Black Cultural TV

BCTV # 78 MR.MEAN staring FRED WILLIAMSON Mr. Mean is hired by a former Cosa Nostra henchman to kill a mafia leader named Ranati who is embarrassing the mafia by stealing from the impoverished through fake charitable organizations. He then becomes a target himself.

BCTV #7 7 JACKSON 5IVE CARTOON PT3 Due to high demands on the group, the roles of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael were played by voice actors, with records of the group's songs being used for the musical tracks of the show.[2] The group did make some contribution to the cartoon in the form of live photographs of each member morphing into a cartoon which was shown in the title screen medley. Although the musical scenes of the cartoon were chiefly animation, an occasional live-action footage of a concert or music video of The Jackson 5 would be spliced into the cartoon series. The actual Jackson 5 also contributed to the show by posing for pictures prior to the cartoon's debut which were used as posters, newspaper clips and TV Guide spots advertising the forthcoming TV series. Though Berry Gordy did not provide the original voice (his character was voiced by Paul Frees) nor advertised his name, his character was frequently involved as the "adult figure" to the group. R&B/Pop singer Diana Ross contributed to voice her fictionalized self in the debut episode. The premise of the show is that the Jackson Five would have adventures similar to Josie and the Pussycats, Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Partridge Family, with the unique addition being that Berry Gordy, the manager of the band in the show's universe, would come up with an idea for publicity for the band, such as having to do farm work or play a concert for the President of the United States. The series was followed by The Jacksons, a live action variety show, in 1976.

BCTV #76JACKSON 5IVE CARTOON PT2 Due to high demands on the group, the roles of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael were played by voice actors, with records of the group's songs being used for the musical tracks of the show.[2] The group did make some contribution to the cartoon in the form of live photographs of each member morphing into a cartoon which was shown in the title screen medley. Although the musical scenes of the cartoon were chiefly animation, an occasional live-action footage of a concert or music video of The Jackson 5 would be spliced into the cartoon series. The actual Jackson 5 also contributed to the show by posing for pictures prior to the cartoon's debut which were used as posters, newspaper clips and TV Guide spots advertising the forthcoming TV series. Though Berry Gordy did not provide the original voice (his character was voiced by Paul Frees) nor advertised his name, his character was frequently involved as the "adult figure" to the group. R&B/Pop singer Diana Ross contributed to voice her fictionalized self in the debut episode. The premise of the show is that the Jackson Five would have adventures similar to Josie and the Pussycats, Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Partridge Family, with the unique addition being that Berry Gordy, the manager of the band in the show's universe, would come up with an idea for publicity for the band, such as having to do farm work or play a concert for the President of the United States. The series was followed by The Jacksons, a live action variety show, in 1976.

BCTV #75 JACKSON 5IVE CARTOON PT1 Due to high demands on the group, the roles of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael were played by voice actors, with records of the group's songs being used for the musical tracks of the show.[2] The group did make some contribution to the cartoon in the form of live photographs of each member morphing into a cartoon which was shown in the title screen medley. Although the musical scenes of the cartoon were chiefly animation, an occasional live-action footage of a concert or music video of The Jackson 5 would be spliced into the cartoon series. The actual Jackson 5 also contributed to the show by posing for pictures prior to the cartoon's debut which were used as posters, newspaper clips and TV Guide spots advertising the forthcoming TV series. Though Berry Gordy did not provide the original voice (his character was voiced by Paul Frees) nor advertised his name, his character was frequently involved as the "adult figure" to the group. R&B/Pop singer Diana Ross contributed to voice her fictionalized self in the debut episode. The premise of the show is that the Jackson Five would have adventures similar to Josie and the Pussycats, Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Partridge Family, with the unique addition being that Berry Gordy, the manager of the band in the show's universe, would come up with an idea for publicity for the band, such as having to do farm work or play a concert for the President of the United States. The series was followed by The Jacksons, a live action variety show, in 1976.

