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Delano, I have 2 words for you. "proof read". You didn't say anything about "role models", during the course of a discussion about Blacks on TV. But, as a matter, of fact, George Jefferson was a successful black businessman who had "moved on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky." He even had a maid. The father, James, played by John Amos in "Good Times" was specifically written into this series to show a strong black father figure. Lemont Sanford was a honest, hard-working guy who was a good, patient son to his irascible father, Fred, played brilliantly by comedic genius Redd Foxx. TV shows and movies could be considered examples of "art imitating life" and maybe that's why there are so few good role models. BTW, here is my post that Delano is responding to. "The name of the actor who played Superfly was RON O'Neal, not Ryan. The character he played in the movie was a cocaine dealer who made a final big score that he hoped would make him rich and liberate him from "the life". Richard Roundtree was the consummate cool black dude in his role as a private eye in the original "Shaft". Ex-football players Jim Brown and Fred Williamson also starred in these type of roles. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" was a comedic treatment of blaxploitation directed by Ozzie Davis and starring Raymond St. Jaques and Godfrey Cambridge. The adventures of feisty, gun-toting female cops were also the subject of blaxpoitation flicks. Pam Grier was the queen of the genre. Sidney Poitier's role in "Raisin in The Sun" showcased a new type of black hero, leadind to the "large-and-in-charge" type he played in "In the Heat of the Night". Paul Winfield in "Sounder" and James Earl Jones in "The Great White Hope" also played strong black men. TV series like "Good Times, "Sanford and Son", "The Jeffersons", and of course, "The Cosby Show" had pretty long runs. 5 years is a long time for any TV show to last. I wouldn't consider these reality show strippers as women the average young black girl could identiify with. These scantily-clad, curvaceous, buxom, golden beauties, skillfully made-up and well-coiffed in long silky hair extensions are female caricatures whose sole function is to entertain men."