Review: 'Flip: The Inside Story Of TV's First Black Superstar'

If you're under the age of 45 or 50, you probably have no idea who Flip Wilson was. Or if you know of him at all, he's that guy who dressed as the brash "Geraldine" or was known for the catchphrase, "The Devil made me do it."

But there was much more to the comedian, who was in fact not just television's first black superstar. He was an integral figure in television's slow move from stereotypes to a wider, more representative reflection of America.

Author Kevin Cook does a nice job of following the struggles of young Clerow Wilson, a motherless Jersey City dropout who became the head of the #1 show on television. It's an amazing story and one that illustrates that it is possible to start with nothing and end up owning the world-even for a brief moment.

It's easy to look at "The Flip Wilson Show" and see a man who is creating characters that he hopes will be well-received by white audiences. But as "Flip: The Inside Story Of TV's First Black Superstar" shows, all of those well-known characters were ones Wilson had been honing for years in black clubs. If characters like the Rev and Geraldine were familiar to white viewers, they were just as familiar to black audiences, who saw snippets of their everyday lives in those over-the-top portrayals.

A lot is made of Bill Cosby's move into the mainstream, but Wilson's was just as groundbreaking. He was a regular guest host on the Tonight Show, a frequent guest on every show on television and a performer that was beloved across racial lines.

His comedy style wasn't confrontational, but he wasn't afraid to tweek the racial problems of the day with a bit of satire. In an early TV performance, he brought down the house with an extended bit about how "us Negroes" needed to invite Indians to join the "movement." "We should let them into the NAACP. Of course, we'd have to change the name. Maybe we call it the N-double-A-C-P-double-I-G-B. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Immediately, and Indians on a gradual basis."

When "The Flip Wilson Show" premiered it was an immediate hit. Not just because of Wilson's characters, but because of the guest stars. Shows featured B.B. King teamed up with Sid Caesar or Andy Griffith working alongside Curtis "Superfly" Mayfield. Later seasons featured a writing staff that included George Carlin and Richard Pryor and Wilson's Little David records released a number of memorable comedy albums in the 1970s.

One of the more telling sketches was in week three, when Wilson and Tomlin played characters trying to find love thanks to "Compu-Date." When a technician looks over Wilson's data and asks "You're six-foot-two?" Wilson anticipates the dawn of Internet lying by replying "If I need to be." Wilson and Tomlin's characters talk and have nearly everything in common. Except for the color of their skin. So when the computer matches him with someone of the same color, he walks off-stage sadly, looking longingly back at Tomlin. It's a style of comedy that isn't heavy-handed, but makes a point about racism nonetheless.

But Wilson was also a businessman. He didn't just have the top show on television. He produced and owned it and while he never made Seinfeld money off the episodes, he was a rare example of a black performer who had some control over his destiny.

But the trauma he went through as a child had an effect on his adult life. He was estranged from his children, unable to trust anyone and was often erratic and moody. His later years were difficult and it's sad to think that such a talented man spent so much of his life alone.

"Flip: The Inside Story Of TV's First Black Superstar" is a great read and it's an important book for any serious fan of television.