Ooops Sorry about the resend
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "tdemorsella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> November 29, 2008
> TV Casting May Feel an Obama Effect
>
> By BILL CARTER
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/arts/television/29race.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
>
> It may say something about the state of American television that there
> is one more black president-elect of the United States than there are
> black actors with individual lead roles in a network television drama.
>
> But after years of ensemble dramas sprinkled with nonwhite supporting
> actors, the excitement surrounding the election of Barack Obama could
> help to open doors for more minorities in leading dramatic roles,
> executives from television production studios said.
>
> Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment who oversees the
> network's television studio, said that he and the head of the
> diversity initiative for NBC Universal, Paula Madison, have been
> pushing for projects starring minorities.
>
> Mr. Silverman said, "We were going after this regardless, but I don't
> think you can deny the power that Barack Obama brings in magnifying
> this direction in our world." He added, "We've all been colorblind for
> years, but the results don't necessarily match up to our intentions."
>
> Ms. Madison said that NBC's approach was at least as much about
> business as about social responsibility. "People are not living in
> single-race silos anymore," she said. "We said, `Let's try to develop
> a world that looks like the world we're living in.' "
>
> The evidence seems to indicate that race neutrality has not produced a
> surge of black lead performers, at least in network dramas. While
> comedies with black characters have been something of a network staple
> from the much vilified "Amos 'n Andy" in the early days of
> television, through shows like "Sanford and Son" with Redd Foxx, "The
> Jeffersons," and Martin Lawrence's sitcom "Martin" historically,
> blacks in lead television drama roles have been rare.
>
> Bill Cosby, whose 1980s hit sitcom revitalized that genre after a
> period of decline, famously broke through in drama as the co-star of
> "I Spy" in 1965. He won three Emmy awards in the role of Alexander
> Scott, an espionage agent. Exactly two black actors (and no actresses)
> have won Emmy awards for drama series since: James Earl Jones, who
> played the title role in the short-lived "Gabriel's Fire" in 1991, and
> Andre Braugher, who was part of the ensemble in "Homicide" in 1998.
>
> Dennis Haysbert, who played President David Palmer on the Fox series
> "24," is featured in the CBS ensemble drama "The Unit" (produced by
> Mr. Newman's Fox studio). Also this season, the venerable NBC drama
> "ER" added Angela Bassett; executives at its studio, Warner Brothers,
> now identify her as the lead in that show.
>
> But both "ER" and "The Unit" are ensemble shows, a genre that has for
> decades going back to performers like Michael Warren in "Hill Street
> Blues" and Denzel Washington in "St. Elsewhere" been the route for
> black drama actors to break through.
>
> "ER" has featured black actors (including Eriq La Salle) since its
> inception in 1994. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," whose creator and executive
> producer, Shonda Rhimes, is black, has similarly offered a notably
> diverse cast.
>
> But there is no dramatic series spotlighting a single star like
> "House" on Fox, "Chuck" on NBC, "Eli Stone" on ABC or "The Mentalist"
> on CBS now led by a black actor. Hispanic actors have fared somewhat
> better. Jimmy Smits has starred in several series, and America Ferrera
> is now the star of "Ugly Betty."
>
> Cable's recent list of single-star dramas is also notable for its
> roster of white stars, including shows like "The Shield," "The
> Closer," "Saving Grace," "Dexter," "Monk," "Burn Notice," "Breaking
> Bad" and "Damages."
>
> Tim Reid, who was the star and an executive producer of the
> Emmy-winning comedy series "Frank's Place" for CBS in the 1987-88
> season and who recently wrote, with the white comic Tom Dreesen,
> "Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White" about their days
> as a stand-up team has been outspoken about the continued limited
> opportunities for minorities in television.
>
> "If the president-elect should have any positive influence over the
> so-called liberal base of Hollywood, it will be by focusing their
> attention on the reality of the kind of multicultural world we
> actually live in," Mr. Reid said in an e-mail message. "This doesn't
> just mean putting another person of color in front of the camera, but
> giving them an equal opportunity in having a say-so in what is created
> for the camera."
>
> "In my opinion," he continued, "we're far more likely to have a black
> president in my lifetime ... oh, yeah ... I can stop saying that now."
>
> The most significant hiring of a black actor for a television series
> has been long in the works: next month the film star Laurence
> Fishburne will assume the lead in CBS's biggest hit show, "CSI." That
> move was not connected to the ascendance of Mr. Obama, though CBS and
> studio executives expressed hope that the timing would help in the
> transition from William Petersen, the current "CSI" lead, to Mr.
> Fishburne.
>
> David Stapf, president of the CBS Paramount Network Television studio,
> which produces "CSI," said of Mr. Fishburne's selection: "If you have
> a chance to get an actor like that, you go for him. It wouldn't matter
> what ethnicity he is."
>
> Paramount also has a deal in place to find a project for the rap star
> L L Cool J.
>
> NBC Universal said it has a number of projects in the works tailored
> for blacks, including development deals with the director Antoine
> Fuqua ("Training Day") and the actor and writer Ice Cube.
>
> Among shows already in production, Mr. Silverman cited the buddy
> comedy "Off Duty," with Bradley Whitford, who is white, and Romany
> Malco, who is black. The network also has a thriller script from Frank
> Spotnitz, the "X Files" writer and producer, with Gabrielle Union, a
> black actress, signed to star.
>
> And NBC Universal announced with some fanfare "Making Friends With
> Black People," a sitcom that is to star the author of the book of the
> same title, the comedian Nick Adams.
>
> If these projects are only tangentially tied to the arrival of a black
> star in the leading political role in America, Gary Newman,
> co-chairman of the Twentieth Century Fox television studio, suggested
> another potential influence stemming from the election of Mr. Obama.
>
> "We may see more chances taken on comedies that feel more hopeful
> rather than the sarcastic, cynical style we've seen a lot of
> recently," Mr. Newman said. "The Obama success seems to have put
> people more in touch with their more hopeful side."
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/arts/television/29race.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
>
>
>
>
>
> Tracey de Morsella
>
> ScFiNoir discussion is of people of color who have a deep
> appreciation for any and all things SciFi
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/
>
