Revolution Televised.pdf

32. It is interesting to note that, although a black writer, Eric Monte,
scripted the original episode and the following four scripts were by freelance
black writers, the majority of the scripts thereafter were written by
white writers, which was objectionable to Amos and Rolle because they
believed these writers were disconnected from the issues at hand and therefore
responsible for enlarging J.J.’s role.
33. John Amos quoted in Rick Mitz, The Great TV Sitcom Book, 318.
34. Esther Rolle, quoted in Louie Robinson, “Bad Times on the ‘Good
Times’ Set,” 35, 35–36.
35. Jimmy Walker never attained any level of consciousness and remained
oblivious to the ways in which his character reflected old minstrel
stereotypes and how his comedy disrupted the more relevant aspects of the
series. He also did not embrace the notions of uplift evident in the words
of Rolle. As he once stated, “I play the way I see it for the humor of it.
I don’t think anybody 20 years from now is going to remember what I
said. I am not trying to have my lines etched in some archives or on a wall
someplace. . . . I don’t think that any TV show can put out an image to
save people. My advice is do not follow me. I don’t want to be a follower
or a leader . . . just a doer.” Robinson, “Bad Times on the ‘Good Times’
Set,” 37.
36. Mitz, The Great TV Sitcom Book, 319.
37. Ibid., 320.
38. Gates as interviewed in Color Adjustment, dir. Marlon Riggs.
6. That Nigger’s Crazy
Notes to Chapter 6 211
1. Richard Pryor and Todd Gold, Pryor Convictions and Other Life
Sentences, 72–73.
2. James McPherson, “The New Comic Style of Richard Pryor,” 26.
3. “Beyond Laughter,” 90.
4. In his book Pryor Convictions, Pryor refers to the moment as occurring
in 1967, however, many magazine articles from the 1970s claim
that the incident happened in 1970.
5. Pryor and Gold, Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences, 93.
6. Richard Pryor, “Super Nigger,” on Richard Pryor.
7. Pryor and Gold, Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences, 98.
8. Ibid., 99.
9. Ibid., 115–29.
10. Bill Cosby quoted in Watkins, On the Real Side, 541.
11. McPherson, “The New Comic Style of Richard Pryor,” 22.
12. From Richard Pryor, “Niggers vs. the Police,” on That Nigger’s
Crazy.
13. Richard Pryor, “Wino and Junkie,” on That Nigger’s Crazy.