Race & Ethnicity On TV

[galax-arena]

While I do agree that other POC can often be erased/minimized in the conversation about diversity, I think the other poster might have just been meaning to compare the strides (or lack thereof) that black women have made compared to black men with respect to media representation? Like a show or movie might be hailed for black representation, but that representation will typically favor black men.

 

This is a tangent (about a movie, not a tv show), but OP's comment reminded me: I recall a lot of controversy regarding Straight Outta Compton; wasn't there some sort of casting call for female extras that had some really gross racism/colorism involved? I'm not familiar with the actual history of NWA, but I heard a lot of complaints that while everyone was lauding the movie for centering black people's (men) experience, it threw black women under the bus. I don't know if that's the sort of thing that the OP meant. 

Edited March 7, 2016 by galax-arena

[DearEvette]

My reading comprehension level aside,and since you asked the question, why shouldn't it be a white dude? Does there have to be a reason it can't be? Haven't we gotten to the point now where race doesn't matter that much? Or does it actually still count, but only sometimes? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Nope we haven't.  The entire article that this discussion previously referenced was just about that very thing.  The lack of opportunities for non-white people for no other reason because they are non-white.  All of those people in that article were sharing the experiences they had not getting work  because they are black, Latinx, Asian etc.  and the discrimination they face because of it. 

 

When movies like Exodus: Gods and Kings or Gods of Egypt or <Insert movie set in a place with mostly brown people telling the history of mostly brown people> all get cast with white folks in principal roles with the reasoning that "everybody can relate to white people, they are universal" or "Movies won't get made without white people" then race matters very much.

 

And the reason it I always go back to question white inclusion in everything ever and ever amen is because when the issue of 'diversity' comes up it usually ends up being 'white people plus one other non-white race.'   You ask the question "why shouldn't it be a white dude?'  I ask "Why should it be?"  If the issue of a cast being too Latinx or too black comes up instead of once again saying "we need to add a white guy" , why not just say "we should diversify this and add other ethnicities."  That opens it up to every other race not just white. And hey if a white person just so happens to get cast then they do, but the opportunity and options for non-whites should be there too.

 

One of the things I loved about Aziz Ansari's show is that his show actually shows minorities interacting with other minorities regularly all the time.  It is like a rare unicorn sighting on tv sometimes whereas where I live and work even my small little town I see that everyday.  It really isn't the unusual thing tv would have us believe it is.

Edited March 7, 2016 by DearEvette

[LydiaMoon1]

Haven't we gotten to the point now where race doesn't matter that much?

 

 

Not even close.

[JBC344]

 

He disappeared -- the audience thought he was dead, but the characters just knew he was gone incommunicado.  He was out for most of the season and only returned (in true telenovela fashion) at the end of the last ep as the leads were re-igniting their love.

==================================================================

ETA:

So I see that the second season of Wayward Pines (why?????) will follow a familiar pattern: A mostly white cast, with one black man (Djimon Hounsou in this case), and no black women -- a woman of color but not black. This is the new "diversity".

I'm happy to see black men cast, and I'm VERY happy to see that a BM-WF relationship is fairly well accepted. I'm less happy to see no such acceptance for black women even getting parts.

Terrence Howard is also coming back to the second season.

[jhlipton]

Is this a problem? I mean, more diversity is great, but I am always bewildered that a show is not demonstrating diversity unless a black person is cast. 

 

I'm all for diversity, but count the shows that have an Asian, Latin[o/a], Indian or mixed lead.  Now count the shows that have a black lead.  Now count the number that have a black female lead.  And one where she has a normal love-life?  

The bio-pic of Nina Simone will star Zoe Saldana.  There are any number of extremely talented actress/singers who look a lot more like Ms Simone than Saldana does (I belive she even used make-up to darken her skin.  I think there''s a term for that...).  

 

The new show about the Underground Railroad will have a black male lead and a mixed female lead. The black women are relegated to the tertiary parts,  Does that sound right to you?

