Question 1 of 25.
Which was the first major series to feature a Black actor in a leading dramatic role with an integrated cast?
1. I Spy
2. He’s the Mayor
3. Miami Vice
4. Harris and Company
I Spy
I Spy, starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby as an interracial secret-agent team, was an adventure series that ran for three seasons, 1965-1968.
Question 2 of 25.
Diahann Carroll played the role of TV’s “first Black bitch”, Dominique Deveraux, in which nighttime soap opera?
1. "Dallas"
2. "The American Dream"
3. "Dynasty"
4. "Falcon Crest"
"Dynasty"
Diahann Carroll Played the role of Dominique Deveraux on the critically acclaimed "Dynasty" from 1984 through 1987.
Question 3 of 25.
Which was the first show of the seventies to feature a Black person in the title role AND have a cross over audience?
1. "The Richard Pryor Show"
2. "The Cosby Show"
3. "The Flip Wilson Show"
4. "The Mom’s Mabley Show"
"The Flip Wilson Show"
Flip Wilson’s hour-long variety show aired from 1970 to 1974 and was the first American television program starring a black person in the title role to become highly successful with a white audience.
Question 4 of 25.
In the 1950s who was the one Black performer who appeared on T.V. with some regularity?
1. Bill Cosby
2. Ethel Waters
3. Eartha Kitt
4. Sidney Poitier
Ethel Waters
During the 50s, Ethel Waters was a regularly featured T.V personality. In 1950, Waters starred in the television series "Beulah", becoming the first African-American actress to have a lead role in a television series. Even after she quit the role because of its degrading portrayal, she continued to be seen regularly with guest appearances on a host of popular TV shows.
Question 5 of 25.
While "Amos ‘n’ Andy" was cancelled in 1953, reruns of the series were in syndication until what year?
1. 1968
2. 1955
3. 1966
4. 1960
1966
"Amos ‘n’ Andy" remained in syndication after it was cancelled in 1953 until pressure by the NAACP caused CBS to pull the show completely in 1966.
Question 6 of 25.
What was the title of the first T.V. sitcom to feature a Black woman?
1. "Cindy"
2. "Beulah"
3. "Julia"
4. "Melba"
"Beulah"
"The Beulah Show", a sitcom on CBS Radio from 1945 to 1954 that was moved to ABC Television from 1950 to 1952, is noted as the first sitcom to star a Black actress (on radio, Lillian Randolph and on TV, Ethel Waters for one year, then Louise Beavers).
Question 7 of 25.
Which actor was a successful actor on primetime sitcoms during the 70s?
1. Esther Rolle
2. Willie Best
3. Eddie Anderson
4. Ruby Dandridge
Esther Rolle
Actress Esther Rolle is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the sitcom "Maude" (1972–1974) and the spin-off, "Good Times" for five seasons (1974–77, 1978–79).
Question 8 of 25.
What was the first dramatic series that featured African-Americans?
1. "Palmerstown, U.S.A."
2. "Harris and Company"
3. "He’s the Mayor"
4. "Get Christie Love"
"Harris and Company"
"Harris and Company", a drama series that aired on NBC from March 15 to April 5, 1979, starring Bernie Casey as Mike Harris, a working-class African-American father of five, who relocates his family from Detroit, Michigan, to Los Angeles, California, after the death of his wife.
Question 9 of 25.
Cicely Tyson played in all of the following TV miniseries EXCEPT which one?
1. "King"
2. "The Marva Collins Story"
3. "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman"
4. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings:, based on the autobiographical story of Maya Angelou’s childhood, featured Diahann Carroll and Ruby Dee.
Question 10 of 25.
In what city was the country’s first Black owned TV station located?
1. Detroit, MI
2. Chicago, IL
3. Atlanta, GA
4. Los Angeles, CA
Detroit, MI
Located in Detroit MI, WGPR-TV, channel 62 first aired on September 29, 1975 and its programming was geared towards an African-American audience. On July 25, 1995, the station was sold to CBS which changed the name to WWJ-TV and converted the programming to that aimed at a general audience.
Question 11 of 25.
What was the Philco Playhouse 1955 production that examined racial tensions and featured a young Sidney Poitier?
1. "The Parole Chief"
2. "A Man is Ten Feet Tall"
3. "Fascinating Stranger"
4. "In Black and White"
"A Man is Ten Feet Tall"
The Philco Television Playhouse was an anthology series that ran from 1948-1955 with the final Philco production, showing on October 2, 1955, with the drama, "A Man Is Ten Feet Tall", co-starring Don Murray and Sidney Poitier. This drama was adapted and expanded into the 1957 MGM feature film, Edge of the City, also featuring Sidney Poitier.
Question 12 of 25.
In the first dramatic production to feature a dramatic Black performer, "East Side, West Side", who played the office secretary to the social worker played by George C. Scott?
1. Esther Rolle
2. Cicely Tyson
3. Diahann Carroll
4. Ruby Dee
Cicely Tyson
"East Side, West Side" was a drama series starring George C. Scott as a NY social worker and Cicely Tyson as his secretary. The series aired for only one season (1963–1964).
Question 13 of 25.
Which Black civil rights group protested against the images depicted in "Amos ‘n’ Andy"?
