TVSquad

Starting tomorrow evening, Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio will celebrate Black History Month with repeats of episodes featuring Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Foxx, Forrest Whitaker and Queen Latifah. On February 19 at 8 p.m., a new two-hour episode will feature Diana Ross in an exclusive interview with host James Lipton. Ross will also perform some of her songs during the episode. The schedule is below:

• Eddie Murphy: February 5 at 7 p.m.
• Will Smith: February 11 at 2 p.m.
• Dave Chappelle: February 12 at 6 p.m.
• Jamie Foxx: February 12 at 8 p.m.
• Diana Ross: February 19 at 8 p.m.
• Forrest Whitaker: February 20 at 4 p.m.
• Queen Latifah: February 26 at 9 a.m.

As some of you may have noticed, I've been trying to compile as much information as I can on networks that are honoring Black History Month. I'll admit right up front that out of every program and special I've listed so far, there are only a handful I have any real interest in seeing, but I can't help but notice how so many networks treat Black History Month as an afterthought. Most of the networks claiming to "celebrate" black history are simply airing repeats. Obviously, whether or not people will tune in is going to depend on the quality of the programming, no matter what the subject happens to be, but if we're going to have one month out of the year when a certain element of American history is put under the spotlight, it would make for much better television if some of the networks made an effort to create something new rather than just tossing a few reruns into the schedule. Would I watch all this new programming? Unless it was of personal interest to me, probably not. Nevertheless, I'd rather see something new than something I just saw a year ago.