[After7Only]

Is this a problem? I mean, more diversity is great, but I am always bewildered that a show is not demonstrating diversity unless a black person is cast. I remember the media response when Alfre Woodard was cast in Desperate Housewives--finally, a black woman on Wisteria Lane! If Woodward was one of the original four woman and Eva Longorio was introduced in the second season, I'm pretty sure there would not be a "Finally, a Latina on Wisteria Lane! outcry. Similarly, when Julie on Friends was played by Lauren Tom in the second season, her being Asian did not lessen the criticism of Friends' lack of diversity. But years later when Gabrielle Union and Aisha Taylor guest starred on Friends, I vividly recalled the media mentioning how they were first non-white main characters on that show. 

 

I actually do think that if scenario had been reversed, where Eva Longoria had been added to the cast after Alfre, that there would have been a "Finally a Latina" moment.  Actual Latino families, where being Latino is part of the storyline and character development was and still is rare on TV.  Vanessa Williams also starred in Desperate Housewives, I don't think that was a show that was ever heavily criticized for lack of diversity.  

 

Friends on the other hand was criticized because it was set in one of the most diverse cities in America, and the cast was all white.  No major characters at all of color.  If any of the major characters had been a POC (Asian, Latina, etc.) with POC families... then it wouldn't have received the criticism that it did.  

 

 

While I do agree that other POC can often be erased/minimized in the conversation about diversity, I think the other poster might have just been meaning to compare the strides (or lack thereof) that black women have made compared to black men with respect to media representation? Like a show or movie might be hailed for black representation, but that representation will typically favor black men.

 

This is a tangent (about a movie, not a tv show), but OP's comment reminded me: I recall a lot of controversy regarding Straight Outta Compton; wasn't there some sort of casting call for female extras that had some really gross racism/colorism involved? I'm not familiar with the actual history of NWA, but I heard a lot of complaints that while everyone was lauding the movie for centering black people's (men) experience, it threw black women under the bus. I don't know if that's the sort of thing that the OP meant. 

 

The casting call was for lighter-skinned black women.  It is very rare to see a darker skinned black woman on film, as an object of desire or romantic lead, unfortunately.  

[xaxat]

The tensest moment on ‘The Bachelor: Women Tell All’ wasn’t about love—it was about race
 
I don't watch the show, so I was really surprised to read that the conversation was about this. . . 
 

Amber and Jami are biracial, half black and half white; Jubilee—a fan favorite, despite experiencing tension with some of the other women in the house—is Haitian-American. Jami accused Jubilee of claiming that she was the only “real black girl” on their season, and that she “would be the first full black woman to make it far on this show.”

“I would joke around and say, ‘Oh, I’m the token Canadian this season,’ and you’d say, ‘I’m the real black girl,'” Jami said.
Jubilee initially denied this characterization, clarifying, “I might have said I was bringing some diversity, but I would never say that I’m the ‘real black girl’ on the show."

[Ms Blue Jay]

Ha, I watch the show.  People are either totally Team Jubilee or NOT, I find.  I would take what Jami and Amber say with a grain of salt because in one episode Jubilee seemed to kind of be a front runner and Amber tried to verbally attack her in front of The Bachelor, almost begging Jubilee to have some kind of conflict with her.  Jubilee and The Bachelor were not having it.  

 

Anyway, to me, Jubilee is an amazing woman (an orphan from Haiti and currently a Sergeant in the military) and I'd love it if she was picked for The Bachelorette next season but I have no hope.  There's a chance it could be a woman named Caila who is half white and half Asian so people are excited about the possible diversity.  I guess it's good that this season was SOMEWHAT, sort of, a tiny bit diverse...  But the last two women standing this season are of course white women.

 

Also, if you've heard of the show UnReal -- it is a fictional show about the behind the scenes working of a show just like The Bachelor - very thinly disguised reference to it.  It's a great soapy show and very addictive.  This coming Season 2 will feature a black Bachelor!  Something the real Bachelor/Bachelorette have never done in their 20-30 seasons?

Edited March 9, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ohwell]

I think the problem with having a black Bachelor, if he selected someone other than a black woman, black people *women* would jump all over him.  It might not be as bad for a black Bachelorette though because I don't think black men would howl as much.  OTOH, if a white Bachelor/ette selected someone outside of his or her race, some white people might have an issue, but I just don't see there being as much of a problem.  Having said all that, I would like to see a POC Bachelor/ette.

[Irlandesa]

OTOH, if a white Bachelor/ette selected someone outside of his or her race, some white people might have an issue, but I just don't see there being as much of a problem.  Having said all that, I would like to see a POC Bachelor/ette.

