Come this fall there will be fewer of us on televison. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. I knew this was coming when I heard Khandi Alexander and Gary Dourdan where out of their respective CSI’s (with Dourdan’s departure both gruesome and definitive). But what does surprise me is that it looks like the NAACP feels the need to study such an obvious problem and issue another report (which will be coming soon). Perhaps they should have stopped those ridiculous awards (that recognize brown faces whether the project is good or bad) and they would have realized this situation has been painfully apparent forever. Read the full story

Is Oprah in trouble or still a force to be reckoned with? It depends upon who you ask. Last month afterThe New York Times reported a ratings decline and circulation dip in her eponymous magazine (plus her decision to not renew Oprah’s Big Give), there was speculation everywhere that her infamous influence was over. Why? Fingers pointed to her audacious backing of Barack Obama for the Presidency. Apparently, since her core audience is white woman they were clearly displeased and tuned out. That’s just a too convenient answer to be believed if you ask me. But then again, Hillary used that argument about Barack too. Read the full story

Girlfriends became collateral damage when the writer’s strike came to an end. The CW announced that it would only concentrate its resources on shows slated to return for another season. We secretly knew Girlfriends had already run out of steam a couple of years ago. But it still could have gone out on a high note at the end of last season with Joan’s long-awaited marriage proposal. Creator Mara Brock Akil and most of the cast chose to soldier on anyway perhaps because of the absence of successful or middle-class black women in series television. I am talking about sisters who play roles beyond the occasional doctor, cop, maid or the ever-popular goldigger. Read the full story