BCTV #74 3 TOUGH GUYS Roman Catholic priest Father Charlie and former police officer Lee solve a bank robbery mystery that stretches across the city. After Lee is removed from the force due to $1,000,000 being stolen from the bank, Father Charlie helps him to gain revenge for the loss of one of his friends.

BCTV #73 THE BLACK GODFATHER The movie begins with an overview of a city skyline. J.J. (Rod Perry) and his friend are seen walking down a street; they stop and one of the men points to a house. They proceed to walk up the stairs that lead to the front door. As Tommy opens the door he pulls out a gun that jams on him. The person inside the house shoots him and proceeds outside to shoot the other man. Tommy dies in the arms of J.J. in an alley; so the other man walks away and is met by Nate Williams (Jimmy Witherspoon) who helps him by taking him to safety. Williams takes out the bullet in J.J.'s arms and tends to the wound. The next morning J.J. and Williams talk. J.J. is curious as to why Williams decided to save and take care of him after he was shot. Williams was impressed by J.J.'s courage in trying to break into a known gangster's house. J.J.'s motive was only to survive and "get some bread". Williams offers J.J. some advice in surviving on the streets and gives him some money. This is the beginning of J.J.'s rise to power in the street. After the opening credits are shown, J.J. has grown in power and position on the street. He longs for more as he sells drugs and tries to gain better status on the streets. He believes that money buys dignity and that it does not matter where it comes from. J.J. wants to get rid of another drug dealer named Tony Burton(Don Chastain). J.J. has a problem with Tony, a white gangster, trafficking heroin into a predominantly black community. The drugs have been negatively affecting the kids and adults because many of them become addicted. He talks to a man called Diablo (Damu King) about taking care of securing the neighborhood from Tony's men and any other drug dealer pushing in the territory. Lieutenant Joe is a crooked cop that takes bribes from drug dealers for his own gain. He enters J.J.'s headquarters at the club and goes up to talk to him in his office. J.J. explains to him that he is willing to go to war with Tony and any other drug dealer that exploits the black community. He tells Joe to relay the information back to Tony, knowing that Joe takes bribes from any and all drug dealers so long as he gains money. Lieutenant Joe leaves the bar and in the next scene is walking poolside at Tony's home. He tells Tony that J.J. wants Tony to stay out of the territory and is prepared to fight if Tony does not comply. Tony explains that he does not make the territory, but just runs it and is not backing down. Williams and J.J. meet together at the club and talk together in the office. Williams has brought his daughter, Yvonne, along. Williams warns J.J. about trying to push Tony out of the territory. He orders J.J. not to take action. J.J. disagrees, explains his position and is set on pushing Tony out of the community because of the drugs he brings in and the negative effects on the community. Yvonne comes into the office while the two become heated in argument so J.J. and Nate stop talking.

BCTV #72 GONE ARE THE DAYS An idealistic young man returns to the plantation where he grew up in servitude. He brings his fiancée Lutiebelle, but hopes to convince the plantation owner that she is really his cousin to secure the family inheritance. Aiding the comic complications are his family members Missy and Gitlow and the plantation owner's endearing but ineffectual son Charlie.

BCTV #71 MEAN JOHNNY BARROW staring FRED WILLIAMSON Johnny Barrows (played by Fred "The Hammer" Williamson) a winner of the Silver Star is dishonorably discharged from the army for punching out his Captain. Shipped back home Stateside, Johnny promptly gets mugged and hauled in by some racist cops who believe him to be drunk. Unable to secure gainful employment, Johnny finds himself on the soup line (with a cameo from "Special Guest Star" Elliott Gould) and down on his luck. Walking into an Italian restaurant hoping for a handout, he's offered a job as a killer by Mafiosi Mario Racconi (Stuart Whitman) and his girlfriend Nancy (Jenny Sherman) but Johnny turns him down. It seems that he's not slipped so far as to start doing odd jobs for the Mob. Eventually, Johnny lands a job at a gas station cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors for the mean penny-pinching Richard (R.G. Armstrong), who receives a beating for ripping off Barrows. Meanwhile, a Mafia war starts brewing between the Racconi family and the Da Vincis (the family, not the painter). Seems the Da Vinci family wants to bring in all kinds of dope and start peddling it to black and Hispanic kids. The Racconis, being an upstanding Mob family, wants no part of that on their streets. And so it goes, with the Racconi family wiped out in a treacherous double-cross, with only Mario left standing. Nancy is kidnapped by the Da Vinci family and gets a message to Johnny claiming that she was made to do "terrible things". Brought to the brink by poverty, The Man constantly screwing him and his love for Nancy, Johnny agrees to become a hired killer for Mario to avenge the Racconis. And so the body count starts going up as Johnny in all his white-suited glory gets mean and starts killing his way through the Da Vinci family.

