History Series / GodfatherOfHarlem

** When the Mafia forces Johnson out of the heroin business, he hatches a plan to distribute cocaine instead. However, to get a sufficient supply he has to cozy up to the CIA. The new alliance gives Johnson a massive advantage but he soon comes to regret it when the CIA starts making demands on him that he is unwilling to fulfill.

* AllForNothing: After everything that Bumpy goes through in Season 2 to take over the French Connection, [[spoiler: all the heroin he bought ends up burning down during the Harlem Riots]].

* AssassinationAttempt: Several attempts are made on Malcolm's life throughout Season 3 due to his communist ties and efforts to unite the Civil Rights Movement under his banner. [[spoiler: One finally succeeds in killing him in the season finale.]]
* BullyingADragon: Will Harvey thinks it's a good idea to threaten the daughters of men like Chin Gigante and Bumpy Johnson to try and force them to do what he wants. [[spoiler: They throw him off a roof for his troubles.]]
* CartwrightCurse: Poor Stella Gigante can't seem to find a love interest without having her father be responsible for their deaths. Her first love, Lorenzo Bonanno, was killed by Chin out of his hatred for taking advantage of her at a young age, Teddy Greene is shot by one of Chin's men who went rogue, and Ernie is killed by Lombardi at Chin's original orders due to his aiding Stella in killing a made man (and Teddy's killer), even though Chin tries to call off Lombardi at the last minute. [[spoiler:Ultimately averted with Joe Columbo, who is arrested at the FBI's hands, though that too had Chin's involvement.]]

* CIAEvilFBIGood: Played with. While Robert Morgenthau and the FBI aren't exactly good people, they have noble goals in trying to rid Harlem of the corruption of the Italian Mafia and the African-American gangsters fighting for control in the city. And even in their most morally grey moments, they're significantly more noble than Will Harvey and the CIA, who are intending to stage a second invasion of Cuba and kill Malcolm X at all costs to prevent the spread of communism.

* DeathByIrony: In the Season 1 finale, Ernie attempts to prevent Teddy Greene's death by warning him and Stella about the danger the former is in, only to watch in horror as he's shot to death out of nowhere. In the Season 2 finale, Ernie himself is shot to death by Lombardi while Chin attempts to call off the hit he put on him, much to the latter's despair.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Adam Clayton Powell may be a sleazy CorruptPolitician and SinisterMinister, but he ultimately finds blackmailing one of his colleagues with explicit photos of sex at a nightclub to be too dirty even for him to go through with.

* IronicEcho: After screwing over one of Bumpy's plans and leaving him in debt to Luchesse, Gigante gloats that "that's me, above you". In the Season 1 finale, after [[AssassinOutclassin killing the hitman Gigante sent after him]], Bumpy calls him to let him know he failed, and throws the line back at him.

** Gigante is a violent man in the best of times, but you do ''not'' want to get involved with his daughter. When he finds out that Olympia attempted to arrange a hit on Stella through Tommy Lucchese, he cuts off the latter's fingers, and flat-out chokes the former while screaming at her that she's dead to him.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Vincent Gigante is unapologetically racist, which gives his desire to run Harlem a personal angle, as well as being particularly resistant to his daughter's romance with Teddy.

* StarCrossedLovers: Teddy Greene, a black musician, is in love with Vincent Gigante's daughter Stella.

!!Tropes Associated with Godfather of Harlem Include:

** When the Mafia forces Johnson out of the heroin business, he hatches a plan to distribute cocaine instead. However, to get a sufficient supply he has to cozzy up to the CIA. The new alliance gives Johnson a massive advantage but he soon comes to regret it when the CIA starts making demands on him that he is unwilling to fulfill.

* CartwrightCurse: Poor Stella Gigante can't seem to find a love interest without having her father be responsible for their deaths. Her first love, Lorenzo Bonanno, was killed by Chin out of his hatred for taking advantage of her at a young age, Teddy Greene is shot by one of Chin's men who went rogue, and Ernie is killed by Lombardi at Chin's original orders due to his involvement in killing a made man (and Teddy's killer), even though Chin tries to stop Lombardi at the last minute. [[spoiler:Ultimately averted with Joe Columbo, who is arrested at the FBI's hands, though that too had Chin's involvement.]]

* DeathByIrony: In the Season 1 finale, Ernie attempts to prevent Teddy Greene's death by warning him and Stella about the danger the former is in, only to watch in horror as he's shot to death out of nowhere. In the Season 2 finale, Ernie himself is shot to death by Lombardi when Chin attempts to call off the hit he put on him, much to the latter's despair.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Chin realizes how much Stella genuinely loves Ernie and that they were secretly married, he desperately attempts to call off the hit he put on him by running into the bank he sent Ernie and Lombardi to rob. He's unfortunately too late, and has to witness Ernie suffer a BoomHeadshot at Lombardi's hands. Chin is so distraught over this that he accepts his arrest at the FBI's hands and tells Stella that he doesn't blame her at all for ratting him out to them.