I really don't know why they haven't had a POC as Bachelor or Bachelorette.  Shows like Scandal and Empire became the massive hits they became in part because of WOC who watched the shows and watched them live. And it's also somewhat due to the fact that the WOC on those shows are objects of desire.  A few white people might get pissed off but from a business perspective, there's likely more value ratings wise to go with one than sticking with the same old same old.

[Minneapple]

ABC has had a POC as a Bachelor -- Juan Pablo Galavis. 

[Irlandesa]

Aaah, I don't watch so I shouldn't have jumped in but I do remember reading tales of him. 

 

Still, I do think a black woman could be more popular than ABC thinks.

[Wax Lion]

I don't follow The Bachelor closely but I'll see stuff occasionally that mentions that ABC worries about having another "out of control" bachelor like Juan Pablo (who did create a lot of media controversies by not having a sense of things he shouldn't say to the press, like when he made homophobic comments). So while it's true that Juan Pablo was not the ideal bachelor, I sometimes wonder if those comments hint at a "We tried having a PoC Bachelor and it didn't work out."

[Ms Blue Jay]

So ABC thinks he was out of control BECAUSE he was a person of colour?  Yeah, that's not racist at all.  (Sarcasm)  Also I watched Kaitlyn's season and she is white.  A LOT of viewers seemed to have "issues" with how she conducted herself.  Were the ratings in trouble for either Juan Pablo's or Kaitlyn's season?  And if they weren't, I must ask, what the fuck does ABC care what their contestants do?  (That would be offtopic though, I'm sure).

 

Anyways, I totally agree that it's beyond due to keep having people of colour as Bachelors and Bachelorettes.  Why?  For the Bachelor it's been 19 seasons.  For the Bachelorette it's been 11.  It's long overdue and no way that ABC can claim fear that the ratings would disappear because of it.  There are just no goddamn excuses anymore.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Wax Lion]

So ABC thinks he was out of control BECAUSE he was a person of colour?

 

 

 

Just to be clear, I'm saying I wonder if that's what bubbles underneath the talk about Juan Pablo being hard to control. 

 

It's not the idea that he was troublesome because he was a person of color, sometimes privilege shows up in media in the form of seeing everything wrong with your first X (in this case the first PoC Bachelor) as part of a grand experiment that didn't work and not the problem with an individual. Since that didn't work out, the thought tends to be "Let's not try that experiment again." instead of looking past race and seeing Juan Pablo problems as The Bachelor as being comparable to Bob whasshisname's problems.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Wax Lion

[BoogieBurns]

 

Just for reference, this is the Bachelor's POC. He looks exactly like all the other bachelors. 

[DearEvette]

Juan Pablo is Latino but i thought he was a white Latino.  Does he self identify as non-white does anyone know?  His family is Venezuelan and according to a quick Wikipedia search, White and/or Mestizo make up about 97% of the population. 

Edited March 10, 2016 by DearEvette

[After7Only]

Juan Pablo was a "safe" POC pic.  He looked like just about every other Bachelor they had, but he was from a foreign country and had an accent.  Juan Pablo had a lot of problems though with his season besides the homo-phobic stuff he said.  He did not sell a grand romance during his season.  One of his final 3 quit after an overnight date where she realized he was dumb as a box of rocks and extremely shallow.  He didn't propose to the "winner" he selected, and then refused to tell her that he loved her, even during the reunion show months later (and was kinda an ass about it).  He pitched a fit about not being selected for Dancing with the Stars (due to his homophobic comments).  He really was a disaster Bachelor.  

 

Hope he didn't scare ABC from future POC Bachelors...LOL

[Ms Blue Jay]

It would be extremely prejudiced and beyond stupid of ABC to draw a conclusion that JP being problematic equals no more POC Bachelors.

[Raja]

Juan Pablo is Latino but i thought he was a white Latino.  Does he self identify as non-white does anyone know?  His family is Venezuelan and according to a quick Wikipedia search, White and/or Mestizo make up about 97% of the population. 

It is one of those situations like Turks are people of color in Europe but White in America. It doesn't matter what he considers himself for current American political/social concerns he is now a person of color.

