On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Thomas Heald, Esquire <[email protected]> wrote: >> And, at day's end, I agree with something Hughley said on the first >> episode of his show... that America has a black president... it needs a >> black talk show host. If D.L. is not the guy, that's fine, but we need >> to find somebody who can do the job, and a network willing to give him >> (or her) a chance.
> Is it a sign of anything that Late Night network talk shows don't have a > black person hosting? America obviously does not need a black talk show host (or, at least, the list of things America needs more than a black talk show host is so long that it is not worth mentioning). But yes, it is a sign of something that there are no black people hosting a network late night talk show. The range of late night hosts is from A to B (by which I mean, there ain't much range there). From Steve Allen to Jimmy Fallon they mostly fall into the same fairly narrow profile. The Networks seem to be operating on the same old assumption that America can only stomach midwestern farmboys making slightly risque and subversive comments late at night. A woman, or an African-American, or Asian, or Latino or old guy or gay guy I guess are assumed to be too scary. Craig Ferguson's success is a hopeful sign - though I guess that the fact that the presence of a Scottish host on late night network tv passes for diversity tells you just about all that you need to know. Is there any substantive reason, on the merits of their talent, that NBC chose Fallon instead of Hughley to take over from Conan? Is there the slightest chance that Hughley, even had he failed, would not have been more interesting in a 1000 different ways than Fallon will be, even if he is "successful"? America does not need a black talk show host - but it would be nice to see one of these networks change things up in some way and take something like a chance now and then. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
