Why Isn't TV More Diverse? - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com: To paraphrase NBC's marketing slogan, has prime time become 'less colorful'? Looking at the casting of this fall's new TV series, the groups that monitor TV diversity think so.
Unlike last year, when at least nine new shows boasted leading roles for black, Latino and Asian-American actors (including NBC's now canceled Undercovers and Outlaw and The CW's returning Nikita), next year most minority characters are supporting roles. The networks are also airing more comedies next fall — and in recent years, half-hour sitcoms have been less diverse than dramas.
That's why there's concern that the strides made by network diversity efforts are being erased. The trend is to 'sprinkle in some African-Americans or Latinos as the second or third character,' says Vic Bulluck, who heads the NAACP's Hollywood branch. That's despite 2010 census data, which show that the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population now makes up 16.3 percent of the country, while Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders constitute 5 percent and African-Americans 12.6 percent.
