Liners-"The Devil Made Me Do It," and "When You're Hot, You're Hot"-Became National Fads

Wilson. Flip clothes and chartreuse stockings, Geraldine demanded respect and, in Wilson's words, "Everybody knows she don't take no stuff." Liberated yet married, outspoken yet feminine, ghetto -horn yet poised, Geraldine was neither floozy nor threat. This colorful black female image struck a positive chord with viewers; her one- liners-"The devil made me do it," and "When you're hot, you're hot"-became national fads. Social messages were imparted indirectly through Wilson's characters: the well -dressed and self-respecting Geraldine, for example, countered the female -degrading acts of other popular stand-up comics. Through Geraldine, Wilson also negotiated racial and class biases by posi- tively characterizing a working-class black female, in contrast to the absence of female black images on r 1970s television (with the exception of the middle- class black nurse of the 1969 sitcom Julia). Wilson sometimes did address race more directly through story and theme; one skit, for example, fea- tured Native American women discourteously greeting Christopher Columbus and crew on their arrival in North America. Such innovative techniques enabled Wilson's humorous characters and themes to suggest racial and gender tolerance. Wilson's career lost momentum when his show was Flip Wilson. canceled in 1974. Although he was the recipient of a Photo courtesy of Flip Wilson 1970 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing and a 1971 Grammy for Best Comedy Record, Wilson's career never rekindled. He continued to make television specials and TV guest appearances; made his film de- hour segment. Audiences appreciated the show's inno- but in Sidney Poitier's successful post-blaxploitation vative style elements, such as the intimate theater -in - movie Uptown Saturday Night; and performed in two the -round studio and the use of medium -long shots, subsequent unsuccessful films. His 1985 television which replaced close-ups in order to capture fully Wil- comeback, Charlie and Company-a sitcom following son's expressive movements. The Cosby Show's formula-had a short run. Wilson altered his club act for television in order to Wilson saw himself first as an artist, and humor was accommodate family viewing, relying on descriptive more prominent than politics in his comic routines. portraits of black characters and situations rather than This style, however, allowed him to impart success- ridicule. Still, his show offended many African Ameri- fully occasional social messages into his act. More- cans and civil rights activists who believed Wilson's over, he achieved unprecedented artistic control of his humor depended on race. A large multiethnic televi- show, pressing the parameters for black television per- sion audience, however, found universal humor in the formers and producers. Through Geraldine. Wilson routines, and others credited Wilson with subtly ridi- created one of 1970s television's few respectful im- culing the art of stereotyping itself. Wilson denied this ages of black women, who were generally marginal- claim, strongly denouncing suggestions that his race ized by both the civil rights and women's movements required that his art convey anti -bias messages. of that era. Finally, although no regular black variety In fact, these divergent interpretations reflect the va- show took up where Wilson left off, the success of his riety among Wilson's characters. Some were rather of- program paved the way for the popularity of later sit- fensive, such as the money-laundering Reverend coms featuring middle- and working-class black fami- Leroy and the smooth swinger, Freddy the Playboy. lies, situations, and dialect, shows such as Sanford and Others, such as Sonny, a White House janitor and the Son, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. "wisest man in Washington," were positive black por- PAULA GARDNER traits. The show's most popular character, Geraldine, exemplifies Wilson's intention to produce "race -free" See also Flip Wilson Show, The; Racism, Ethnicity, comedy. Perfectly coifed and decked out in designer and Television 2552 .

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