Every once in a while, a TV show will do something … something that's just wrong. Not in a "David and Maddie messed up the show" kind of way, but in a way that strains viewer credulity. This week, we asked Komplicated's readers to go to Facebook and let us know which of the following controversies was the most egregious in its wrongness.
- AUNT VIV: On The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air dark skinned actress Janet Hubert was replaced by lighter-shaded actress Daphne Reid.
- JUDY WINSLOW: After a few seasons, actress Jaimee Foxworth was quietly and mysteriously written off the show, even leading the lead actors Reginald VelJohnson and JoMarie Payton to claim on camera that they only had two children. Foxworth eventually performed porn under the name "Crave."
- SONDRA HUXTABLE: In the first episode of The Cosby Show, way back in the possibly ironic year of 1984, the character Claire asked her husband Cliff, "Why do we have four children?" He responded, "Because we didn't want five." Those children? Rudy, Theo, Vanessa and the "eldest" Denise. However, a fifth, eldest daughter Sondra appeared half way through season one, as a sophomore who was away at Princeton … and since the actress Sabrina Le Beauf is only 10 years younger than female lead Phylicia Rashad she almost didn't get the part.
Our respondents voted overwhelmingly (65 percent) that the Aunt Viv swap was the worst, with Judy Winslow's porn-fueled descent coming in second (23 percent) and the sudden appearance of Sondra Huxtable a distant third (at 11 percent).
Is that unfair to Indigo from Rainbow Brite? How about Orange Blossom from Strawberry Shortcake, who ended up looking a little brighter, or Valerie Brown of Josie and the Pussycats who ended up on the silver screen as the still delightful Rosario Dawson? Probably not, but that's the way the ballots were cast …
[Source: Komplicated Facebook polling, special thanks to Gail Sidney from the Black Nerd Network group on Facebook]