Def Comedy Jam is a HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons

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.

The series had its original run from July 1, 1992 to January 1, 1997. The show returned on HBO's fall lineup in 2006

2006 in television

2006 in television may refer to:*2006 in American television*2006 in Australian television*2006 in British television*2006 in Canadian television*2006 in Japanese television...

. Def Comedy Jam helped to launch the careers of several African-American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

stand-up comedians.
The show was criticised for excessive foul language and negative representations of African Americans.