Scratchin’ and Survivin’
$120.00
| Title | Range | Discount |
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| Trade Discount | 5 + | 25% |
- Description
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Description
The 1970s was a golden age for representations of African American life on TV sitcoms: Sanford & Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons. Surprisingly, nearly all the decade’s notable Black sitcoms were made by a single company, Tandem Productions. Founded by two white men, the successful team behind All in the Family, writer Norman Lear and director Bud Yorkin, Tandem gave unprecedented opportunities to Black actors, writers, and producers to break into the television industry. However, these Black auteurs also struggled to get the economic privileges and creative autonomy regularly granted to their white counterparts.
Scratchin’ and Survivin’ discovers surprising parallels between the behind-the-scenes drama at Tandem and the plotlines that aired on their sitcoms, as both real and fictional African Americans devised various strategies for getting their fair share out of systems prone to exploiting their labor. The media scholar Adrien Sebro describes these tactics as a form of “hustle economics,” and he pays special attention to the ways that Black women—including actresses like LaWanda Page, Isabel Sanford, and Esther Rolle—had to hustle for recognition. Exploring Tandem’s complex legacy, including its hit racially mixed sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, he showcases the Black talent whose creative agency and labor resilience helped to transform the television industry.
Scratchin’ and Survivin’ discovers surprising parallels between the behind-the-scenes drama at Tandem and the plotlines that aired on their sitcoms, as both real and fictional African Americans devised various strategies for getting their fair share out of systems prone to exploiting their labor. The media scholar Adrien Sebro describes these tactics as a form of “hustle economics,” and he pays special attention to the ways that Black women—including actresses like LaWanda Page, Isabel Sanford, and Esther Rolle—had to hustle for recognition. Exploring Tandem’s complex legacy, including its hit racially mixed sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, he showcases the Black talent whose creative agency and labor resilience helped to transform the television industry.
Providing a critical history of Tandem Productions, the company behind nearly all the hit Black sitcoms of the 1970s, including Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and Diff’rent Strokes, Adrien Sebro explores how their sitcom plots paralleled what was happening behind the scenes, as talented African-Americans devised strategies to gain creative agency and fair financial compensation.
ADRIEN SEBRO is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in critical media studies at the intersections of comedy, gender, and Black popular culture.
"In Scratchin’ and Survivin’, Adrien Sebro pays close attention to and honors the often-invisible labor of Black culture industries workers. Using the framework of 'hustle economics,' Sebro uncovers a treasure trove of hidden and archival transcripts that give voice to Black-cast sitcom stars like Redd Foxx and Esther Rolle as more than talented actors, but Black Americans working in Hollywood trying to get, as The Jeffersons’ theme song says, their 'piece of the pie'.”
Introduction: The Hustle
1 Approaching Tandem Productions
2 Sanford and Son 3 Good Times 4 The Jeffersons Conclusion: A Piece of the Pie
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
"Adrien Sebro's fascinating and instructive look at these series will force industry stakeholders to see and pursue them anew."1 Approaching Tandem Productions
2 Sanford and Son 3 Good Times 4 The Jeffersons Conclusion: A Piece of the Pie
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
"In Scratchin’ and Survivin’, Adrien Sebro pays close attention to and honors the often-invisible labor of Black culture industries workers. Using the framework of 'hustle economics,' Sebro uncovers a treasure trove of hidden and archival transcripts that give voice to Black-cast sitcom stars like Redd Foxx and Esther Rolle as more than talented actors, but Black Americans working in Hollywood trying to get, as The Jeffersons’ theme song says, their 'piece of the pie'.”
Additional information
| Dimensions | 1 × 6 × 9 in |
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