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The success of My Wife and Mac has at least made TV more open to black comedies; comics including Cedric the Entertainer and Wanda Sykes have sitcoms in development. (And a sitcom starring Latino comic George Lopez will make its debut on ABC next month.) But problems remain: few black writers get hired on sitcoms with white leads, minority-family dramas are relegated to pay cable, and even stars can be underpromoted by their own networks. "I'm insulted sometimes," says Wayans, "like when I saw the push [ABC] put behind Bob Patterson," Jason Alexander's failed star vehicle. "It was everywhere. My show, which is a hit, didn't get that kind of push." Today Alexander is doing KFC commercials. And Wayans and Mac are reminding America that laughter is a thing without color.
