Who Is Mary Lou Belli and Why Does She Keep Getting Emmy Nominations? Emmys ... “I’m Your Pappy” opens with a black-and-white sequence that mocks the classic sitcom.

Director Mary Lou Belli, a surprise Emmy nominee for 'The Ms. Pat Show,' explains how she found her niche in Black sitcoms as a white woman.

The beginning of the episode also pays a lovely homage to old black and white sitcoms. To prepare for the scene, Belli reveals, "I said, ‘Pat I want you to think of this duster as a magic wand ...

The Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture opened in 1983 and is named after Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist and composer, who worked with Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.