President Obama Delivering his Annual Back-to-School Speech

President Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus

Eureka: Dr. Allison Blake

In the tradition of Ankh’s posts about POC characters in media, I’m offering up my own pick for a phenomenon that we see far too rarely on TV nowadays: the elusive black female. And here I have something even rarer to share with you: the black female lead.

Sci-fi Channel (or should I say Syfy Channel…ugh) TV show Eureka debuted in the summer of 2006 and I have to say, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Salli Richardson-Whitfield appear on my screen and promptly steal the scene from the show’s protagonist Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter).  I just wasn’t expecting to see a black female lead and proudly admit that her presence—along with the fact that the show is just fifty kinds of awesome—cemented my devout loyalty over the past four seasons.

According to Salli, her character was not originally written for a black woman. She has recounted the fact that she was the only WoC in a room full of white women when she auditioned, but she was cast because the creators felt that she had the best chemistry with Ferguson.  Add that to the fact that Allison is smart as hell and one-half of the show’s OTP*, and I’m sure that there have been more than a few head explosions over the years.

W...T...F?!

Wow.  Just...wow.  When I first saw this commerical, I didn't know whether to laugh or run out of the room screaming.  I do know this though:  this is 31 seconds of my life I'll never get back.  If you haven't already had the displeasure, please allow me to share the misery:

Okay, aside from the fact that the last thing any of us needs is more Auto-Tune in our lives, this was just a poorly crafted commercial.  It looks like a skit on SNL or MADtv.  Come to think of it, a skit on one of those shows probably would have looked more professional than this thing. 

And did T-Pain really just "tap dance" onto the stage like he was in a minstrel show?  Wow. I don't even know what to say to that. 

***If you really want a good chuckle, check out the comments on YouTube.  Hilarious.