Black History For Live Celebrates ERIC MONTE

ERIC MONTE: THE REASON

Mr. Eric Monte is responsible for the first successful show with a Black cast since Amos And Andy.

I really don’t have to write that much about Mr. Monte. All I have to say is that he is the writer/producer that brought GOOD TIMES and WHAT’S HAPPENING to the small screen and COOLEY HIGH to the big screen (and VCR’s and DVD’s to every hood in AMERICA.)

Although some Black intellectuals refused to see any positivity in Good Times,
the importance of a show that portrayed people of color with morals every bit as traditional as The Cosby's  shines brighter as time goes by in my mind.

I like to make my tributes personal as I share info so here you go.

Monte, a Chicago native moved to LA to become a script writer. At sometime in the 1970’s he sold a script that was used on perhaps the most important show in sit com history ALL IN THE FAMILY.

GOOD TIMES

After All in The Family.  Mr. Monte along with Mike Evans co-created the TV show Good Times.

The show broke ground but Monte, John Amos and Esther Rolle fought producers like Norman Lear tooth and nail to portray people of color with any dignity.

The late Ms. Rolle had gone on record as saying that she would not do a TV show, shown all around the world about a black woman with 3 kids and no husband.

Lear’s response was that America “did not want to see a strong black man on television.”

Rolle won (that round) and the great John Amos was brought on to play James Evans Senior.

During the time Good Times was on the air Monte and staff were responsible for several outstanding episodes the likes of which have not been duplicated in the years since (which is sad.)

The two that stand out to me are the I.Q Test and the episode where Rosco Lee Brown plays a Preacher named Happiness Sam. These and other shows that dealt with attempted suicide and depression, bad food that is sent to poor neighborhoods, and VD, all were funny but made me think and they still do today.

The character of Cochise from COOLEY HIGH was replaced with the comic relief of RERUN because ABC
said they did not want young white girls getting a crush on a black kid.

 Ultimately, with the success of his hit film Cooley High behind him Mr. Monte went on to develop WHAT’S HAPPENING for ABC. ABC’s ethics and acceptance of Black Manhood was just as short sighted as CBS’s. According to sources, ABC would not green light the adaption of COOLEY HIGH unless the character of the handsome Cochise was replaced. Reports said that ABC did not want young white girls swooning over a young handsome Black kid. Irononically, however Lawrence Hilton Jacobs who played Cochise in the film COOLEY HIGH still wound up as a SWEAT HOG on ABC’s hit show WELCOME BACK KOTTER!

All in all for all the doors that Monte opened and all the great contributions he has made to AMERICAN TELEVISION and film, he has been black balled and essentially shut out. According to Wikipedia Monte has only done an episode of The Wayans and a Moesha for Hollywood since winning a lawsuit filed over his intellectual contributions to Good Times and What’s Happening.

When Good Times Season one came out on DVD I was able to speak with Mr. Monte very briefly via the phone. To this day it is one of the top 5 highlights of my life. Today as we celebrate BLACK HISTORY FOR LIFE….let’s all say thank you to ERIC MONTE

Raymond Tyler