Revolution Televised.pdf

This Ain’t No Junk 109
a year, up to $5,000 for reruns, and 25 percent of the producer’s net
profits. Yorkin and Reuben were gone from the set. 33
Although these conditions might seem like the workings of a star’s
ego, what they symbolized were Foxx’s demands for the network’s
respect for black performers. In a year when NBC made a profit of
over sixty-six million dollars and signed Bob Hope to a three-year
eighteen-million-dollar contract, Foxx believed that NBC needed
to recognize his significant role in the network’s success. 34 Foxx’s
lengthy career made him very aware of the inequitable workings of a
white-controlled industry, and he would not tolerate this on his own
show. Clashes continued with the executives at NBC, with many
arguments about royalties and working conditions, and Foxx also
wanted the network to show some respect for the black performers
who made its executives such profits. Foxx complained bitterly that
the network refused to give him development deals and movie roles
offered to other successful NBC performers, thus limiting the prospects
for black performers. He noted that NBC never sent tokens
of appreciation for the ratings or stopped by the set to congratulate
the performers, a common practice with many other NBC shows.
Indeed, Foxx reported that the network sent two bottles of whiskey
as a wedding gift when they knew he was on the wagon. 35 Most
important, when the black-oriented shows were winning Emmys for
NBC, African Americans were rarely given opportunities in writing,
directing, or producing roles. Therefore, although the show was still
doing very well, Foxx left the network for ABC in 1977.
Sanford and Son allowed voices and opinions usually contained
within the all-black settings to be expressed to a mainstream audience,
albeit within the constraints of network television. Black
people across the country who had not achieved the American
promise of integration were able to identify with familiar aspects
of their lives reflected in the show. Similarly, mainstream white audiences
were confronted with the sentiments of a politicized black
comedian and were presented a window into some aspects of traditional
black humor. Foxx was also very aware of the entertainment
industry’s ability to use and dispose of the talents of African
American entertainers. He would not allow either his show or himself
to go that route.