Edd’s MANtra: BET For Grown Folks

I don’t know about you guys, but I stopped watching BET loooong ago. There are only so many times a man can watch “Prison Song” before he loses his mind.

Most of BET’s “original” programming is just stolen from MTV anyway. MTV has a show about annoying rich kids, BET makes a show with annoying black rich kids. MTV throws a bunch of kids in a house and films them, BET throws a bunch of black college kids in a house and films them. MTV has reality shows featuring musicians, BET has reality shows featuring black

NEW YORK (AP) — BET, the leading network tailored for black teens and young adults, will be joined by a new channel aimed at an older black audience.

Well, it’s about time.

I hope this new channel goes back to the things that made BET so fun years ago.

I’d love to see more old-school sitcoms. I haven’t seen “What’s Happening?” in years. Same for “227.” They deserve to return to the airwaves. And even though they currently show it on about 10 other channels you can’t go wrong with “Good Times” reruns. They can even bring back forgotten shows like “Thea,” back when Brandy looked like one of the Muppet Babies.

I want to see music videos from more mature artists too. Did you know Chante Moore, Case, Kenny Lattimore and Ginuwine have all released new videos in the past 6 months? If you only watch BET I bet you didn’t know. It would be nice to see someone besides Young Jeezy all the time. And speaking of rap, we need a block of throwback hip hop videos. Bring back Big Lez, she ain’t doing nothing.

We also need to add stimulating programming. I still don’t understand why they pulled the plug on BET News a few years ago – they need to put it back on the air (if they haven’t already). And while they’re at it, they should make a Teen Summit-type show for grown folks, where adults can discuss community issues. Many of us are more concerned with global issues than watching a chopped-up version of “New Jack City” for the 100th time.

Don’t screw this up, BET.