[xaxat]

In a bit of reverse whitewashing, Elodie Yung is currently playing the character Elektra Natchios on the Netflix show Daredevil. As you may infer from the name, Elektra is Greek, but the Cambodian French Yung is clearly not just Greek.

 

I just wished they would have made the same decision for Iron Fist.

[Ms Blue Jay]

An article about Iron Fist:

 

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/with_iron_fist_marvel_and_netflix_make_a_white_man_lord_of_the_urban_jungle.html?wpisrc=newstories&utm_content=buffer116ec&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[Raja]

An article about Iron Fist:

 

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/with_iron_fist_marvel_and_netflix_make_a_white_man_lord_of_the_urban_jungle.html?wpisrc=newstories&utm_content=buffer116ec&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Of particular interest is the comments section where long term fans of the source material chime in. All of the sudden are we revert to the world where any hand to hand fighter who was not a boxer or wrestler must have a known Asian in his genetic mix?

[xaxat]

The furor isn't because a white guy is playing someone who excels in the martial arts. (No one complained about Daredevil's casting.) It's that Iron Fist is the embodiment of of a fictional mystical power that is explicitly Asian in origin.

[DearEvette]

I think the furor is more along the lines of, here is an opportunity redress something that should not have happened in the first place and Netflix missed a golden opportunity.

 

Iron Fist first appeared sometime in the 70s, most likely he is the spiritual inheritor of the same idea that made David Carradine the Caine character in the tv show King Fu which aired sometime before Iron Fist.  Nobody really had the platform to protest loudly or even point out the problematic issues surrounding a white guy appropriating Asian martial arts culture (teachings, lifestyle philosophy, language, mannerism etc.) and presenting it as something easy to digest for white audiences.

 

So of course Iron Fist was created as a white guy in the comic books.  That is what they did back in the day.  Creating him as an actual Asian superhero was way too progressive.  Kinda like of course Luke Cage as a black superhero is going to come from the 'hood in Harlem and be a product of gang culture and  be heavily influenced by the Blaxploitation films of he time cuz that is what black people were all like in the 70s!.  

 

The problem with comic book purists holding onto Iron Fist being a white guy as some inviolable canon is they are refusing to acknowledge the flawed historical/political context of his creation.  By rights a character like Iron Fist should have been Asian in the first place. But he wasn't because that is not how Marvel rolled back in the day. Easier to create X-men as an allegory of otherness...

 

But  in today's climate where we are a bit more woke about stuff like that... and race bending is not without precedent, making Danny Rand Asian could have been a way to address the thorny issues of appropriation. 

[VCRTracking]

The problem with comic book purists holding onto Iron Fist being a white guy as some inviolable canon is they are refusing to acknowledge the flawed historical/political context of his creation.  By rights a character like Iron Fist should have been Asian in the first place. But he wasn't because that is not how Marvel rolled back in the day. Easier to create X-men as an allegory of otherness...

 

They already had Shang-Chi, an Asian kung fu character who was created two years before Iron Fist and was pretty much a Bruce Lee clone. Writer Roy Thomas who created him with artist Gil Kane:

 

..started "Iron Fist" because I'd seen my first kung fu movie, even before a Bruce Lee one came out, and it had a thing called 'the ceremony of the Iron Fist' in it. I thought that was a good name, and we already had Master of Kung Fu going, but I thought, 'Maybe a superhero called Iron Fist, even though we had Iron Man, would be a good idea.' [Publisher] Stan [Lee] liked the name, so I got hold of Gil and he brought in his Amazing Man influences, and we designed the character together.

 

Reading the character backstory Thomas obviously borrowed from the movie and book Lost Horizon and Batman's origin for Danny Rand.

Edited March 25, 2016 by VCRTracking

[Drogo]

It's getting very stank in here, very quickly. 

 

Take it easy, folks.

 

[Raja]

Juan Pablo was a "safe" POC pic.  He looked like just about every other Bachelor they had, but he was from a foreign country and had an accent.  Juan Pablo had a lot of problems though with his season besides the homo-phobic stuff he said.  He did not sell a grand romance during his season.  One of his final 3 quit after an overnight date where she realized he was dumb as a box of rocks and extremely shallow.  He didn't propose to the "winner" he selected, and then refused to tell her that he loved her, even during the reunion show months later (and was kinda an ass about it).  He pitched a fit about not being selected for Dancing with the Stars (due to his homophobic comments).  He really was a disaster Bachelor.  

