Shows About Black Joy
30 TV Shows About Black Life and Joy and Where to Watch Them
While series like "Friends," "The Office," and "Parks and Recreation" — shows in which white characters simply exist for the sake of escapism and laughs — have existed since the advent of television, similar series depicting life in Black America are few and far between. Too often, Black TV characters come from broken families and violent backgrounds, while scripts read as though they're attempting to explain Blackness to a non-Black demographic. Watching shows written about you but not for you is exhausting.
Just like everyone else, Black people experience love and loss, makeups and breakups, high school crushes, and friendship drama. Yet our stories are often stripped of any depth, left only to revolve around what non-Black people think Black life is like. So because Black Joy, Black authors, and Black creators should be celebrated all year round (not just on Black holidays like Black History Month and Juneteenth), here are 30 sitcoms, dramas, and animes about Black people just . . . being — no explanation needed.
1 "A Black Lady Sketch Show"
2 "A Different World"
3 "Being Mary Jane"
4 "Black Lightning"
5 "Cannon Busters"
6 "Chewing Gum"
7 "Class of 3000"
8 "Everybody Hates Chris"
9 "Family Matters"
10 "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
11 "Girlfriends"
12 "Insecure"
13 "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts"
14 "Living Single"
15 "Martin"
16 "Moesha"
17 "My Wife and Kids"
18 "One on One"
19 "The Proud Family"
20 "Raising Dion"
21 "She's Gotta Have It"
22 "Sister, Sister"
23 "That's So Raven"
24 "The Parkers"
25 "The Wayans Bros."
26 "Black-ish"
27 "Grown-ish"
28 "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"
29 "The Bernie Mac Show"
30 "Half & Half"
