Ever since the invention of the television in 1939, African Americans have been portrayed as maids, servants or clowns. These negative perceptions started to appear in sitcoms such as in Amos and Andy, who were the stereotypical blacks who never took anything seriously. All those views changed during the 1970s when black sitcoms were becoming more reality based. Although blacks have been, and often still, portrayed in a negative way on TV, there has been some improvements of stereotypical images of African Americans on television. There were five stereotypical roles of blacks between 1940-1970; the Tom, Coon, Mammie, Tragic Mulatto, and the Buck (Gray Recognizing). The Tom was always insulted, but kept to his faith and remained generous and kind. The coon (most used image) was always lazy, unreliable and constantly butchered his speech. The mammie was more distinguished than the coon only because of her sex. She was usually big and plump and full of life. The tragic mulatto was fair-skinned, trying to pass for white. Always well-liked and believed that their lives could have been better if they were not biracial. The last stereotype was the buck. He was the big, oversexed black man (Gray Recognizing). In the late 1960s, there were shows like I Spy and The Flip Wilson Show which had blacks starring in them. Starting in 1971, shows were premiering everywhere with black casts (Changing Image 76). Sanford and Son appeared on NBC on January 14,1972, to replace another show (Booth 26). The show took place in South Central California, where Fred Sanford and his son Lamont lived and owned a junkyard. Fred was satisfied with his little business. However, Lamont, wanted something bigger and better. Fred would do anything to keep his son from abandoning him and the business. Every time Lamont threatened to leave, Fred would do his famous act and fake a heart attack and start moaning to his late wife, "I'm coming, Elizabeth, I'm coming." Lamont, ...
