Black Omnibus

- Season 1

(1973)

This premier episode highlights the musical groups Nite-Lighters and New Birth. Rev James Cleveland Choir performs gospel sets. Maxine Weldone sings two Broadway songs. James Earl Jones interviews, sports figures Jim Brown and Ray Mays. Actor, dancer Paula Kelly is interviewed about her support of a cultural dance center in Watts and finally, Arnold Dover makes his television debut as a stand-up comedian.

James Earl Jones hosts and The Edwin Hawkins Singers sing "Oh happy Day".

Alan Weeks, singer, actor, and later director and choreographer, opens the show with a strong performance of a pivotal scene from the musical "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope". Marking his first television premiere before his network debut on "The Flip Wilson Show" in 1973, Franklin Ajaye, of later "Car Wash" fame, tries out his stand-up comedic talents. Musical guests include blues violinist Papa John Creach, and singer Ester Philips. Mr. Jones interviews actor Ron O'Neil of "Superfly" movie fame, and editor and director Hugh Robertson on the controversy of "super ...

Marshall Texas native Shadrach, son of a preacher, has his premier television debut, opening the show with his polished vocal and piano performances. Perhaps in his final television appearance, 86-year-old, legendary ragtime piano composer Eubie Blake shares his piano playing skills and colorful life in a delightful, must-see interview with James Earl Jones. This was followed by a performance of a new family vocal R&B and disco group, "The Sylvers" performing their newest hit songs. "Goldfinger" (later known as "Goldfinger and Dove") is introduced to an eager young ...

The theme for this show is black women. Lou Rawls, the baritone-voiced, world-renowned singer, and three-time Grammy-winner is the program's opening act. Paula Kelly, actress, singer, and dancer returns to Black Omnibus singing a song made famous by Billie Holiday, following up with a moving, interpretive dance duet with a male partner. Mr. Jones leads a discussion of the intersection of race and gender with two prominent black women of the time, Althea Gibson, tennis star, professional golfer, and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, the first black woman to represent the west ...

A dynamic, high-energy vocal and instrumental set named "Son of Shaft", performed by the "Bar-Kays", opens show number six. Mr. Jones interviews football player Gene Washington and basketball star Jim McMillian about their thoughts and expectations of black athletes by the day's society. Sondra "Binky" Williams debuts her singing talent with a rendition of Bill Wither's song, "Grandma's Hands". The Crusaders (formerly "The Jazz Crusaders"), a jazz-funk style group, performs an instrumental set. A very young Paul Mooney, long before writing Richard Prior's routines on ...

Performers and performance for this show are centered on the theme of 'young, gifted, and black.' Odetta (Odetta Holmes), a folk singer and lyricist opens with a song entitled 'Keep On Movin' On'. A trio of young black musicians performs a jazz set under the name 'The Beatrice Wimby Russian Trio. This is followed by a vocal performance by a 12-year-old Jackie Wilson protégé, 'Little Dion' (Dion Overstreet), singing Stevie Wonder's hit song 'Very Superstitious'. Oddly, the next two performances do not seem to fit into the program's overall theme. The Spinners, from ...

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