1. SCLC
2. 100 Black Men
3. NAACP
4. CORE
NAACP
Protests had been lodged by Black newspapers and organizations against "Amos n Andy" since its inception as a radio program, but the Civil Rights organization that persistently protested and pressured the producers from the 1950s until CBS stopped production of the show in 1953 was the NAACP. While the program remained in syndication, the NAACP continued the protests and the show was finally removed from the air.
Question 14 of 25.
What variety show in 1970 became the most successful TV show hosted by a Black entertainer?
1. Flip Wilson
2. Eddie Anderson
3. Nat King Cole
4. Richard Pryor
Flip Wilson
"The Flip Wilson Show", which aired on NBC from 1970-1974, became the first commercially successful TV show, to date, hosted by a Black entertainer.
Question 15 of 25.
Which cop show of the 60s portrayed interracial characters with anti-establishment, counter culture attitudes?
1. "The Silent Force"
2. "The Mod Squad"
3. "The Outcasts"
4. "Miami Vice"
"The Mod Squad"
"Mod Squad" was a crime drama series featuring an interracial team of “hippie” officers that ran on ABC from 1968 to 1973.
Question 16 of 25.
What was the first T.V. sitcom to feature an all-Black cast?
1. "Amos ‘n’ Andy"
2. "Beulah"
3. "The Jeffersons"
4. "Good Times"
"Amos ‘n’ Andy"
"Amos 'n' Andy" began as a radio sitcom written and voiced by two white actors which ran from 1928 to 1960; it moved to television from 1951 to 1953 (with reruns from 1954-1966) where black actors took over the featured roles.
Question 17 of 25.
Who was the Black star in the 1977 TV drama called "A Killing Affair"?
1. George Sanford Brown
2. Billy Dee Williams
3. Philip Michael Thomas
4. O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
Ex pro football player turned actor, O.J. Simpson, played a policeman in the T.V. film, "A Killing Affair", which aired in 1977.
Question 18 of 25.
"Sanford and Son" was based on a British sitcom called what?
1. "Stanford and Son"
2. "Sanford"
3. "Steptoe and Son"
4. "Stepfather and Stepson"
"Steptoe and Son"
In the 1960s, the British comedy series, "Steptoe and Son" about a middle-aged man and his elderly father who ran an unsuccessful junk business served as the precursor to the series of the 1970s featuring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson as father and son junk dealers in California.
Question 19 of 25.
Which actor did NOT play a role in the twelve-hour miniseries, "Roots"?
1. Moses Gunn
2. Maya Angelou
3. Bernie Casey
4. Leslie Uggams
Bernie Casey
Actor/director Bernie Casey was one of the few African-American celebrated actors who was NOT in "Roots".
Question 20 of 25.
What was the title of the dramatic series that portrayed the boyhood days of Alex Haley and was created by him?
1. "Room 222"
2. "Palmerstown, USA"
3. "The Outcasts"
4. "Roots"
"Palmerstown, USA"
"Palmerstown USA" was the dramatic series about Alex Haley’s boyhood during the depression. It resulted from the collaboration between Alex Haley and Norman Lear and was aired in 1980-1981.
Question 21 of 25.
Which was the first sitcom to portray a Black family and their inner city life?
1. "The Jeffersons"
2. "Good Times"
3. "All in the Family"
4. "Gimme a Break"
"Good Times"
"Good Times'' was the first sitcom portraying an urban family, that of James and Florida Evans, which aired from 1974-1979 on CBS. It was an offshoot of "Maude", which was an offshoot of "All in the Family."
Question 22 of 25.
Which of the following was NOT a sitcom of the 70s and 80s that depicted racially mixed households?
1. "Diff'rent Strokes"
2. "Webster"
3. "What’s Happening!!"
4. "Gimme A Break"
"What’s Happening!!"
"What's Happening!!" was a television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979 and featured an all-Black cast and characters, Raj, Dwayne and Rerun.
Question 23 of 25.
Who was the first African-American to have an ongoing role on a soap opera?
1. Ossie Davis
2. Cicely Tyson
3. Ruby Dee
4. Bernie Casey
Cicely Tyson
In 1966, Cicely Tyson joined The Guiding Light, and became the first black actress to win a regular role on a soap opera.
Question 24 of 25.
What is the name of the miniseries that told the story of the reunion of nine ex-star athletes and featured Roosevelt Grier, Paul Winfield, Bernie Casey, and Melvin Van Peebles, among others?
1. "Brian’s Song"
2. "Playing with Fire"
3. "The Junior Bachelor Society"
4. "Sophisticated Gents"
"Sophisticated Gents"
"Sophisticated Gents" was a three-part TV mini-series running in 1981, which portrayed a group of formerly rough teenagers who had grown into successful men. It was based on the novel, The Junior Bachelor Society.
Question 25 of 25.
Which was the first soap opera to feature an African-American actor?
1. "As the World Turns"
2. "The Edge of Night"
3. "A Brighter Day"
4. "The Young and the Restless"
"A Brighter Day"
In August 1962, "A Brighter Day", a soap opera that ran from 1945-1962, made history by creating the first daytime television to feature an African-American, actor Rex Ingram who appeared as an ordained minister named Victor Graham. His role was short-lived as the show cancelled two weeks later.
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