BCTV # 70 BLACK JOY In London in the late 1970s, Guyanese immigrant Ben Jones arrives at Heathrow Airport with a suitcase and a wallet full of money. Immigration officials refuse to believe his naïve explanation that the cash was given by his grandmother, and strip-search him. Humiliated and confused, Ben travels to Brixton in search of an obscure address. A ten-year-old boy, Devon, spots him and offers to help find the address if Ben pays him. When Ben foolishly reveals his fat wallet, Devon runs off with it, and Ben is forced to sleep at the local hostel. Dave King, a charismatic petty crook and lover of Devon's mother Miriam, pretends to be a responsible adult and intercepts Ben's wallet, but he keeps the money knowing that Devon has stolen it. That evening, Dave tries to seduce Miriam but she resists him, explaining that she has recently become pregnant. An argument ensues and Miriam forces Dave to leave. Ben almost loses his suitcase at the hostel, but defends himself against the thief. In an attempt to find his missing wallet he follows Devon around Brixton, but is sidetracked by Devon's beautiful aunt Saffra. At Miriam's café, Ben confronts Devon about the stolen wallet but Dave intercedes and calms the situation, hiding Devon's guilt and befriending Ben by loaning him some money. Unaware that Dave's cash comes from his own stolen wallet, Ben accompanies Dave to a betting shop and defends him in a brawl. They place a bet on a horse that wins and Ben puts his winnings towards new accommodation. He finds a job as a dustman but loses it all again when he gives his earnings to a fraudulent landlord. Desperate for somewhere to stay, Ben appeals to Dave to share a flat. Once he realises that Ben now has a steady income Dave agrees to the flat-share and imposes a set of slanted rules that Ben is too naïve to reject. Ben uses his new income to decorate the flat and tries to impress Saffra. He gives her a family heirloom – a ring – but Saffra returns it because it is financially worthless. Dave realises that Ben is still a virgin and arranges a trip to Soho where they visit sex shops, strip clubs and a prostitute. At a nightclub Ben meets Sally, a white woman who seduces him, and that night he loses his virginity.

BCTV #69 DEATH JOURNEY featuring FRED WILLIAMSON Jesse Crowder is hired to transport a witness from Los Angeles to New York but instead befriends him and helps him evade his foes.

BCTV #68 SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM When a hated rival, Lisa Fortier (Pam Grier), is chosen to lead the voodoo cult of Willis Daniels' (Richard Lawson) late mother, a vengeful Willis brings the doomed vampire Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) back to life. Willis soon finds the vampire too powerful to control, and Lisa agrees to perform a spell that will break the curse placed on the prince. But, when racist sheriff Dunlop (Michael Conrad) gets involved, the vampire unleashes his deadly revenge.

BCTV #67 CLAUDINE Claudine (Diahann Carroll) is a single mother in New York City who endures an exhausting commute to the suburbs where she works as a maid for wealthy families. In one carefully tended white community, she meets Roop (James Earl Jones), a charismatic but irresponsible garbage collector. Romance quickly ensues, but Claudine doubts that their relationship is good for her six children, and Rupert, despite his good nature, is reluctant to take on fatherhood.

BCTV #66 GET CHRISTIE LOVE CRIME DRAMA A fearless undercover operative for the Los Angeles Police Department takes on the city’s most dangerous criminals with style and class.