 

Hope he didn't scare ABC from future POC Bachelors...LOL

Back to a "safe" person of color according to the LA Times a Filipina was up for the next Bachelorette. given what is going on outside of TV should an Asian women get the normal mix of characters and choose a White over an Asian I am sure ABC didn't want to deal with that political/ethnic drama on the top of their fairy tale hook up show.

[galax-arena]

Has anyone been following the Hamilton casting call controversy? Some white people were complaining about Hamilton's exclusionary casting because the casting notices asked for POC actors only. A civil rights attorney said that the casting call unfairly discriminated against white actors, and then Actors' Equity got into the act by saying that the notice was inconsistent with Equity's policy. I'm going to go out on a limb though and guess that they haven't said boo to the numerous white-only casting calls out there. 

 

Anyway, this is Broadway, not TV, but I wanted to post it here because a) the comparisons/expectations between casting for Broadway and casting for TV are interesting - is Broadway expected to be more colorblind? - and b) Constance Wu's tweet about this gave me life. 

Edited April 1, 2016 by galax-arena

[possibilities]

Oh wow, thanks for posting that Constance Wu tweet. After loving it, I started reading what else she's been saying, and she's fabulous. I am going to follow her, and that's despite that I've been trying to cut back on how much media I consume.

[ribboninthesky1]

I knew that casting call would cause controversy, especially due to Hamilton being such a hit.  I doubt anyone would have cared if it was just some off-Broadway play that didn't get much shine. Given that "racism" and "reverse racism" is used increasingly without irony in context of US whites, I'm not at all surprised Hamilton had to amend their casting call.

 

On a different, yet tangentially related note, I came across this interesting Fortune interview with Glenn Mazzara, a former producer of The Walking Dead.  Notable quote:

 

 

What surprised me was that when I reached out to agencies people thought I was just covering myself, that I wasn’t sincere,” says Mazzara. “And I really started to see as an employer that the system is rigged to accept white males, to train them and keep them in the pipeline. It’s very difficult to get other people into the pipeline and then to give them the tools to succeed. There’s resistance not just on a systemic level but in the writers’ room.

 

Also interesting (emphasis mine): 

 

 

Sometimes in Hollywood, showrunners will say, ‘I don’t want to hire a black writer—I had one and it didn’t work out,’” says Mazzara. “We will hire a woman to represent the strong female perspective. Why can’t she represent everyone’s perspective? This needs to be corrected, this needs to be changed. It’s better business to have more people telling their stories. The material is better. And it’s not right to be dealing from a stacked deck.

 

*sips tea*

Edited April 1, 2016 by ribboninthesky1

[funkopop]

Anyway, this is Broadway, not TV, but I wanted to post it here because a) the comparisons/expectations between casting for Broadway and casting for TV are interesting - is Broadway expected to be more colorblind? - and b) Constance Wu's tweet about this gave me life. 

 

I know a lot of the press around Hamilton has lauded its colorblind casting but I could have sworn Lin Manuel made a statement saying that if you are colorblind casting Hamilton, you are doing it wrong.  

[galax-arena]

I know a lot of the press around Hamilton has lauded its colorblind casting but I could have sworn Lin Manuel made a statement saying that if you are colorblind casting Hamilton, you are doing it wrong.

This is from an interview with the NY Times; maybe this is the quote you're thinking of?

Miranda That’ll be the note that goes with the school productions: If this show ends up looking like the actual founding fathers, you messed up.

He also says that he wanted the production to feel more like how the country actually looks today. So there's definite intentional racial subversion going on and not true colorblind casting. 

[Neurochick]

The thing that gets me about Hamilton is that because the show is a hit, white actors are complaining; but no one ever complains about the countless shows, movies and plays that have all white casts, POC are supposed to just "suck it up" and "stop being so sensitive."  

 

And I went to see the musical "1776" in 1970 and there were no POC in that show; so maybe they should just revive that show. 

[Irlandesa]

And I went to see the musical "1776" in 1970 and there were no POC in that show; so maybe they should just revive that show.

