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The trend toward diversity both in front of and behind the camera finally seems like it’s here to stay with the success of this season’s rookie shows Empire, Black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder, Fresh Off the Boat, Jane the Virgin and others, reports AdWeek.
Channing Dungey, ABC EVP of network drama says the network doesn’t have a diversity mandate, and goes on to cite the rule that every network exec offers when you ask this question: “It’s about authenticity,” she told the trade magazine. “We’ve been very focused on reflecting the world we’re living in.”
The other point TV execs make about diversity is that it’s not just doing good, it’s doing good business, and that point certainly played out over this TV season. Really, it’s a long time coming because networks have been making at least cursory efforts toward adding diversity for years, but this season seemed to finally mark the tipping point.
ABC already has made a splash by turning over Thursday nights to African-American super-showrunner Shonda Rhimes, who’s adding a new show to primetime, The Catch. ABC also is scheduling comedy Dr. Ken, starring Korean-American Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Community) on Fridays nights, and it’s remaking Uncle Buck with an all-African-American cast.
Beyond ABC, both broadcast and cable nets are developing programs with diverse talent.
Fox has Rosewood, starring Morris Chestnut, coming this fall, and it’s also ordered a remake of the BBC America’s Luther, which stars Idris Elba across the pond.
In midseason, NBC has scheduled a cop drama Shades of Blue starring Jennifer Lopez, Hot & Bothered starring Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria and Superstore starring Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera.
Over on cable, A+E Networks is remaking Roots, which it will air across A&E, Lifetime and History. African-American director John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) is working on Snowfall for FX, and Rhimes is showing up there too, with a limited series called The Warmth of Other Suns about the Great Migration of African-Americans from the American South to other parts of the U.S.
Two other projects about the Underground Railroad also are in progress: WGN America is working on Underground, while NBC is developing Freedom Run, executive produced by Stevie Wonder.
Brief Take: With more and more series featuring diverse casts coming to air, diversity is likely to stop being a trend and start being a standard part of the TV landscape.
Read More: AdWeek
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