Tracy Oliver, the show’s producer, answers:
Six months ago, that answer was emphatically television. I distinctly remember sitting in coffee shops with Issa, strategizing ways to reach potential producers, executives, and networks that may be a good fit for “ABG.” We were even writing an extensive treatment for the series, visualizing how the characters and storylines could be adapted into a half-hour comedy.
I’ll admit it. The prospect of “ABG” on television is enticing. The thought of millions of people sitting around their flat screens watching a weekly version of the show is pretty exciting. The thought of an African-American female lead with dark skin and a short fro starring in a mainstream comedy is downright revolutionary.
On television, “ABG” could be what “The Cosby Show” was back in the day – a universal show breaking in several actors of color in front of the screen and writers and directors of color behind the scenes. In a perfect world, it could change the perceptions of African-American women at large and fill a void that’s absent in mainstream media.
The only problem is, we don’t live in a perfect world.
Television today often doesn’t reflect the beauty in diversity, in front or behind the camera. The numbers of writers and directors of color working in television are dismal. The numbers of female writers and directors of color are even worse. According to a recent DGA study, white males directed 77% of all television episodes for the 2010-2011 season, while women of color directed just 1%.
When looking at these statistics, the reality of selling “ABG” to a network lends itself to many questions. Who will become the showrunner(s) and will they understand our vision? How many writers of color will be staffed? Will we able to maintain our current cast? How much creative control will we have over the content?
To answer these questions, Issa and I sat down with a television executive from a prominent network. In short, his response confirmed our worst fears. He felt that in order for “ABG” to become more mainstream, the entire cast would need to be replaced. His suggestion for the lead character, J, was a long haired, fair-skinned actress who looked more like a model from a rap music video than an awkward black girl.
Needless to say, the meeting was frustrating. But also very eye opening. This executive’s thoughts on making “ABG” more mainstream stripped the show of what made it a hit in the first place – its relatability. The truth is, he didn’t get our show. He didn’t get our vision. And worse, he didn’t get our audience.
Our audience is the reason “ABG” is where it is today. They support our vision, and the Web allows us a unique opportunity to stay true to it. Though we haven’t yet found a way to monetize the series as we would in television, the trade off is being able to have full creative license over the content, which is ultimately why we’re excited to do what we’re doing and why our fans are excited to watch.
Thanks to Ankhesen Mié for pointing out this article to me.
See also:
- Yahoo! TV: ‘Awkward Black Girl’ Producer Shares Thoughts on the Web Vs. TV – her full article. The same as the above with but with a different title and intro
- Awkward Black Girl – all things Awkward
- Issa Rae
- I don’t want to see “Awkward Black Girl” on TV – Ankhesen Mié called it! And reacts.
- The blackness of American television
- Zora Neale Hurston: What White Publishers Won’t Print – What would Zora do?
Glad that Lisa and Issa were told how J’s character would be changed before they signed over their baby. They dodged a big one.
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Oh please, please, PLEASE don’t let them change your baby! This show is absolutely wonderful; even though I am older than the main character I identify with her in so many ways. I know times are tough and everyone needs a living, but some things (like the integrity of the show) are more important than the almighty dollar. Kudos to you both for sticking to your guns.
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That is unfortunate but not that surprising. I hope that the show’s creators continue to maintain control of their vision.
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I love this show with all my heart and would hate to see it destroyed to become “mainstream.” It drives me nuts that these TV people can never see past their own experience and can never risk standing out and doing something different. I mean haven’t they learned the lesson yet? That what’s most successful has little to do with what’s already available and more to do with something we haven’t seen before, geesh!
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Just working my way through the programmes, laughing and squirming in turn
🙂
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Instead of airing on one of the “big” networks, what about BET or TVOne? (I realize BET is no longer Black-owned). I can see how many in the mainstream would not “get” the show. ABG’s experiences are universal as far as the western world goes, but the beautiful, cultural aspects may be lost on many. I can see why The Cosby Show was embraced by the mainstream. It had cross-cultural appeal on many different levels. You had a doctor married to a lawyer living in an affluent community. The couple had four damn-near-perfect kids who were either in college or college-bound. None of the characters were “too black” in appearance or speech, and the story lines and humor were not “too cultural.” This made the series palatable to the mainstream which resulted in the show being a success on NBC. It even had a spin-off.
I applaud all those involved with ABG’s production for not desiring to dilute its originality to appeal to the masses or to make an easy buck. If I’m not mistaken, Issa Rae has a degree in film from Stanford. It would be truly be great if this wonderful series could blossom into a lucrative venture for all involved – without compromising, of course.
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“He felt that in order for “ABG” to become more mainstream, the entire cast would need to be replaced. His suggestion for the lead character, J, was a long haired, fair-skinned actress”
Sigh. How boring and cliche. It’s so typical.