** Gigante is a violent man in the best of times, but you do ''not'' want to get involved with his daughter. When he finds out that Olympia attempted to perform a hit on Stella through Tommy Lucchese, he cuts off the latter's fingers, and flat-out chokes the former while screaming at her that she's dead to him.

** Chin Gigante is shown to only have one child, that being his daughter Stella. In real life, Chin had multiple children, and while he did have a number of daughters, none of them were named Stella.

** Joe Bonanno's son Lorenzo was bumped off by Chin for dating his daughter Stella, causing the former to hold a grudge against the latter. In real life, Bonanno had two sons (Salvatore and Joe Jr.), and they were banished to Arizona following their failed attempt at taking over the Commission.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: As in RealLife, Gigante feigns insanity to avoid testifying to the FBI and Congress.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Vincent Gigante, who plays the part of DumbMuscle but is a lot smarter and savvier about the inner workings of the crime world than he lets on. This is lampshaded by Bumpy Johnson at their first meeting.

* AgeLift: The real Gigante was in his [=mid-30s=] at the time this series is set whereas Creator/VincentDOnofrio was 60 when he took the part.

** Will Harvey was not killed by Bumpy Johnson or Chin Gigante in real life, rather, he died of a heart attack. He also is shown dying in the mid-60s in the show, whereas he died in 1976 in real life.

** Malcom X hates that Johnson is selling drugs in Harlem but he allies himself with Johnson in order to keep Gigante out of the neighborhood.

* EpicFail: In Season 3, Johnson sends his best men to perform a hit on a journalist as a request for Jose Battle. They forget to put bullets in the gun and their target escapes while they are trying to figure out why their gun will not fire. Afterwards they admit to Johnson that they screwed up beyond belief and there is no excuse for their failure.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Most everyone, but the more notable characters are Malcom X, Muhammad Ali, and Bumpy Johnson himself.

The series premiered on September 29, 2019. On February 12, 2020, it was renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, it was renewed for a third season, which premiered on January 15, 2023.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goh_101_03407_sw.jpg]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: Or, rather, Spiritual Prequel to ''Film/AmericanGangster''.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Chin realizes how much Stella genuinely loves Ernie and that they were secretly married, he desperately attempts to call off the hit he put on him by running into the bank he sent Ernie and Lombardi to rob. He's unfortunately too late, and has to witness Ernie suffer a BoomHeadshot at Lombardi's hands. Chin is so distraught over this that he accepts his arrest at the FBI's hands and tells Stella that he deserves what happens to him.

** The Italian mobsters are quite racist against black people, but they do not like the KKK and consider them little more than Nazis. Ernie himself is more than willing to work for Bumpy Johnson to kidnap and interrogate two KKK members on his behalf, even subjecting one of them to a CruelAndUnusualDeath because of his hatred for them.

** Malcolm X will survive numerous attempts on his life [[spoiler:but will be assassinated on February 21, 1965]].
* FriendlyNeighborhoodGangster: Bumpy is seen as this by the citizens of Harlem, but he is just as brutal and violent as any other criminal when the chips are down.

* EpicFail: Johnson sends his best men to perform a hit. They forget to put bullets in the gun and their target escapes while they are trying to figure out why their gun will not fire. Afterwards they admit to Johnson that they screwed up beyond belief and there is no excuse for their failure.

** The Italian mobsters are quite racist against the blacks but they do not like the KKK and consider them little more than Nazis.

** Malcolm X will survive numerous attempts on his life [[spoiler: but will be assassinated on February 21, 1965]].

* NeverMyFault: Bumpy refuses to accept responsibility for his role in how heroin is destroying people's lives, blaming his customers for getting addicted in the first place.

* PapaWolf: Gigante is a violent man in the best of times, but you do ''not'' want to get involved with his daughter.

''Godfather of Harlem'' is a 2019 [[CriminalProcedural Crime Drama]] that airs on Creator/{{ePix}}.

The series premiered on September 29, 2019. On February 12, 2020, it was renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, it was renewed for a third season, which is set to premiere on January 15, 2023.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Gigante is powerful but he is only the acting boss of the Genovese family. His decisions can always be overridden by the imprisoned Vito Genovese. He also cannot go against the wishes of the Mafia Commission since that would mean war with the other Mafia families. However, as long as Gigante does not overstep his bounds, these people are unlikely to interfere on behalf of Johnson. If the Commission sides with Gigante, Johnson either has to try to fight it out or go to the federal government and hope that he can get protection in exchange for his testimony.