There's actually a short run of that happening right now as part of Encores in NYC. It's starring Santino Fontana (Greg in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Saperstein in Shades of Blue and Hanz? in Frozen ) and John Laroquette (Night Court). But when they cast, they too added POC as part of the cast. Not as extensively as Hamilton but even 1776 isn't all white.

[Minneapple]

The thing that gets me about Hamilton is that because the show is a hit, white actors are complaining; but no one ever complains about the countless shows, movies and plays that have all white casts, POC are supposed to just "suck it up" and "stop being so sensitive."  

 

Don't forget a couple years ago, they managed to cast Aladdin with zero actual Middle Eastern actors.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

And I went to see the musical "1776" in 1970 and there were no POC in that show; so maybe they should just revive that show.

 

As Irlandesa mentioned above.  Martha Jefferson is black, so is Richard Henry Lee.

[jhlipton]

I'm going to go out on a limb though and guess that they haven't said boo to the numerous white-only casting calls out there.

 

I saw a promo a while back for a show called Houdini and Doyle.  I am 100% positive that the casting for the leads was absolutely race-blind.

 

I don't think I've seen a black woman (as opposed to a "woman of [light] color") as a primary or secondary character in any new shows other than The Family.

 

ETA:

Here's a list of new shows.  I stand by my comment above,

Edited April 2, 2016 by jhlipton

[paulvdb]

I don't think I've seen a black woman (as opposed to a "woman of [light] color") as a primary or secondary character in any new shows other than The Family.

I went through that list and looks like I've watched only three of them, but in addition to The Family there is also Carlease Burke as the step-grandmother on Crowded.

[DearEvette]

Rose Rollins plays the co-owner of the detective agency and best friend of Mireille Enos'  character on The Catch. 

Edited April 3, 2016 by DearEvette

[Ms Blue Jay]

As soon as I saw the commercials for the new Rush Hour show, I knew with certainty that the person that they cast to play the Jackie Chan role was half-Asian, not full.  Obviously I think it's great when visible minorities / mixed actors get lead roles in American television shows, but I have to admit I find that a little weird.  It'd be similar if they cast somebody like Jesse Williams in the Chris Tucker role.  

 

Anyway, just saw the headline for this article on Twitter:

 

Yahoo TV ‏@YahooTV  16m16 minutes ago
We watched so you don't have to: The 13 most offensive things about CBS' #RushHour pilot: http://yhoo.it/1X49N42

 

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/rush-hour-the-14-most-offensive-things-about-194455051.html

[jhlipton]

I went through that list and looks like I've watched only three of them, but in addition to The Family there is also Carlease Burke as the step-grandmother on Crowded.

Rose Rollins plays the co-owner of the detective agency and best friend of Mireille Enos'  character on The Catch. 

 

Thanks for pointing out these two.

 

Rolliins is hella hotter than Enos (and interesting that a man was first cast for her role).  Too bad black women can't lead a show!

[xaxat]

The Catch is a Shonda Rhimes production, who has Kerry Washington and Viola Davis as the leads on her other shows.

[DearEvette]

Heh. It looks like Shonda Rhimes and Fox account for pretty much 100% of network dramas with black female leads.

- Minority Report is cancelled

- Sleepy Hollow's fate is up in the air

- Empire will be back

 

ABC is the most diverse across different ethnicites.  Including the Shonda shows, we have:

Quantico - East Indian female lead

Agents of SHIELD - Asian female leads

 

NBC is partial to Latina leads:

-Chicago Fire

-Shades of Blue

 

CBS surprisingly has a lot more female lead shows that I'd thought, but only one with a WOC:  Elementary (Asian female lead) or two if we consider Grace Park (Asian) a lead in Hawaii 5-0

 

In addition to the ones mentioned above, Fox also has a Latina lead in Rosewood.

 

If we add in comedies:

 

ABC is still pretty diverse:

Blackish (black female lead)

Fresh Off the Boat (Asian female lead)

 

NBC is till pretty partial to Latinas:

-SuperStore

-Telenovela

 

CBS:   Crickets.  Crickets.  I am not finding any WOC leads or co-leads in any CBS comedies.  Unless we count CW as a subsidiary, which case Jane the Virgin would count.

[possibilities]

Carmichael Show (NBC) has WOC female leads. The show is an ensemble, but I still think it counts. Jerrod may be the title character, but he doesn't really get more lines or screen time than his girlfriend, Maxine, or his mom, played by Loretta Devine. They're certainly as prominent as Watson on CBS's Elementary.

