Dangerous Incorporated
Guests
To prepare the audience for the special occasion of the televised premiere of the "Black or White" video, Epic records released the song (without the accompanying images) to radio stations just two days in advance. In a period of twenty-four hours, "Black or White", described by the record company as "a rock 'n' roll dance song about racial harmony", had been added to the playlists of 96 percent of 237 of the United States of America's top forty radio stations the first day of release.
Nineteen years ago tonight, Fox scored the highest ratings in its five-year history – and angered scores of viewers – when it premiered the music video for Michael Jackson’s racial unity anthem, “Black or White.”
The 11-minute opus aired at 8:25, sandwiched between the end of “The Simpsons” and the beginning of “Drexell’s Class,” Dabney Coleman’s latest short-lived sitcom.
Viewers in 14.3 million homes watched “Black or White,” which Bart Simpson introduced. The video was the night’s fifth-most watched program and ranked 22nd in the weekly ratings, boosting the show that followed it – “Beverly Hills 90210,” then in its sophomore season – to its biggest audience at that point.
“Black or White” also debuted on BET and MTV and in 26 other countries, drawing an estimated 500 million viewers worldwide.
When “Black or White” debuted on this night in 1991, it ended with a violent sequence in which a panther morphs into Jackson, who dances in a dark alley, smashes a car with a crowbar and takes his crotch-grabbing to new extremes, even simulating masturbation and zipping his pants in a close-up.
Outraged parents flooded their local Fox stations with angry calls.
The Memphis affiliate’s general manager told the Associated Press his station received about 100 complaints and vowed never to air the video again.
Jackson responded to the outcry the next day, issuing a public apology and announcing he would cut the controversial panther sequence.
“I’ve always tried to be a good role model,” he said in a statement. “I deeply regret any pain or hurt that the final segment … caused children, their parents, or any other viewers.”
From the Pages of TV Guide
http://www.tvtimecapsule.com/black-or-white/
This spiral bound soft-cover production book from Propaganda Films and MJJ Productions was used for Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking video/short film “Black or White."
Under the project working title “Colors", the booklet includes a full script, shooting schedule, photocopied storyboards (including those for the controversial and often deleted “Panther” sequence), contact and crew lists, location list and map, and calendar of events for primary filming. Loose pages inserted into the booklet include crew Call Sheets, additional pick-up shot schedule, and a folder containing costume notes for the Russian dancers seen in the video.
A laminated badge with “MJJ Productions, ‘Black or White’” printed on one side, and “Property of MJJ Productions” printed on the reverse also accompanies this extremely rare pop culture artifact. “Black or White” was the number one hit single off of Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” album released in October of 1991. The song was one of the most popular hits of the early nineties and went to number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, as well as topping charts in eighteen other countries.
The video for “Black or White” is considered a historical musical landmark for several reasons. The nearly eight minute long original cinematic production was first seen on November 14, 1991 as a heavily promoted televised world premiere that was directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Jackson on the “Thriller” video. The cast included high profile celebrity actors such as Macaulay Culkin, Tess Harper, George Wendt, and Tyra Banks, and the opening introduction to the video and primary song riff were both performed by guitarist Slash from Guns And Roses. It also featured one of the earliest examples of “Morphing” digital effects, which was considered groundbreaking at the time.
While the song and video primarily promoted racial harmony, the original version of the video stirred considerable controversy due to an extended scene near the end where Jackson appears as a black panther before morphing back into human form. He then goes on a rampage of vandalism, smashing car and storefront windows and causing a building to explode. Because of the controversy, MTV and other music video networks removed the last four minutes of the video in subsequent broadcasts and the original uncut version is still rarely seen to this day.
http://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=3803
Last edited:
