Revolution Televised.pdf

That Nigger’s Crazy 155
series. Pryor was understandably skeptical; he had dealt with NBC
censors during the taping of Saturday Night Live, and since his
personal and political transformation in the early 1970s he had no
desire to curb his comedy. However, Pryor saw the use of television,
with its potential as a social and political tool, as a way to confront
mainstream society and create change. With his realization that TV
is primarily a commercial venture, Pryor believed that he could use
the medium to sell a different agenda. He agreed to host one show,
and on May 5, 1977, NBC aired The Richard Pryor Special?
The special included guest stars LaWanda Page from Sanford
and Son, Saturday Night Live’s John Belushi, African American
poet and author Maya Angelou, and a musical performance by the
Pips. As his later series revealed, Pryor used both his comedic and
dramatic skills when putting together the special. In one skit he
plays the “Devine” James L. White, a television evangelist whose
phone lines remain quiet until he makes the announcement that he
is collecting donations for a “Back to Africa” campaign. In another
scene he plays a drunk, Willie; similar to Pryor’s Wino, Willie elicits
laughter. However, the scene takes on a dramatic turn when he returns
home to his wife, played by Maya Angelou. The special was
a critical success, and this only further encouraged NBC in its pursuit
of a Richard Pryor weekly show. Pryor finally broke down and
agreed to a ten-episode contract.
During the summer of 1977, Pryor met with his team of comedy
writers to conceive of skits for the first show. From the beginning,
he expressed hesitancy and grave ambivalence about the project.
He explained to Newsweek magazine:
I don’t feel this in my heart. It just stops here (pointing to his
head). . . . Two years ago there was great shit on TV. Now people
walk around without being outraged, numb from the shock. You
know something? I don’t want to be on TV. I’m in a trap. I can’t do
this—there ain’t no art. 20
Pryor believed the network’s financial offer was so good that he accepted
without thinking through all of the potential problems. As
he explained to Newsweek, he feared that to continue with a weekly
show, he would betray the audience and himself, which would send
him into a personal spiral of drugs and alcohol. 21 At the encouragement
of friends who believed that he should concentrate on his film
career, Pryor attempted to break his contract with NBC, but the