TV Jots

Truly Must-See TV

Yes, it’s Black History Month in the United States. But, that’s not why you shouldn’t miss tonight’s ABC presentation of Lorraine Hansberry‘s much-lauded play A Raisin in the Sun. Instead of tuning in to kill some time or brush up on your knowledge of influential playwrights, watch for the rare opportunity to experience 100 percent quality television programming.

Tonight’s adaptation of Raisin — the second for television following the 1989 production with Lethal Weapon‘s Danny Glover and Good Times‘ Esther Rolle — is helmed by Tony Award-winning Cosby Show star Phylicia Rashad. Joining her are fellow Tony winner and Private Practice player Audra McDonald, Tony nominee Sanaa Lathan, and hip-hop music mogul Sean Combs.

Each of the cast members just mentioned participated in the highly successful 2004 Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. In fact, all three actresses received their Tony Award accolades as a result of their work in the production, while Combs expanded his career then with his well-received Broadway debut.

Raisin‘s plot revolves around South Side Chicago’s Younger family, headed by matriarch and widow Lena (Rashad). An insurance check from her late husband’s estate promises to give her and her two adult children, aspiring medical school student Beneatha (Lathan) and chauffeur Walter Lee, Jr. (Combs), the means to finally flee their lower-class neighborhood and head for a better life in safer environs.

When a move to a white neighborhood and a bad business investment seem to dash those longtime dreams, the family must find a way to cope with disappointing reality, becoming stronger and more determined in the process. McDonald rounds out the cast as Walter Lee, Jr.’s housekeeper wife Ruth.

It’s fitting that Rashad became the first black actress to win a Best Actress Tony Award as a result of her achievements in a play that made history twice as the first play by a black woman and black director, Lloyd Richards, to reach a Broadway stage. Everyone who watches the three-hour adaptation tonight will see why Hansberry’s contribution to American literature and entertainment is both deserving and enduring.

Don’t let the length or the cultural subject matter scare you away — the latest televised version of A Raisin in the Sun is worth the time invested.