Not too long ago the bulk of Black TV shows could essentially be found on a handful of networks. In the 1990s and early 2000s, those networks were pretty much FOX, The WB, and UPN. In Living Color, The Jamie Foxx Show, Moesha, and Girlfriends are among the beloved classics from those networks who largely built their brands on offering Black content to one of television’s most underserved demographic before later abandoning them. Legacy networks like NBC and ABC even scored a few big hits like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and My Wife and Kids. Today, Black TV is exploding everywhere. HBO, Starz, OWN, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV+ — from traditional networks to streamers, Black shows are thriving in silos and expanding the idea of what Black TV can be.

Entering the ’20s, there aren’t only new Black television shows cropping up but contemporary classics coming to an end, too, particularly on prestige TV networks like HBO and Starz. Take Insecure, Issa Rae’s HBO show that wrapped up its final season last night, for instance. What started with Rae shooting her shot back in 2011 via YouTube with her web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, has evolved into a cultural phenomenon, with Insecure blending comedy and drama to tell a relatable story of a college-educated Black woman trying to find her way personally and professionally. Since its debut in 2016, Insecure hasn’t only led to the creation of similar shows (BET’s Twenties, Starz’s Run the World, and Amazon Prime Video’s Harlem) but Rae being able to expand her HBO catalog with more of her own shows (Rap Sh*t) and those that she’s executive producing (A Black Woman’s Sketch Show).

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