Revolution Televised.pdf

This Ain’t No Junk 103
ment. The language of the scripts began to reflect a contemporary
understanding of urban black America. There were everyday references
to the concerns of living in inner-city communities, such as
problems with the police, lack of job opportunities, and racism.
One of the prominent writers who contributed to the scriptwriting
process was Richard Pryor. 26 And it is significant to note how the
shows for which he is credited differ sharply from the tone of the
majority of the scripts.
Pryor’s politics and sense of characterization are reflected in the
portrayals of Fred and Lamont; the two share a camaraderie, and
the scripts for which Pryor is credited demonstrate sharp, witty
dialogue between the characters. Pryor’s political agenda is also
clear, as the episodes begin to challenge issues such as police harassment
and the court system. In “Sanford and Son and Sister Make
Three” (1973) Fred’s old dance partner and girlfriend Juanita and
her daughter Alice visit. Fred invites them to stay awhile, but they
remember that their car is in need of repair. The following dialogue
ensues:
alice: Mother, I think we’d better get that light fixed, you know,
because we’re gonna get stopped tonight if we don’t get that
light fixed.
juanita: Oh, yes, one of our headlights is out.
sanford: Well, you better get it fixed, because they death on a
nigger with one light. Yeah, if you got one light, you better be
on a motorcycle. I’m not kidding—you go down to traffic court
and you sit around and you see so many brothers and sisters
you think you were at a NAACP rally.
Despite its humorous tone, this example works as incisively as
formal political commentary. The frustration over police harassment
and other forms of discrimination was graphically depicted in
the 1960s and early ’70s through the televisual representations of
rebellions in many urban centers across the United States.
This critical mode of humor was evident in the comedy performed
in African American nightclubs at the time. These were perhaps
some of the few venues for the expressions of this frustration.
In Sanford and Son, the traditional black humor of both Pryor and
Foxx moves aboveground to the very public site of television. For
example, Pryor and Foxx’s use of the word nigger in this scene is
evidence of a shift from the typically derogatory use of the term
on television and in other media sources; here, the word is used as