I enjoy this series, and I would love to see them grow and eventually reap the fruits of their labor. However, I would stop watching it immediately if a certain “element” got their exploitative hands within reach to contaminate it, as usual.
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I knew it! I am not the least bit surprised by the executive’s purposed “tweaks” to ABG.
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“To answer these questions, Issa and I sat down with a television executive from a prominent network. In short, his response confirmed our worst fears. He felt that in order for “ABG” to become more mainstream, the entire cast would need to be replaced. His suggestion for the lead character, J, was a long haired, fair-skinned actress who looked more like a model from a rap music video than an awkward black girl.”
That right there is why she should keep her brainchild away from the clutches of the racist media.
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When you look at Grey’s Anatomy you would never know that a black woman is the creator. I think that it is great that SHE is making great money cause she is the only one benefitting! There are no great images of black women there! I wonder why…
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Dont change anything Issa!
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This is one of many reasons why most television and movies are insulting to me….they destroy the original idea put forth by the writer/creator. For instance, I will never see any of the X-Men movies because of the bastardization of the characters. Princess Ororo, a.k.a. Storm, was not a pale-skinned hound dog with a bad weave – she is a beautiful, African woman with a deep bronze hue. Angela Bassett should have played her, not Halle Berry. Just my humble opinion…
Stick to your guns, Issa – don’t let them retard your brainchild.
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@ MeMe:
“When you look at Grey’s Anatomy you would never know that a black woman is the creator.”
—
So true. Grey’s Anatomy is a perfect example of what could happen to ABG.
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Given White America’s penchant for portraying Black people as derogatory stereotypical caricatures on their T.V shows how did the Cosby show manage to get on T.V and stay for so long??
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@ Robert:
Per my 11/11 comment:
None of the characters were “too black” in appearance or speech, and the story lines and humor were not “too cultural.” This made the series palatable to the mainstream which resulted in the show being a success on NBC. It even had a spin-off.
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Ahh I see thanks Nom.
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There were a few successful (embraced by the mainstream) sit-coms in the 70s that played into stereotypes. The main characters were usually buffoons. One sit-com, set in Chicago’s Cabrini Green projects, had a “Dy-no-mite!” family that was always “strugglin.’ Another had a family living in a junkyard. In another, a family had “moved on up to a deee-lux apartment in the skyyyy-eye-eye.” Again, the common thread was the buffoon. I remember a sit-com called “Roc” back in the 80s. The show wasn’t white-washed and there was no buffoonery. It didn’t last long. Some may have genuinely not liked the show, but I’m inclined to think some didn’t “get” it.
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@Nom De Plume
None of the characters were “too black” in appearance or speech
Couldn’t someone say the same about Issa Rae? Her facial features look Caucasian and she doesn’t speak like a stereotypical blacks person.
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@ The Cynic.
You’re right. ABG is not stereotypical at all, IMO. I think the difference is ABG is a series created by a Black person. I don’t think this was the case for The Cosby Show. A quick Wikipedia search shows that The Cosby Show was created by Marcy Casey and Tom Werner, two former execs at ABC. I could be wrong, but I don’t think they are Black. It appears to be a case where White creators pitched a show to a White network.
I always take Wikipedia with a grain of salt. It says that Casey and Werner pitched the idea of a show to Bill Cosby. Cosby wanted the characters to be blue collar with a stay-at-home mom and a limo-driving father. There would be four kids. Casey and Werner, however, wanted to make the family affluent. Here, a black contributor had an idea that was “tweaked.” Per Wiki, the scripts were to be based loosely on Bill Cosby’s stand-up comedy routines. Bill Cosby’s brand of humor was mainstream at that time, IMO.
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One positive thing about the “tweaking” of The Cosby Show is that in some ways it crushed stereotypes of what a Black family looks (and sounds) like.
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“the mainstream) sit-coms in the 70s that played into stereotypes. The main characters were usually buffoons. One sit-com, set in Chicago’s Cabrini Green projects, had a “Dy-no-mite!” family that was always “strugglin.’ Another had a family living in a junkyard. In another, a family had “moved on up to a deee-lux apartment in the skyyyy-eye-eye.” Again, the common thread was the buffoon. I remember a sit-com called “Roc” back in the 80s. The show wasn’t white-washed and there was no buffoonery.”
Other early black tv shows that weren’t buffoonery were Julia and Room 222
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@ Big Man:
“Other early black tv shows that weren’t buffoonery were Julia and Room 222.”
—
I remember those. You’re right.
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I loved “Roc”! It never crossed over to white audiences and therefore was cancelled due to “low ratings” (= white people do not watch it). It lasted as long as it did only because Fox was using black audiences as a stepping stone to create a network.
