'See It Loud' review: More outrage needed in CNN's celebration of Black TV

WHAT IT'S ABOUT This five-parter from LeBron James and Maverick Carter covers the full history of Black television, beginning with sitcoms (Sunday, 9); comedy (July 16); drama (July 23); reality/unscripted (July 30); and sci-fi/horror (Aug. 6). Sunday's starts with the TV reboot of radio's "Amos 'n Andy," which was attacked for its minstrel-style wordplay and humor, then canceled after just two seasons (in 1953). Fast forward to "The Cosby Show," "A Different World," "Living Single," and eventually a whole spectrum of other "FUBU" shows — or "for us, by us," in the words of "Everybody Hates Chris" showrunner Ali LeRoi. There is lots of commentary, notably from Donald Bogle (2001's "Primetime Blues"), an authority on Black TV and films.

MY SAY To put this as delicately as possible, the history of Black TV is a fraught and complicated subject. Put a little less delicately, the record is a permanent stain on the broadcast television industry. There was a time when weeks, months, even entire seasons would go by without the appearance of so much as a single Black face on a TV screen. 

This shifted ever so slightly in the "60s ("I Spy"), and '70s ("Roots," "Sanford and Son," "The Jeffersons." Then BET launched in 1980, "The Cosby Show" four years later, and Black-oriented UPN in 1995. A long bust followed this mini-boom until the Fox hit "Empire" and the #Oscarssowhite movement — also forcing the Emmys to finally recognize Black achievement — changed everything in 2015. 

Since then, we've been in midst of a Black golden age on TV — "Insecure," "P-Valley," "Atlanta," "The Wonder Years," "Raising Dion," "Women of the Movement," "Watchmen," "When They See Us," "Abbott Elementary," to name a few.

The list goes on — and goes on in "See It Loud," too, which also covers this shorthand version of the history. Meanwhile, the longer version (three hours were made available for review, with the sci-fi episode the best) makes the case that there was much to celebrate even when there was so very little to actually see. 

As far back as the 1950s, series like "The Philco Television Playhouse" occasionally tackled racism and bigotry. (Sidney Poitier starred in two episodes), Cicely Tyson launched her distinguished career costarring with George C. Scott on "East Side/West Side" (1963-64). "See It Loud" gives a shoutout to 1964's classic "Twilight Zone" episode "I Am the Night — Color Me Black" with Ivan Dixon. (Overlooked: "The Big Tall Wish" from 1960, which featured the rarest of the rare — and all-Black cast, again led by Dixon.)

 The list of actual Black showrunners is nonexistent through those decades. Shows by Shonda Rhimes and LeRoi wouldn't arrive until 2005. In the meantime, Black TV writers were left to wander the wilderness. The veteran writer Felicia D. Henderson ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") speaks here of the process of "negotiated authenticity" on series like "Family Matters'' — as the only Black writer in a room of white writers explain how the authentic Black experience should be reflected on-screen. As she and others say, that battle still hasn't fully gone away either.

   "See It Loud" covers a lot of terrain, and misses some too. (Tyler Perry doesn't earn so much as a mention.) The clips fly by — lots of them, each entertaining but each in their own melancholy way a reminder of lost opportunities, thwarted careers and the institutional racism that endured for decades. The spirit is celebratory but a little more outrage would have served "See It Loud" well. It's certainly warranted.

 BOTTOM LINE Solid survey series.