 

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) might also count, if you consider Rosa Diaz and Amy Santiago.

 

It's still way too few, though, any way you count.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Thanks for pointing out these two.

 

Rolliins is hella hotter than Enos (and interesting that a man was first cast for her role).  Too bad black women can't lead a show!

 

I personally think that Mireille Enos is devastatingly beautiful.  Also, I'm sure the entire show was based around her low-key 'star power' because she headed The Killing.  Meanwhile, the MALE lead of the show certainly could have been a person of colour.  Instead, the show replaced Damon Dayoub with Peter Krause.  Could have been a tale of a woman dating a younger, ethnic looking man, and is now re-cast with fricking Ken doll Peter Krause.  I was disappointed.  So far, though, Rose Rollins does seem so hot and talented that I could see her leading her own show eventually.  Everyone on The Catch threads seems to really like her.

 

I really love The Carmichael Show, by the way.  That is an all-black show.

 

I have sung my praises for Brooklyn Nine Nine before - incredibly multiracial show that constantly pairs up people of different races in romantic situations without blinking or thinking twice.  Out of the 7 main cast members, only 2 are white, and they are NOT the leads who I'd say are Andy Samberg (Jewish) and Andre Braugher (black).  And they have another 2 middle aged white guys who are the background characters.  What other show has the balls to do that!

 

We had a great discussion about this in the Master of None threads.  That is a Netflix show, and I'd say the 3rd "lead" in that show is a black female.  Lead is Indian male.  Speaking of Netflix, Orange is the New Black always has a lot of black women in the main cast, but I wouldn't say they are 'leads'.

 

Say what you will about Shonda, but she breaks ground like it's nothing.  There's also Mindy Kaling.  Who I've bitched many times does nothing for MEN of colour, but there you go.... ; )   Jess's friend on New Girl is a woman of colour, Hannah Simone, and she's been given a lot more to do on the show lately, she's one of an ensemble of 5.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Demented Daisy]

ABC is still pretty diverse:

Blackish (black female lead)

Fresh Off the Boat (Asian female lead)

 

Don't forget Dr. Ken.

[DearEvette]

Carmichael Show (NBC) has WOC female leads. The show is an ensemble, but I still think it counts. Jerrod may be the title character, but he doesn't really get more lines or screen time than his girlfriend, Maxine, or his mom, played by Loretta Devine. They're certainly as prominent as Watson on CBS's Elementary.

 

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) might also count, if you consider Rosa Diaz and Amy Santiago.

 

It's still way too few, though, any way you count.

 

Yeah, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is great for diversity and a fab show.  One of my faves.  But I was trying to look at show where there were true leads, not necessarily ensembles.

 

I also considered Chicago Med, because it has three black female main characters, but none of them, imo, could be considered leads, esp. since none of them so far has gotten any storylines of their own really.  Or rather nothing that drives narrative or speaks to their inner lives.

[Wax Lion]

Agents of SHIELD - Asian female leads

 

Something pointed out to me in the debate over the Iron Fist casting -- SHIELD has the only major Asian characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No Asians in the Netflix corner, none in the movies.

[St. Claire]

Has anyone been following the Hamilton casting call controversy? Some white people were complaining about Hamilton's exclusionary casting because the casting notices asked for POC actors only. A civil rights attorney said that the casting call unfairly discriminated against white actors, and then Actors' Equity got into the act by saying that the notice was inconsistent with Equity's policy. I'm going to go out on a limb though and guess that they haven't said boo to the numerous white-only casting calls out there.

 

The reason the recent casting got called out was the specific text "non-white" being used as a requirement. I saw a previous casting notice (for the impending touring company) that listed each character with the requirements being a laundry list of ethnicities (African-American, Pacific Islander, South Asian, East Asian, Latino, and a bunch of others; I think the final text said something akin to "...other visible ethnicities). You can't call out who can't apply according to Equity Rules, but it's totally OK to name everyone except white. 

 

I don't want Hamilton to be color blind casting, because color blind casting would not make an effort to have a variety; you might end up with a few people of color here and there, but not a full leading cast of Latino/African-American/Asian/etc.

Edited April 4, 2016 by St. Claire