And I loved "Seinfeld," but my background would suggest that I would -- white, Jewish, grew up in suburban Boston and have spent all but three years of my adult life in a medium-sized Connecticut city. "Seinfeld" has been criticized often for being set in New York City yet featuring hardly any black or Latino characters. In fact, the most memorable Latino character I recall from the show was a young Latino busboy who loses his job thanks to one of George's social blunders. George goes to the busboy character's small apartment to apologize and what's on the wall but a poster of a Latino boxer! Talk about stereotypes! "The Bob Newhart Show," another favorite of mine, managed to show a Chicago devoid of any other race or ethnicity, except when Bob and friends would talk about a Bulls game they'd seen.
As a kid, I watched shows like "Dick Van Dyke" and "Get Smart" and Bullwinkle cartoons. Maybe black kids were watching those shows, too, if only because network TV offered nonwhite or "ethnic" viewers very little that was any more culturally relevant back then. By the time the shows this thread has been discussing came along, network, independent and cable channels were offering much more relevant entertainment.