CBS is ready to expand its palette. But the only color that can inspire its dedication to inclusivity is green
Despite the recent negative press regarding, the latest in a string of and well before that, today I come to praise CBS. And, well, to sort of bury it. The previous sentence was written mostly in jest; CBS is a giant among broadcasters, the most watched network in the U. S. in addition with the world’s most popular series, “NCIS.” There’s no entombing a behemoth. But it must be said that for all of its success, CBS seems peculiarly ignorant of the way the world is changing around it. The that the American population is steadily becoming more racially diverse. Cable channels and to a certain degree, CBS’ broadcast competition are beginning to meet this demographic shift by programming their schedules with comedies and dramas led by performers of color. Yet when CBS executives Kelly Kahl and Thom Sherman appeared the assembled members of the Television Critics Association for its summer Press Tour, currently underway in Los Angeles, they could only assure reporters that the network is devoted to enacting change without much in the way of substantive evidence. Sherman, the network’s senior executive vice president of programming, told reporters that the network is interested in “expanding the palette of what we do.” “Last week we took our development teams out to the talent agencies for some old fashioned meet and greets and face time, ” he told reporters. “And we said to them, ‘Please tell your clients, Don’ t censor yourselves. Don’ t assume you know what a CBS show is. Bring us your passion projects. Bring us everything. Bring us all different genres, and let us decide if it fits our mandate going forward.’” Once the floor opened up for questions, however, it became apparent that the executives weren’ t ready to talk about other elements of the network’s palette expansion might. As I pointed out in a previous piece about CBS’s diversity track record, the network’s East coast and West coast casting offices are entirely staffed by white people. And for years, the network has built its brand on series with white male leads, including such as “NCIS, ” “Criminal Minds, ” last year’s hit “Bull” and “Hawaii Five-0.” Indeed on Tuesday Kahl pointed out, “If you look at the number of diverse series regulars, that’s up almost 60 percent. The number of writers we have from diverse backgrounds is up over the last few years, as are directors.” Note the words used to talk about talent viewers see in front of the camera: “regulars” In the series mentioned above, the top characters are surrounded by non-white co-stars. If they exit, r — none of whom, as the “Hawaii Five-0” story revealed, make as much as their stars. “Hawaii Five-O” is just one of many shows in which casting minorities in supporting roles acts as a shield whenever reporters call out CBS on this problem. This has been what has passed as casting diversity at CBS for many years. And this is just what viewers see. Here’s what most people aren’ t aware of: CBS has recast roles that were original written to feature minorities with white actors., CBS picked up a sci fi pilot “Mission Control, ” whose female lead was written as a bilingual Spanish speaker, partnered with an African American man whose name was supposed to be Malik. The parts went to CBS veteran actress Poppy Montgomery and David Giuntoli of NBC’s “Grimm.” Its midseason series “By the Book, ” executive produced in part by “The Big Bang Theory” star Johnny Galecki, cast Camryn Manheim in a role originally conceived as an African American man., the hope was that making Manheim’s character a lesbian would deflect any criticisms about its decision to reshape the role. When a reporter asked executives to posit whether a lack of diversity in its casting department might be a root cause for these issues, Kahl replied, “I personally don’ t think that has anything do with it. Peter [Golden, executive vice president of talent and casting] and his team have been at this for a long time, and they’ re fantastic at what they do. They have cast all the roles I spoke about on CBS, including many, many diverse roles.”
