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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.
In one of the offstage scenes in "The Original Kings of Comedy," the 2000 concert film directed by Spike Lee that showcases four black standup performers, Bernie Mac is hanging around a basketball court with his fellow-comedians when he says to the camera, as if he had a bone to pick with it, "Do I have a television show? No. . . . 'Cause you scared of me. Scared I'm gonna say something." Then he pulls back from his mockaggressive stance. "White folks, I don't mean it. I'm just playin', " he says plaintively. "If you give me a chance, I'll take WB, I'll take UPN, I'll take USA. Give me a chance to show you." He was acknowledging a couple of realities: that the four major networks are largely uninterested in building shows around black performers these days (in 1999, the N.A.A.C.P. issued a highly publicized criticism of the four majors for their lack of diversity in front of, behind, and all around the camera), and that the other kings of comedy with whom he was sharing the stage on a very successful national tour -- Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. Hughley -- had their own shows. "The Steve Harvey Show," which co-stars Cedric the Entertainer, just ended an almost six-year run on the WB but airs in syndication on UPN with "I...
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