It seems to be all about nostalgia on TV these days — although most of the audience probably were born far, far later than the decades they are time-traveling back to. Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, Pan Am, The Playboy Club — it really makes sense that the next trip in the network TARDIS brings us to the Harlem Renaissance.
In a tumblr post filled with gorgeous pictures from Zoë Saldana‘s 2009 Vanity Fair shoot , I came across this fantastic comment:
Y’know, I would love a Mad Men-style TV series based on the Harlem Renaissance.
1) It was a fascinating historical and cultural period of American history that’s rarely touched in pop culture.
2) Roles for POC that do not involve the being maids and chauffeurs or the civil rights movement (as important as the latter was, it sometimes seems like the only historical period associated with POC in pop culture).
3) Period costume porn! — downlo.tumblr.com
So, TV producers and writers — get on it! In case you need some inspiration, here are a few photos from that shoot:
Seriously, how can you not want that on your television screen in Hi-Definition glory every week?