College Hill ... The first all-black reality TV show.

Goodbro_CAM

Sure, we've all seen reality TV before.

The concept is at least 10 years old now. And while most of us are very much aware of the mechanics and formula of most "reality TV" shows. But what makes "College Hill" different is that it is the first all-black reality TV show.

Sure, blacks have been featured on other reality TV shows, but this is the first reality TV show with an Afrocentric theme. The show follows the everyday trials, tribulations, good times and in-between times of average college students attending a predominantly black university or college. Viewers get to see "types" they can identify with (i.e. the good, religious girl, the pretty boy, the loud-mouth, etc) and see how they all interact socially and personally.

One of the problems with other reality TV shows that feature blacks is that they sometimes rely too heavily on racial stereotypes: (i.e. the angry black young man, the overly moral black girl, who judges everyone else who does not conform to her ideas or sense of morality.)

"College Hill" is a bit different because it takes a deeper or more multi-dimensional look at black youth. During a marathon airing of the show's first season, not once did I see an angry black male stereotype. Sure, I saw black males who got angry, but they were given time to explain why they were upset or frustrated. On mainstream reality shows such as MTV's "The Real World," the blacks on the show are often dealt with in very superficial ways or not dealt with at all. "College Hill" was created by Edmonds Entertainment, a black company, which has given audiences such shows as Showtime's "Soul Food," which was a ground-breaking show for TV in that it presented black characters in dramatic, believable situations.

I expect "College Hill" to do the same, break ground in the realm of reality TV by showing viewers that blacks have some of the same problems and feelings as their white counterparts. I also think the show will have a positive effect, although a subconscious one on perhaps boosting enrollment at some of the nation's predominantly black colleges and universities.

score /10

Goodbro_CAM 30 January 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1010163/