Primetime blues

Donald Bogle traces how Black Americans have been portrayed and employed on network television, beginning with the postwar period, when shows like Amos 'n' Andy and Beulah set the early pattern, and moving forward to the 1990s hits ER and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The book is a work of cultural history and criticism about the medium's shifting images of Black life and the performers who shaped them.

Bogle's account is written for readers interested in television history, media representation and the social forces behind what audiences saw on screen across several decades.