BCTV #65 BILLY PORTRAIT OF A STREET KID Billy Peoples (LeVar Burton), a young kid from the ghetto despairs of ever getting out of that environment and making something of himself until one day he gets a job as an assistant in a veterinarian's office & working with all the animals begins to affect his outlook on life.

BCTV #65 The Distinguished Gentleman featuring Eddie Murphy Florida con man Thomas Jefferson Johnson crosses paths with Congressman Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Johnson at a party and becomes intrigued after overhearing just how wealthy members of Congress can become through corruption. After Congressman Johnson dies of a heart attack while having sex with his secretary, con man Johnson decides to run for Congress in the election to replace him to take advantage of money from lobbyists. Omitting his first name, and abbreviating his middle name, he calls himself "Jeff" Johnson. He then manages to get on the ballot by pitching a seniors organization, the Silver Foxes, to endorse him. Once on the election ballot, he uses the dead Congressman's old campaign material and runs a low budget campaign that appeals to name recognition, figuring most people do not pay much attention and simply vote for the "name you know." He wins a slim victory and is off to Washington, a place where the "streets are lined with gold." Initially, the lucrative donations and campaign contributions roll in, but as he learns the nature of the con game in Washington D.C., he starts to see how the greed and corruption makes it difficult to address issues such as campaign finance reform, environmental protection, and the possibility that electromagnetic fields from overhead power lines may be giving kids in a small town cancer, which the electric power company is concealing. In trying to address these issues, Congressman Johnson finds himself double-crossed by the powerful chairman of the Committee on Power and Industry, Rep. Dick Dodge. Johnson decides to fight back the only way he knows how: with a con. Johnson succeeds and exposes Dodge as corrupt. As the film ends, it appears likely that Johnson will be thrown out of Congress on account of his previously unknown criminal record, but he defiantly declares, "I'm gonna run for President!" then breaking the fourth wall.

BCTV #64 JIVE TURKEY aka BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES A numbers king pin tries to stay in business as the mafia and police close in around him

BCTV Ep # 63 SOUNDER In 1933, the Morgans are an African-American family living as sharecroppers in rural Louisiana, raising sugar cane for their white landlord. David Lee, the oldest son, is a bright boy who loves to hunt with his father, Nathan Lee, and their dog Sounder, but is only able to attend school sporadically in between helping his mother Rebecca on the farm. Nathan and David lose the raccoon they are hunting one evening, leaving the family without meat to eat, but the children awaken the next morning to the smell of ham cooking and happily eat it. When they return home after a community baseball game, which Nathan helps his team win, they find the sheriff and his deputies waiting to arrest Nathan for stealing the ham from a nearby smokehouse. As they take him away, Sounder runs after their wagon and one of the deputies shoots him, though Nathan partially deflects the shot by kicking the gun. The injured Sounder runs away, and David cannot find him. He looks for him for days, but is unable to continue the search because with their father gone, he and his little brother and sister must help Rebecca farm and harvest the crops. Rebecca shares her faith with David that Sounder is alive and will return home eventually. Nathan was sentenced to one year hard labor. The family is restricted from visiting Nathan at the local jail while he awaits shipment to the work camp. Only David is allowed to visit, and he brings a chocolate cake that Rebecca baked for Nathan, and they enjoy a piece together despite their worries over not knowing where Nathan will be taken. Mrs. Boatwright, a sympathetic local woman who employs Rebecca to do her laundry and often gives the children books to read, promises David she will find out the location of the work camp Nathan has been taken to. When the sheriff refuses to tell her, she goes through his filing cabinet to find the information. Despite the sheriff's threats, she tells the Morgan family that Nathan has been taken to the distant Wishbone prison camp and helps Rebecca plot the route there on the map. Sounder returns home, though he does not bark like he used to, and accompanies David on a long journey on foot to find the camp and try to visit his father. David makes it to the Wishbone camp, but is unable to find Nathan and is ignored by the guards when he inquires after him. When he tries to ask the prisoners, a guard strikes his hand with an iron rod and chases him off the camp. On his journey home, he comes across a school with all black students, where the kind, outspoken teacher, Miss Camille, bandages his injured hand and has him stay at her house and attend class at the school for several days before he starts for home again. One night, she shares books from her collection about important African-American historical figures with him and reads to him from the work of W.E.B. DuBois.

