UPN's All of Us Tackles The N-Word

Next Monday's outstanding episode of UPN's All of Us makes an excellent case for the inclusion of this series on the fall schedule of The CW.

With the exception of Everybody Hates Chris, I can't recall the last time I recommended an episode of a comedy series on UPN. In fact, other than Chris, I can't recall the last time I watched an episode of a comedy series on UPN.

So here are two firsts: I have watched next Monday's episode of All of Us (telecast at 8:30 p.m. ET) and I'm telling you to check it out. You should do so not simply because of the tough topic it tackles or because it marks the directorial debut of series creator and executive producer Will Smith -- or because it makes an excellent case for the inclusion of this series on the fall schedule of the upcoming WB-UPN hybrid, The CW. If this episode is at all typical, then the simple truth here is that as stage-bound, three-camera comedies go, the largely ignored All of Us is just as good as many of the comedies on CBS, NBC and ABC and better than all of the comedies on The WB. Who knew?

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Certainly, the greater than usual creative involvement by Will Smith may have elevated this episode above the norm, not to mention the invaluable contribution of actor Keith David, the witheringly direct Lt. Dixon in Crash, who commands the first act of this episode in a captivating guest appearance as a family friend named Randall. But the four actors who comprise this show's cast -- Duane Martin (as Robert), LisaRaye McCoy (as Robert's ex-wife Neesee), Tony Rock (as Robert's best friend Dirk) and young Khamani Griffin (as Robert and Neesee's little boy, Bobby), are undeniably appealing and have that multi-directional chemistry so essential to successful situation comedy.

As for the content of next Monday's half hour, the episode's title -- The N-Word -- indicates the delicacy of the material at hand. Before the show is over, many characters will have calmly expressed their opinions about the use of the word, despite this nervous early warning by Robert: "Trust me. I've danced this dance before and toes get stepped on!" Anyone who saw the episode of Fox' Boston Public that addressed this volatile topic might sense another bout of high anxiety television, but Smith's direction and an intelligent screenplay by series creative consultant Royale Watkins keep the expected debate on an admirably even keel and the humor coming throughout.

Cast of All of Us

The storyline kicks in during a very lavish birthday party for little Bobby, who chooses to play a card game with his pals rather than play with the live animals (including a camel) that his mom has rented for the occasion. With the festivities in full swing, Bobby brings the party to a halt when he innocently says to a white boy, "Go fish, nigga!" The children think nothing of it, but the many adults in the room freeze. "Did I say a bad word?" Bobby asks after his parents whisk him into the kitchen.

His little friends are similarly puzzled. Wondering why their parents all freaked when Bobby said it, the white boy declares, "It must be something bad, like broccoli!"

"I thought it meant friend or homey," Bobby says.

With the children out of the room, the adults lurch into an uneasy discussion of the topic, largely fueled by the outspoken Randall. Robert hopes to let the subject drop and continue with the party, but Randall won't have it. "Your boy shouts out the most consequential insult in American history and we eat cake?" Randall asks, every word quietly but forcefully expelled in missile-like fashion toward every person in the room.

Randall isn't impressed when Dirk asserts, "It's the context! The context determines the meaning. You say it with an "er" at the end, you gonna end up in the ER!"

The debate moves into illuminating All in the Family territory when Penelope, a white woman at the party, humbly states, "I don't understand why you would ever want to use that word at all," and Neesee, evoking memories of both Archie Bunker and his equally bigoted neighbor George Jefferson, coolly replies, "Maybe someone else should be asking that question." (Later, an incredulous Penelope is moved to ask Neesee, "Are you saying because I'm white I can only relate to the oppressor?")

Randall erupts again in response to Neesee's comment. "I'll ask it for Penelope, because I think it's a good question. Why are African Americans the only people to embrace the oppressors' words of hate and degradation? You don't hear our Latino brothers going, 'Yo! What up, my spic?' Or our Asian Brothers going, 'Oh, chink, please!'"

After briefly leaving the room, Robert -- who didn't want to go there with any of this -- asks the group, "Have y'all figured it out yet? With all the brainpower in this room you guys couldn't sift through 500 years of racial oppression? Damn. I was hopin' you could wrap this up and we could move on to the Middle East before the pizza got here!"

Like so many episodes of All in the Family (and its spin-off Maude), this installment of All of Us addresses an emotionally charged topic with humor and insight, entertaining viewers while also, one would hope, prompting a conversation or two in living rooms across the land. Sadly, this show lacks the realism of All in the Family, which accurately reflected the physical realities of working class Americans of all colors during its time, so some of this episode's intended impact may be lost. (These people are so freakin' well off as to be unreal. Seriously, when was the last time one of your neighbors rented a camel for a kid's birthday party?) And it slips up with the inclusion of one of those stereotypical, dimwitted white men so common in sitcoms who always say the wrong things when the conversation turns to matters of race relations.

But the message in this episode of All of Us is crystal clear, particularly in a silent montage at the end of the show that makes a point without indulging in the overt preaching that compromises so many topical television series episodes. It features products, signs and album covers from each decade of the 20th century that featured the N-word, beginning with Nigger Head Tar Soap in 1900 and including the 1970 Richard Pryor album That Nigger's Crazy and the 2000 Jay-Z release Nigga What, Nigga Who. It is one of the most powerful television sequences of the season.