After 150 years in the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic, blackface rightly slunk to the fringes of entertainment by the end of the 1970s.
Occasionally it resurfaces, usually as comedy. Sometimes it’s presented as colourblind impersonation (Fantasy Football, Come Fly With Me), sometimes clown grotesque (The League of Gentlemen). Most frequently it wields a shield of satire, with varying levels of success (Brass Eye, Tropic Thunder, The Sarah Silverman Program).