Our childhood dreams have been answered…Netflix has added our favorite black sitcoms to Netflix. On July 29, Netflix’s Strong Black Lead announced that they will be adding new sitcoms through the months of August, September, October. The black sitcoms that were licensed are: Moesha, The Game, Sister Sister, Girlfriends, The Parkers, Half & Half, and One on One. These shows were the hot shows in the 90s and 2000s and what our generation grew up on. So, when Netflix announced these were the shows that were licensed, social media went crazy!! Fans were so excited about the announcement that “Moesha” and “Girlfriends” was trending on Netflix. Everyone was reposting Netflix’s Instagram post and tweet because it was a big deal.
Netflix has always had a good selection of black movies and shows, but the shows or movies on the platform were either there for only a short period of time, or they were not as popular. Recently, Netflix added a category called “Black Lives Matter Collection.” This collection includes an abundance of powerful black movies and shows that have been recently produced or have been produced in the past. The collection was made after the recent tragedies of the police brutality towards African Americans happening across the country. Netflix decided to take a stand publicly and to back up their feelings towards what is happening, they created the collection.
These sitcoms that have been added to Netflix have created such great conversation and have had a great outcome for the streaming service. When Netflix made their announcements, some of the actors and actresses tweeted how proud and excited they were for their show to be added to Netflix. Tracee Elis Ross, who starred in Girlfriends, posted a video and stated how proud she was that Girlfriends is being added to Netflix. Also, Jasmy Lawson, an executive with Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, stated, “We’ve been working through the logistics to bring these shows to the platform for a very long time. And we’ve been working on the launch plan for months. I can’t believe the news is finally out.”
No one really knows how much work it was to bring these shows to Netflix without there being any problem. A lot of these shows debuted on BET, so Netflix had to receive BET’s permission to license these shows on Netflix. If it was not for the producers giving Netflix permission, they would have not been able to make this happen.
The young girl in me is still screaming of excitement about the news of these sitcoms being added to Netflix. Never would we have thought Netflix would first have a “Black Lives Matter Collection” and on top of that add these black sitcoms. Watching these shows on Netflix brings a sense of nostalgia and allows us to tap back into our inner kid, because we grew up on a lot of these shows and watched them with our families. I remember when my dad first introduced me to Sister Sister, and we would watch it every night together. He wanted me to watch a show where there was a strong black women role and taught life lessons through the show. I did not realize how much the show affected me until I realized I can sing the whole theme song by heart. Netflix adding these sitcoms was a very strategic and smart move for them, and I know I am not the only one binge watching them every night.