Kevin Reilly promises a gayer, blacker FOX

By Daniel Fienberg

July 14, 2008 3:04 PM

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Given the current state of the television landscape, questions of diversity are likely to come up with some frequency in the coming days. FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly just had the good fortune to face them first on Monday (July 14) morning.

Somewhat less fortunate was Reilly's place in front of the press on the morning that the GLAAD Network Responsibility Index report came out, giving FOX a failing grade in issues of on-air lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender representation.

"I can say that we've got several shows now moving forward with gay characters in them," Reilly says, regarding the GLAAD report and previous statements he'd made regarding the network's diversity in these matters. "Sometimes you've actually got great representation, and then for creative reasons or commercial reasons, something gets canceled and your numbers go down. That's something we're really committed to. In fact, we're in production on a pilot right now, Virtuality, that Ron Moore and Michael Taylor created. Pete Berg is directing it. And it's got a gay relationship that is as dimensional and as honest as anything I've ever seen portrayed on television. So if we move forward on that, I think that would end being something to really note."

That led fluidly, then, to issues of racial diversity, where network TV is getting a generally failing grade this summer. To FOX's credit, the network does, indeed, have the season's only African-American leading man in Cleveland, star of The Cleveland Show. Of course, Cleveland is animated. And he's voiced by a white guy (Mike Henry).

So how is Reilly feeling about overall diversity on the network?

"The commitment to diversity, which at one time at the networks was a department that would coordinate yearly meetings, and even if everybody meant to do well, it was not on the agenda front and center," Reilly reflects. "It is now woven into the fabric of what we do every day. In terms of creating characters and casting characters, it's really a strange disconnect to see the final result or the numbers not reflect that. I do think, across the board, FOX's numbers actually are pretty respectable. But this Fall, I think, is just somewhat a product of the strike, not as much new product. But again, I know what we have in the pipeline, and they're all very, very diverse shows. So I feel pretty comfortable that you're going to see this issue. And I hope there's a day soon when this question doesn't even come up."

So there you go.