Black Pack Television: In Living Color
This program is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series The Black Pack: Rewriting American Comedy. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Premiering in 1990, In Living Color exploded onto the Fox Television Network, reinvigorating the sketch comedy genre by showcasing a multiracial ensemble unafraid of controversy. Created by trailblazing multi-hyphenate Keenen Ivory Wayans, the innovative series turned primetime into a cultural battlefield, uproariously harnessing satire and spectacle to explore issues of race, class and celebrity. In his book, The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance, author Artel Great situates In Living Color within the broader lineage of Black sketch comedy, illuminating how the innovative series served as an industrial weapon, seizing time, space and cultural power, often forcing America to laugh at what it preferred to ignore. In the process, the hit series won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series in 1990.
Helping to launch a breakout cast of highly gifted comedians that included David Alan Grier, Daymon Wayans, Kim Wayans, Tommy Davison, Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey, In Living Color introduced a lasting lexicon of original characters and catchphrases to pop culture, from Homey D. Clown (“Homey, don’t play that”) to Men on Film (“two snaps up”) that continue to resonate long after the series' final broadcast on Fox in 1994.
Join us for a quartet of hilariously provocative episodes of In Living Color curated and introduced by author Artel Great.
In Living Color: “The Wrath of Farrakhan” (4/21/1990)
Sketches include: “Do-It-Yourself Milli Vanilli Kit,” “Arsenio and Marion Barry Rap Choir,” “Sugar Ray Leonard Transition,” “The Wrath of Farrakhan” and “Ridin' Miss Daisy.”
Fox. Production Ivory Way Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. Executive Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans. Director: Paul Miller. Writers (partial list): Franklyn Ajaye, Jeanette Collins, Barry Douglas. With: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson, Jim Carrey.
In Living Color: “Funky Finger Productions" (11/4/1990)
Sketches include (partial list): “B.S. Brothers,” “Hollywood Homeboys” and “Iraqi Fashion Show.”
Fox. Production Ivory Way Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. Executive Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans. Director: Paul Miller. Writers (partial list): Fax Bahr, Kim Bass, Les Firestein. With: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson, Jim Carrey.
In Living Color: “Homey the Sellout: Part 2" (9/22/1991)
Sketches include (partial list): “Sleazo's Pee Wee Herman Mugshot Doll and Pornhouse Playset” and “Misery II: with Rick James.” Episode marks future superstar Jennifer Lopez’s first appearance on the series as a member of the “Fly Girl” dance troupe, headed by choreographer Rosie Perez.
Fox. Production Ivory Way Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. Executive Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans. Director: Paul Miller. Writers (partial list): Fax Bahr, Kim Bass, Les Firestein. With: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson, Jim Carrey.
In Living Color: “Homeboy Shopping Network” (Live Super Bowl Show) (1/26/1992)
Sketches include (partial list): “Homeboyz Shopping Network,” “Fire Marshall Bill at the Sports Bar” and “Men on Football.”
Fox. Production Ivory Way Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. Executive Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans. Director: Terri McCoy. Writers (partial list): Fax Bahr, Jolin Bowman, Fred Graver. With (partial list):: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson, Jim Carrey.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a division of UCLA Library, and presents its public programs in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer, among other venues. For more information about the Archive, visit cinema.ucla.edu.
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