Black sitcoms have always held a special place in the culture, usually giving us a comedic take on urban living from the perspective of a relatable, melanated cast. In the case of Girlfriends, the beloved series that aired on UPN and The CW for 8 great seasons, fans still express a desire to keep up with the happenings of Joan, Maya, Lynn, Toni and William nearly 20 years after the show’s cliffhanger ending.
Lead star Tracee Ellis Ross recently spoke about the show that made her a household name while visiting the What Now? With Trevor Noah podcast. However, it wasn’t as fond of a recollection as you might expect, as she actually felt the show was overlooked by the wider television industry during its generational run.
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The 53-year-old actress expressed to Noah in detail the various ways Girlfriends ultimately received the short end of the stick, including zero invites to promote the series on the primetime talk shows of the time and no nominations at the major award ceremonies. For The Jay Leno Show specifically, she told the podcast, “I had ‘Girlfriends’ [on-air], and the comment was, ‘We love Tracee! Call us when she gets something,’” expressing her shock by adding, “I remember thinking, ‘What?! Like, what else do you have to get?’”
For reference, over the span of eight seasons and 172 episodes, Girlfriends received only one Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series.” Comparing that to Sex And The City, the popular HBO series that many saw as the white counterpart to Girlfriends, the nominations and wins for Sarah Jessica Parker and crew simply don’t compare.
Ross herself used the USA Network series Monk as an example, explaining that even with 25% of the viewership Girlfriends had at the time, star Tony Shalhoub had no problem getting a seat on late-night television. “Is it just racism?,” Ross rhetorically asks Trevor Noah, but something tells us she might be onto something. Thoughts?
Did Girlfriends deserve better during its television run? See what some are saying on social media below:
1. Don’t be so sure regarding Tracee. I watched Girlfriends but it wasn’t on a main network back then and even though it was popular it wasn’t a ratings hit compared to the other shows of the day garnering like 20 million viewers per episode. At the same time im sure Kelsey Grammer could have pulled some strings and make that all happen for his show that he produced.
via @northy497