BCTV #61 ANNA LACASTA Anna Lucasta (Eartha Kitt) has been walking the streets in San Diego since being thrown out of home, at 19, by her alcoholic father, Joe (Rex Ingram). She's estranged from her family, but when her father and brother-in-law (Frederick O'Neal) see greedy potential in an arranged marriage to affluent Rudolph (Henry Scott), Anna is called back home. Old wounds have hardly healed, though. Just as Anna starts to feel for Rudolph, Danny (Sammy Davis Jr.), an old friend, returns to make life difficult.

BCTV #62 THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY The film begins with Robinson as a boy. He is given a worn-out baseball glove by a stranger impressed by his fielding skills. As a young man, he becomes a multi-sport star at UCLA, but as he nears graduation, he worries about his future. His older brother Mack was also an outstanding college athlete and graduate, but the only job he could get was that of a lowly street cleaner. When America enters World War II, Robinson is drafted, serving as an athletic director. Afterward, he plays baseball with a professional African-American team. However, the constant travel keeps him away from his college sweetheart. Then one day, Brooklyn Dodgers scout Clyde Sukeforth invites him to meet Branch Rickey, president of the Major League Baseball team. At first, Robinson considers the offer to be a practical joke, as African Americans are not allowed to play in the segregated major leagues. When he is convinced that the opportunity is genuine, he and Rickey size each other up. After thinking over Rickey's warning about the hatred and abuse he would have to endure without being able to strike back, Robinson signs with the Dodgers' International League farm team, the Montreal Royals. Though he wants to delay marrying Rae to shield her, she insists on an immediate wedding so she can support her man in the trying times ahead. Robinson leads the league in hitting in his first year, and despite the grave concerns expressed by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rickey goes ahead and promotes him to the Dodgers. Reviled at first by many of the fans and some of his own teammates, Robinson gets off to a shaky start, playing out of position at first base and going through a hitting slump, but then gradually wins people over with his talent and determination. The team goes on to win the pennant, with Robinson driving in the tying run and scoring the winning run in the deciding game.

BCTV #60 KILLER DILLER Dusty Fletcher plays a comic, tap dancer and bad magician. While practicing his routine for that evening's variety show, he accidentally vanishes Lola, the girlfriend of the show's manager, Baltimore Dumdone. She was wearing a thousand-dollar string of pearls and it seems most likely that criminality is afoot. Dusty's slapstick antics take up a large portion of the film's first act, with some Keystone Cops-type schtick thrown in when four police officers begin chasing Dusty in and out of his disappearance cabinet.

BCTV #59 MURDER ON LENOX AVENUE 1941 Harlem, New York City, someone gets framed for a murder while Pa Wilkins tries to replace the apartment building's former manager

BCTV # 58 PT2 A WOMAN CALLED MOSES Two years after the American Civil War, Harriet Tubman recalls her life in slavery in the pre-war Southern United States, her escape from bondage, and her subsequent efforts to free other enslaved people.

BCTVa # 57 Pt1 A WOMAN CALLED MOSES Two years after the American Civil War, Harriet Tubman recalls her life in slavery in the pre-war Southern United States, her escape from bondage, and her subsequent efforts to free other enslaved people.

