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TwitterFall TV is looking pretty monochromatic
After the network upfronts ended last week, one of the things that went through my mind was, "Jeez, this is not a good year for minority actors."
Running the numbers, it turns out that non-white actors in the fall's new series aren't that underrepresented in comparison to the population as a whole. But lead roles for minority actors are still few and far between, which is probably what triggered my reaction in the first place.
The 20 new scripted shows on the five broadcast networks this fall have, by my count, 135 regulars (including the voice cast of "The Cleveland Show" on FOX). Of those 135 people, 30 are African-American, Latino, Asian-American or multiracial -- about 22 percent, or not that much different than 2000 census figures that show just under 25 percent of the population as non-white.
Only a handful of 30 actors, though, have what could plausibly be called a lead role. The core cast of FOX's sitcom "Brothers" is all African-American, with Darryl "Chill" Mitchell and Michael Strahan playing the titular siblings. Derek Luke gets first billing in NBC's medical show "Trauma," LL Cool J shares lead duties with Chris O'Donnell in "NCIS: Los Angeles" and Lindsay Price is one of three leads in ABC's "Eastwick" -- but that's it in terms of starring roles.
Several other shows, including The CW's "Melrose Place" and "The Beautiful Life," ABC's "Flash Forward," and NBC's "Community," have all done a decent job at casting diverse ensembles. Three of the five regular voice actors on "The Cleveland Show" (though not Mike Henry, who voices the black lead character) are African-American.
Otherwise, the pickings are pretty slim for minority actors -- again. That doesn't seem like it should be happening in 2009.
Does it? Shouldn't casting diverse actors on TV be pretty much a matter of course by now?
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What a racist story from Porter. I want casting of the BEST actors, not a quota system. Shouldn't writers stop looking for racist stories in 2009? His is the same liberal sentiment that gave us our horrible president, who was elected because he happens to be half black.
Wow, pointing out lack of diversity is racist? And can Jo guarantee that all these new shows actually do have "the BEST actors?"
Well you named 5 minority actors as a lead. That means 16.7% of those 30 minority actors are in a leading role(5/30 = 16.7%). That's not that far from the under 25% minorities that live in the US.
Whatever, Jo. Your deny, deny, deny approach to racism doesn't make it go away one bit. And much like the fat kid who gets called "fat" by the skinny kid, saying "no, you're the fat one!" won't make your weight problem go away. Get a clue. I don't see the word racism or racist at all in this article, so your much protest says it all.
Anyway now that I'm done feeding the zoo entertainment, Porter doesn't go far enough. This is not 2000, we're talking about the 2009-2010 seaon. The latest Census figures (2008) show the "non-white" proportion of the population to be 34%. By 2010 it'll likely be around 36%. That is not "not that much different" from 22%.
There is no lack of qualified talent of color. Hollywood is simply not interested in diversity and should at least be honest and admit that. That won't happen because Hollywood wants all those "of color" persons to keep watching all those white shows, so they pay token attention to diversity: sprinkle in a few stereotypical minorities as supporting cast members, then cite old Census data (yeah, SAG) to try to prove that diversity has been achieved. Then their liberal hearts can sleep well at night. Viva Hollywood!
Jo...you might want to look up the definition of "racist". Presenting the mere realities of the television landscape doesn't make one rascist.
And no one is claiming that the best actor for the job should get the part. The simple fact is that people of color are not even given an opportunity, as they aren't writing lead roles for people of color.
I'm interested to know the percentages of minority show runners/creators.
5/30 minority actors are leads. How many of the 105 white actors are leads?
This article is soooo stupid!
What's sad is to compare the percentage of black people (or minorities in general) who watch TV to the percentage of black characters represented on television. Black folks watch TV the most but very rarely see themselves in the characters they watch. It's just kind of unfortunate.
Where did "ReallyThough" get her numbers? There was no such thing as a 2008 census. They only happen every 10 years (I do believe that numbers are starting to be collected for the newest one now).
To get to the 22% though they had to collectively count everyone who is not Caucasian. If you were looking at only blacks, or only Latinos, only Asians, or only mixed ethnicity the numbers would be even sadder. Plus, the leads aren't spread out evenly. Having a couple of "black" shows with a cast of African Americans doesn't even the score. On the shows where it's all white with a one or two minorities it's still barely concealed tokenism.