how did the crosby show and rustic roots challenge previous sterotypical representations of black people in TV drama?


not much speech given, represented in a bad way, or taken the mick of not amny of them shown if any. 
U.S. television since then made sporadic attempts to address these particular white-black issues, such as Roots, The Cosby Show and through a proliferation of black newscasters at the local level, but all the while cleaving steadfastly to three traditions. These are, firstly, the continuing virtual invisibility of Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans. Indeed, some studies indicate that for decades Latinos have hovered around 1 to 2% of characters in TV drama, very substantially less than their percentage of the public. Secondly, the tradition of color-segregating entertainment changed but little. Even though from the latter 1980s Black shows began to multiply considerably, casts have generally been white or black (and never Latino, Native or Asian). Thirdly, the few minority roles in dramatic TV have frequently been of criminals and drug addicts. This pattern has intensively reinforced, and seemingly been reinforced by, the similar racial stereotyping common in "reality TV" police shows and local TV news programs. The standard alternative role for African Americans has been comic actor (or stand-up comic in comedy shows). Ram'rez-Berg (1990), commenting upon the wider cinematic tradition of Latino portrayal, has identified the bandit/greaser, the mixed-race slut, the buffoon (male and female), the Latin lover and the alluring Dark Lady, as six hackneyed tropes. (If Latinos are given more TV space, will the first phase merely privilege the audience with negative roles in a wider spectrum?) Let us examine, however, some prominent exceptions.

Roots confounded the TV industry's prior expectations, with up to 140 million viewers for all or part of it, and over 100 million for the second series. For the first time on U.S. television some of the realities of slavery--brutality, rape, enforced de-culturation--were confronted over a protracted period, and through individual characters with whom, as they fought to escape or survive, the audience could identify. Against this historic first was the individualistic focus on screenwriter Alex Haley's determined family, presented as "immigrant-times-ten" fighting an exceptionally painful way over its generations toward the American Dream myth of all U.S. immigrants. Against it too, was the emphasis on the centuries and decades before the 1970s, which the ahistorical vector in U.S. culture easily cushions from application to the often devastating here and now. Nonetheless, it was a signal achievement.

The Cosby Show was the next milestone. Again defeating industry expectations, the series scored exceptionally high continuing ratings right across the nation. The show attracted a certain volume of hostile comment, some of it smugly supercilious. The fact it was popular with white audiences in the South, and in South Africa, was a favorite quick shot to try to debunk it. Some critics claimed it fed the mirage that racial injustice could be overcome through individual economic advance, others that it primly fostered Reaganite conservative family values. Both were indeed easily possible readings of the show within contemporary U.S. culture. Yet critics often seemed to think a TV text could actually present a single monolithic meaningfulness or set up a firewall against inappropriate readings.
popular as the black man was a educated doctor with money and living a very healthy life. 


prince of belair- upper class black family rich lifestyle, happy family, lawyer so again educated. also argue will smith was coming from a not so good background shows both sides of the  environment. 


black people often shown as sidekicks. 

OPENING TITLES OF DOWNTON ABBEY
These titles have never changed as hey do not need modifying in anyway as the are set in the past so is called a period drama. The opening starts with a over the shoulder view of the dog being walked by his owner in a very nice countryside setting with bright blue skies and fresh green grass with a extremely large house in the background. The image has had the contrast brightened to emphasis the angelic setting. Then there is a jump cut shot into doors with dark green posh curtains opening to a bright white light which entices the audience to see what is behind the opening doors. Could be anything in their eyes at that moment in time. It then has a fading shot to shows a bell ring for the servants to one of the rooms in a large posh house, which was common in the 1916-1919 era. Then it shows a shot focused on the mail neatly stored and a fuzzy background where you can make out that a maid walking up the stairs to follow the bell that was rang. The shot is also panning to the right whilst this action is taking place. Then it zooms in very quickly to a copper old fashioned pan boiling then there is a quick jump cut onto a servant/waiter correcting the three sets of cutlery so that they are perfectly lined up. At this point you can tell how posh the house it is set in is and can figure out that the house you saw at the beginning it in fact the house the drama is set in. It then shows little things that happen in the house that the maids do for example turn on lamps and cleaning the dust,also everything that is occuring is done with a very elegant manor about it and slowly done to perfection. Finally the finishing picture is of the house and its reflection which represents the house very well as it shows the house itself but also what happens downstairs, the maids and servants side to the house that is not know to the upstairs. So shows that the house has two sides to it through the image being reflected and the page split into two to show the two completely different sides of that era and how people lived so differently and the importance of social class in that society. Also within every shot the the camera either pans left or right or tilts up or down. There is the same music throughout the clip with is non diegetic sound, which is soft, calming music which is made from an orchestra, in the genre of classical music. Also in every shot there is a name that comes across the screen and follows the direction that the shot is moving. The font is an old font which looks like roman numerals, so shows it is of the older style to fit in with the period drama, also the title is also shown in the same font just slightly larger in size.