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I miss UPN. After the merge with WB to create the CW all the Black sitcoms went poof. Even Girlfriends! We didn’t even get a final episode, Even One on One I hated the retooling for the last season.
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Chris Rock successfully produced a comedy show, Everybody Hates Chris, based on his junior thru high school years in Brooklyn, NY. The UPN show lasted four seasons (white people liked it). Chris Rock did some funny stuff based on racial stereotypes, especially with the “racist” white female, Ms Morello – who happen to be infatuated with black men.
In fact, Everybody Hates Chris ranks right up there with, In Living Color and Dave Chappelle as comedies that regularly put a spotlight on RACE.
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I had some problems with Everybody Hates Chris. In Everybody hates Chris his mother is an argumentative, loud, aggressive woman who is always nagging her husband and moaning about everything – the woman was a walking Sapphire stereotype, who boasts often about her husband working two jobs which wears him out so she can be a lady of leisure (Chris Rock’s real mother was a teacher).
The show had quite a few episodes featuring Black criminality in the “Ghetto” like the Chain snatching episode where Julius declares “White kids don’t snatch chains”. There were also a few episodes revolving around Chris’s family and food stamps another White favorite. Watching Chris get “put in his place by the school bully and the racist insults the bully routinely throws at Chris also probably tickled them pink.
Yes, I can see why White people liked this show.
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@ Robert
I hear ya bruh. True. Everybody Hates Chris wasn’t like the Cosby show (depicting the black family in a wonderful fashion), but for every negative aspect you point out, the show depicted some, perhaps more, very positive – and moralist – attributes.
Chris’ father had a strong work/savings ethic. Chris’ mom, although depicted as a superficial personality, was an all business, no nonsense parent when it came to her children’s proper respect/behavior and EDUCATION.
In fact, education was a regular topic on that show. I didn’t care for the Caruso school bully either, but it was what one might realistically expect given the overwhelmingly white NYC neighborhoods his schools were in.
In one episode, one of the regular criminals on the show goes back to school in an effort to turn his life around. In other words, none of the black characters were ONE dimensional, as often seen on “regular” tv, except for maybe the mom’s derelict freeloading brother.
Chris Rock, in my opinion, used this show as a platform to show “America” more than a few things about RACISM (particularly about ASSUMPTIONS) – and in this way surpassed the Cosby show – which in comparison hardly, if ever, touched that topic.
Awkward Black Girl has a long line of black show as “models” to take lessons from. Perhaps it’s only a matter of patience/timing waiting for “the right offer” from the right entity. They could use this time to make their show even better.
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Kudos to Spike Lee and Tyler Perry. Their work has not appealed to the masses, yet they have enjoyed much success. Tyler Perry was recently named the highest paid man in Hollywood, even though some believe his “Madea” character contributes to negative stereotypes.
Lee and Perry made their own movies. They selected their own casts and had their own funding, which gave them 100% control over their work. Perry often says he strives to create movies that have universal themes, but many still see his movies as “black” movies. When “For Colored Girls” (the movie) came out, I remember seeing White movie-goers on TV saying that it never occurred to them to see the film because they assumed it was not for them based on the title. I’m not Jewish but I went to see Schindler’s List.
I’m not a huge fan of either Spike or Tyler, but my hat is off to them for taking huge risks that eventually led to their success. I realize this is easier said than done. I think most people have a strong desire to see real images of themselves on screen and on stage.
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Abagond:
She should stay on the web. Network television is becoming a dinosaur……cassette-tape, vcr, typewriter, rotary phone, and so forth. If it ain’t broke, don’t blank blank blank.
Tyrone
Black Eros Movement
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Somewhat related note, the movie studio The Asylum is now taking pitches for films with African-American and Hispanic-American primary casts. More details here: http://theasylum.cc/production.php
I don’t work for this company or anything, just thought it was something cool to share.
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This is exactly why the show should not be in network hands. Like Chiamamanda Adichie (sp?) says, a single story is very dangerous. This is a story that needs to be told, unabashed. It the networks were to tell it, it would be the same story (as in same as all the other network shows) in different clothing.
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I hadn’t heard of this show – so thank you! I love it 🙂
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First off……Issa is gorgeous.
Secondly, I love the show lol…I made time to watch the short segments in between my studying. It’s so funny and I think it speaks to many black women, who feel like she does and fit the a similar “personality”, something you’d rarely, if ever, see on TV.
I would say she should have a show on TV.
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…but I completely disagree with changing any of the cast members. They all are awesome. We need to keep trying, though not going with this guy who says to change the cast; he’s nutz. The fans LOVE the cast, and they would instantly loose support by doing that.
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I know this is an old .post but Awkward Black Girl should stay on the web intact as it is. If it went to television it would be a disaster.
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