Love That Girl here.