The revolution in TV casting that culminated in “Empire” last season was not a one-network wonder.
Proving that up to 16 million viewers would watch a show with a predominantly African-American cast, “Empire” opened the floodgates for other minority actors — and three of the new fall shows to receive full-season orders are headlined by Morris Chestnut (“Rosewood”), Priyanka Chopra (“Quantico”) and Ken Jeong (“Dr. Ken”).
After decades of casting white actors in lead roles and throwing the supporting parts to minorities, execs have realized that TV is the only place minority audiences can reliably see themselves as empowered, accomplished adults.
And let’s not forget Shonda Rhimes, whose three ABC shows (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder”) all feature extremely diverse casts.
“The networks have realized how ethnically diverse the country has become,” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media. “Every new series has to have crossover appeal.”
Adgate points to the lower median age of some minority groups as a driving factor behind these corporate epiphanies. “The Latino median age is 28 in the country,” he says. “The median age of the TV viewer is 51.”
But networks and viewers are not the only beneficiaries here. Minority actors had roles in new shows in every genre this fall, including “Supergirl,” “Blindspot,” “Scream Queens” and “Heroes: Reborn.”
This is a miracle compared to the Oscar-bait films starring predominantly white actors being released by Hollywood studios this fall (with the exception of the Christmas release “Concussion,” starring Will Smith).
TV’s diversity has been acknowledged by the Hollywood community. Viola Davis, star of “How to Get Away with Murder,” made history this year as the first African-American actress to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series. (Her role was originally written for a man.)
Of the major networks, ABC still leads the way in minority casting with “HTGAWM,” “Scandal,” “Black-ish” and “Fresh Off the Boat” — with the Mike Epps comedy “Uncle Buck” set to debut midseason, which will also see the return of “American Crime,” an Emmy winner for star Regina King.
CBS also deserves praise for casting African-American actor Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen — traditionally a role for a white actor — in “Supergirl.” And on hospital drama “Code Black,” veteran character actor Luis Guzmán is the co-lead with Marcia Gay Harden.
Cable TV and streaming services are not far behind. HBO has done wonders to improve its so-so record on diversity, producing forthcoming movies about the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas legal showdown with “Scandal” star Kerry Washington and Wendell Pierce, another starring Davis as abolitionist Harriet Tubman and film versions of the plays of August Wilson (to be directed by Denzel Washington).
Netflix nicely topped its multiracial, innovative “Orange Is the New Black” with “Narcos,” a mesmerizing, bilingual series about the Colombian drug cartel run by Pablo Escobar, brilliantly played by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura.
With TV having finally achieved a truly diverse racial spectrum, the film world is overdue to play catch-up. “Maybe TV is leading the way and Hollywood will follow,” says Adgate.