We all know how important family is. These Black sitcoms understood the assignment when it came to entertaining and showing the value of family outside of blood relatives.
#1: Amen (1986-1991)
Ernest Frye may not have been the most ethical deacon or lawyer, but when it came to his daughter Thelma, the widowed father played no games and did everything to make her happy. And he wasn’t a bad church leader, either.
#3: Out All Night (1992-1993)
Patti LaBelle and Vivica Fox were a high-octane mother-daughter duo in Out All Night. LaBelle’s character Chelsea Lane had to run a bustling Los Angeles nightclub, helping her daughter Charisse to have a career for herself.
#2: One on One (2001-2006)
Sportscaster Flex Washington was living the life many single guys would envy: the money, the fame, and a previous successful career in basketball. However, when his teenage daughter Breanna comes to live with him, he learns there’s more to life than being a bachelor. Throughout the series, Washington matured into a Hall of Fame father.
While all of these shows featured single parents, they still showed the power of what happens when friends come together and serve as vital community support in stories where respectability politics would try to shame us. Which of these do you want to see remade?