The portrayal of African Americans on television is often a controversial topic. Throughout its rather short history, television has privileged white people in its programming (Pringozy, 2007). This was clearest in the 1950s and early 1960s, and remained true during the 1970s, when television programs with predominantly African American casts became hits (Strausbaugh, 2006). The success of The Cosby Show in the 1980s helped improve race relations somewhat, or at least on television, (McNeil, 1996). However, controversy has continued, and continues today, over which programs feature negative stereotypes of African Americans and which do not (Strausbaugh, 2006). Therefore, when talking about the history of African Americans on television, it is best to start with the show that is widely considered to be the epitome of negative stereotypes about African Americans on television: The Amos and Andy Show, (McNeil, 1996). This article will examine the representation of African Americans across two shows from two generations and the impact both shows had on Black America; The Amos and Andy Show (1928) and The Cosby Show (1984). The Amos and Andy Show began life as a radio program in 1928, (Rice, 2009). Two white dialecticians, Freeman Grosden and Charles Correll, created the show (Rice, 2009). Set in Harlem, The Amos and Andy Show was the story of Amos Jones (voiced by Gosden) and Andrew H. Brown (voiced by Correll), (Rice, 2009). Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) reportedly paid Gosden and Correll one million dollars each in exchange for the rights to the show (Rice, 2009), and they had planned to turn it into a television show. However, Gosden and Correll were both white, and the cast of the TV show had to… middle of the paper… come full circle. If African-American groups and television executives aren't careful, everything old could be new again. Bibliography1. McNeil, Alex. Total Television: The Complete Guide to Programming 1948 to the Present, 4th Edition. New York, New York. 1996. Penguin Group Inc. Print.2. Pickering, Michael. Blackface Minstrely in Britain. Burlington, New York. 2008. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Print.3. Prigozy, Ruth and Raubicheck Walter. Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture. Rochester, New York, 2007. University of Rochester Press. Print.4. Rice, T.D. Jim Crow, American: Selected Songs and Plays. London, England. 2009. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Print.5. Strausbaugh, John. Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Slur, and Imitation in American Popular Culture. New York, New York, 2006. Penguin Group Inc. Print.