hudlin

Black Entertainment Television (BET) has struggled ever since its inception to be seen as a legitimate, and reputable, source of entertainment and information for the black community. It's most fatal flaw, in my non-expert opinion, was that rather than filling timeslots with quality black programming, it filled its schedule with ANY black programming. The network has been panned by critics for perpetuating stereotypes and putting way too much focus on music videos and other shows that glamorize materialism and exploit women. Hiring Reginald Hudlin as president of entertainment and chief programmerseems tohave been a step in the right direction. Hudlin helmed such movies as House Party and Boomerang, helped bring The Boondocks to television, and directed episodes of The Bernie Mac Show and Everybody Hates Chris. More recently, according to Aaron Barnhart, BET insiders planted questions in the audience at an event in Pasadena. Barnhart, rightfully so, felt that was more than a little tacky. That's true, but at the same time it shows that BET knows how to play the game. Perhaps it will finally become the channel it should have been all along, and if it has to play by the dubious rules of the television industry to do so, I say right on.