BCTVV #56 BUCK AND THRE PREACHER Set in the late 1860s in the Kansas Territory shortly after the American Civil War, a former soldier named Buck leads wagon trains of African Americans from Louisiana west to the unsettled territories of Kansas. In order to ensure safe passage and food for his company, Buck negotiates with the Native Americans in the area. He pays them, and in turn they allow him to kill limited numbers of buffalo to eat, and to pass through their land providing they do it quickly. A group of violent white men (led by Deshay) are hired by plantation owners in Louisiana to raid the African American wagon trains and settlements to either scare them back to Louisiana or kill them. The raiders attempt to kill Buck by setting a trap at his home. However, warned by his wife, Ruth, he escapes. While in flight he chances across Reverend Willis Oaks Rutherford, a shady individual masquerading as a preacher, and forces the preacher to switch horses with him. Although Preacher initially had a desire to get even with Buck, he changes his mind and decides to work with Buck after seeing the carnage the white raiders inflict on the African American travelers. Buck, Ruth and Preacher do whatever it takes to get the wagon train west, including ambushing some of the raiders in a brothel, robbing a bank, and when necessary taking on the entire band of raiders going up against them.

BCTV #58 TO SIR, WITH LOVE Mark Thackeray, an immigrant to Britain from British Guiana, has been unable to obtain an engineering position despite an 18-month job search. He accepts a teaching post for Class 12 at North Quay Secondary School in the East End of London, as an interim position, despite having no teaching experience. The pupils there have been rejected from other schools, and Thackeray is a replacement for a teacher who recently died. The pupils, led by Bert Denham and Pamela Dare, behave badly: their antics range from vandalism to distasteful pranks. Thackeray retains a calm demeanour but loses his temper after discovering something being burned in the classroom stove, which turns out to be a girl's sanitary towel. He orders the boys out of the classroom, then reprimands all the girls, either for being responsible or passively observing, for what he says is their "slutty behaviour". Thackeray is angry with himself for allowing his pupils to incense him. Changing his approach, he informs the class that they will no longer study from textbooks. Until the end of term, he will treat them as adults and expects them to behave as such. He declares that they will address him as "Sir" or "Mr. Thackeray"; the girls will be addressed as "Miss" and boys by their surnames. They are also allowed to discuss any issue they wish. He gradually wins over the class, except for Denham who continually baits him. Thackeray arranges a class trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum in South Kensington which goes well. He later loses some support after defusing a potentially violent situation between his student Potter and the gym teacher, Mr. Bell. He demands that Potter apologise to Bell, even if he believes the latter was wrong. The group later refuses to invite Thackeray to the class dance. When mixed-race student Seales' white English mother dies, the class takes a collection for a wreath but refuses to accept Thackeray's donation. The students decline to deliver the wreath in person to Seales' house, fearing neighbourhood gossip for visiting a "coloured" person's house. The headmaster tells Thackeray that the "adult approach" has failed, and future outings are cancelled. Thackeray is to teach the boys' gym classes until the headmaster can find a new permanent gym teacher. Meanwhile, Thackeray receives an engineering job offer in the post. Pamela's mother asks for Thackeray to talk to her daughter about her behaviour at home. However, this annoys Pamela, whom Thackeray believes is infatuated with him. During a gym class, Denham challenges Thackeray to a boxing match. Thackeray initially declines but then reluctantly agrees. Denham delivers harmless blows to Thackeray's face, but the bout comes to an abrupt end after Thackeray’s lone punch is to Denham's solar plexus, which doubles Denham over in pain. Thackery attends to Denham and then exits the gym unhurt, to the amazement of the class. Thackeray compliments Denham's ability and suggests he teach boxing to the younger pupils next year. Denham, impressed, expresses his admiration for Thackeray to his classmates. Thackeray regains their respect and is invited to the class dance. Later, while attending the funeral of Seales' mother, Thackeray is touched to find that his lectures on personal choice and responsibility have had an effect, and the entire class has attended. At the dance, Pamela persuades Thackeray to be her partner for the "Ladies Choice" dance. Afterward, the class presents to Thackeray "a little present to remember us by." Too moved to speak, Thackeray retires to his classroom. A rowdy couple enters the classroom. They mock Thackeray's gift, a silver tankard and card inscribed "To Sir, with Love" signed by the departing class, and goad Thackeray that they will be in his class next year. After they leave, Thackeray stands and rips up the engineering job offer, reconciled to the work he has ahead of him. He then takes a flower from the vase on his desk, places it in his lapel, and leaves.