Struggle and success of Black shows

A two-part HBO documentary looks at the moving stories of the creators and stars.

- ROBERT LLOYD TELEVISION CRITIC

COUPLE Deondray Gossfield and Quincy LeNear Gossfield are directors on Lena Waithe's "The Chi."

Issa Rae, of “Insecure” fame, is an executive producer of (and a major figure in) a new two-part documentary, “Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television,” premiering Tuesday on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Presented as a film by Giselle Bailey, with a directed-by credit shared with Phil Bertelsen, it’s not a comprehensive accounting — any viewer who has watched much TV over the medium’s decades might have an opinion on what’s missing. But what’s here is always interesting, elegantly produced, sometimes exciting, often moving. Young viewers, whose historical and cultural interests might extend no further than their own births, may have their eyes opened, but even we who remember a time before “Julia” may learn a thing or two.

The first episode, “Seen,” begins with Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson in the green room waiting to go on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to celebrate the end of “blackish,” after eight seasons — a Black-created, Black-run series on a major broadcast network — before jumping back to the white-written “Amos & Andy,” and a halting march into a better future. Though the thrust of the combined episodes is more than hopeful — the second episode, “Heard,” is a story of successes — it’s also one of struggle. And in a time when powerful forces want to erase struggle from history, it’s good to remember, or learn, that there was a time within the memory of people you'll meet here, when Black people barely existed in television, in front of or behind the camera.