CBS' King of Queens: Of Caucasians, Coloreds and Comedic Relationships (Paperback)
Most people sit and run their mouths with friends, relatives or at the bar. I act and I want to leave a legacy of being someone who cared enough about certain things to commit them not only to memory, but to pen and paper. It was an old poem that contained the words, ""For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been '" So, "striking while the iron's hot," I write about what I like and what I don't like, The CBS show "The King of Queens" fits squarely near the top of the former category. In this book I have taken time to review more than 100 episodes and broke them down into categories - the mark of a true social scientist. These categories are: Cast of Characters, Methodology, Carrie Heffernan as "Skank": An Analysis, The Carrie-Doug Dyad: An Assessment of 'Power Relations', Carrie's Infatuation With Deacon: Jungle Fever or Just Jivin'?, Doug as Wannabe "Thug" and The Doug-Deacon Friendship: Most Equitable on Television." Other areas of analysis are, Spence and Danny: Gay or Just Gregarious?, Arthur Spooner and "The Basement" as a Metaphor for Treatment of the Elderly: Critique and Commentary, Deacon Palmer: A Black Man With Dignity on Television and a realistic appraisal from an African-American scholar's point of view. Nothing can be deemed a "waste of time" if it offers teaching moments and learning experiences. The show itself opened up some eyes on some important aspects of blue collar life that may not have been appreciated before. Enjoy.
Matthew C. Stelly is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on a degree in Urban Education and Community Policy. He holds three Master's degrees: Urban Studies (1982), Urban Education (1983) and Political Science (2000). He is working toward his doctorate in Community Policy/Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Courier newspaper, former director of the Great Plains Black Museum and the Plano (TX) African American Museum, and lead archivist for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. Stelly has more than 2,500 articles in print and has won two national essay competitions. He is the founding director of the largest African-American neighborhood group in Nebraska, the Triple One Neighborhood Association and Parents Union. He is publisher and editor of the Triple One News, a two-time nationally recognized newsletter. He is the father of five children - Mandla, Malik, Clariece, Charisse and Shannon -- and remains actively involved in community organizing and neighborhood development in several cities, including Milwaukee and Omaha.