TY - JOUR TI - The portrayal of African Americans in situation comedies DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3416ZW6 PY - 2015 AB - While one might ordinarily hypothesize that the portrayal of African Americans on television has positively progressed over the years, this study sets out to determine the extent to which the depiction of African Americans has changed. Stereotypical key terms are evaluated and calculated throughout several African-American television programs that were aired before and after The Cosby Show run from 1984 to 1992. This study attempts to examine this phenomenon by determining which attributes were, and are currently, portrayed, along with the frequency of those portrayals. Results of this study showed a slight increase in negative portrayals since the airing of The Cosby Show, and therefore, lead to speculation as to whether there may be a more accurate way to determine additional and more precise findings. KW - Liberal Studies KW - African Americans on television KW - Comedy programs--United States--History and criticism. KW - Television comedies LA - eng ER -