Image via Complex Original
While scripted television in general is enjoying its best period ever, things are not so good on the black hand side. These days the best black family sitcoms are reality shows like T.I. and Tiny: A Family Hustle and Braxton Family Values. The same goes for Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, the best comedy and soap opera VH1 has to offer, black or white.
Of course, there are some scripted black shows out there, though you're required to have a deep passion for all recycled plotlines and jokes from 25 years ago to fully enjoy them. Shows like the new BET dramedy Being Mary Jane are trying to pick up the slack, but as of right now the Internet is leading the charge in offering varied images of people of color and the subject matter to match.
Here's a look at the 10 of the best black web series out right now. Take note, networks. We love watching Tip as a pops, too, but don't front like he's really the Bill Cosby remix.
Written by Michael Arceneaux (@youngsinick)
10. Got 2B Real
Premiered: July 29, 2011
Creator: Patti LaHelle
Satirizing the shade that music's most rabid fan bases think the stars throw at each other, Got 2B Real remains one of the best cackles you can get online. Its creator is no longer making any episodes, but she ought to stop playing and come back. Please? Does that count for nothing? What if we preface it with a "pretty"?
9. Lenox Avenue
Premiered: October 28, 2012
Creator: Al Thompson
Seeking to serve Boomerang-like realness, Lenox Avenue is a soap opera-esque web series centered on the lives of a new generation of Harlemites. Translation: The upwardly mobile Blacks who moved in and some of the white friends they made along the way—says their neighbor.
8. Entangled with You
Premiered: April 16, 2013
Creator: Caryn K. Hayes
Unless you're holding a Real Housewife of Atlanta's purse or willing to shave your big man legs everyday to rock a six-inch stilletto and short skirt, chances are you won't see many members of the Black LGBT community. Enter Entangled With You, which follows "a stoic lesbian" after she "moves in with a perky straight woman after the two separate from their significant others."
7. The Unwritten Rules
Premiered: April 25, 2012
Creator: inkSpotEntertainment
This show chronicles what it's like to be the only black employee in an office. It's a familiar story for many a Negro, but ,you know, fret not: Between Antonin Scalia and Abigail Fisher, we probably won't be hired at all soon enough.
6. Strip Club Queens: Atlanta
Premiered: March 5, 2013
Creator: Urban Clout
To quote everyone's play uncle, 2 Chainz, "Yeah, I luh dem strippers." Needless to say, you'll be mesmerized by this web series following the lives of several prominent black dancers and the one white girl who sounds a little racist. The catch is, to view the nine 23-minute episodes, it costs money via the Urban Clouth app or the company's website. Don't worry if we've watched episodes on bootleg. That's none of your business.
5. Roomieloverfriends
Premiered: September 8, 2012
Creator: Black & Sexy TV
Thix very popular web series—launched by Black & Sexy TV alongside Issa Rae—centers on male and female roommates who end up sleeping together. Afterwards, chaos ensues. We don't know about you, but we always have to listen to "Homie, Lover, Friend" each time the title comes to my mind.
4. #Unfamous
Premiered: May 13, 2013
Creator: Shakira Scott
Although we're typically biased against any title with a hashtag in it, this British teen drama based on the award-winning Unfamous books, written by Scotty Unfamous, is an exception. If you're like us and your ignorance of Black Brits is limited to Scary Spice and Idris Elba, get into these 1990s babies trying to figure life out.
3. Brothers With No Game
Premiered: June 11, 2012
Creator: Socialize Media
With a familiar but altogether different setting, this London-based web series—which first began as a blog—follows the social and romantic lives of four friends in their 20s. The series has won an array of awards, though it almost ended abruptly due to a lack of funding. However, after a successful Indiegogo campaign, the show kicked off season 2 on August 12, 2013.
2. How Men Become Dogs
Premiered: March 20, 2013
Creator: Marc Cunningham
From Issa Rae Productions and Original Hitta Productions, Men Become Dogs follows three good men who enroll in a class to become womanizers after each experiences a disastrous breakup with their unappreciative girlfriends. It's kind of like a prequel to the 1997 flick How To Be A Player, only you'll actually entertain repeat viewings. No shade, Bill Bellamy.
1. Almost 30
Premiered: February 6, 2013
Creator: Matthew Cherry
From the writer and director of post-NFL life drama The Last Fall, this web series follows 27-year-old Justin Simmons after his marriage proposal goes terribly wrong. With that, he must contend against the struggle of entering his 30s not exactly in the position he thought he'd be in. Almost 30 was a finalist in the 2013 New York Television Festival's Comedy Central Short Pilot Competition.
