The Fosters

GB

Comedy
English     5.3     1976     GB

Overview

The first sitcom written both for and starring black actors, The Fosters showcased the early work of Lenny Henry (riding high on a recent win in talent series New Faces) as the budding artist son of easy going family man Samuel Foster (Norman Beaton, who would go on to gain fame in ‘90s comedy Desmond’s). The series follows the day-to-day trials of Samuel and his lively wife Pearl (both immigrants from Guyana) and their three children on a South London housing estate. It was created and developed by Jon Watkins, who adapted the American sitcom, Good Times, developed by Norman Lear, and created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans. It was the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast. It was the predecessor to many future British television programmes that featured a predominantly black cast:.

Similar

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

More info
The Andy Griffith Show
1960