>>>>>As an Indian-American, I wonder what the ratings would be if GLAAD's ratings were used to study Asian-American characters and, more importantly, issues on TV. Well, there is always Hiro, Ando and Suresh from Heroes ...

Actually, that was part of GLAADs analysis in the same report.
The result was that...

3% (18} of series regular characters are of Asian-Pacific Islander background, and of those, 7 characters are of South Asian descent.

So 1% of characters are ``South Asian.`` (I`m guessing they might all be of Indian background but I`m not sure.}

Any group that has been consistently demonized for centuries, whose youngest members have to stay in the closet until they are brave enough to come out and face the possible rejection and condemnation of their parents and peers, and who still do not have legal equality in this country, have the right to be concerned about their portrayal in the media.

It all boils down to one fact: I want to watch shows about people who are like me, who experience things the way I do. The fact that we can compile a list of South Asians on US television on the basis of being South Asian is a telling point. I'd like to see someone try to make a complete list of white actors just because they're white.

I think anyone who looks to television for validation of a sexual, ethnic, or racial identity has more pressing issues. Like being a complete moron.

I hate that I can't edit my posts. "no legitimacy" and I guess "be geared toward a certain audience" sounds better....

There's even a derogatory term for the black token character on every show from the US here in germany. It's "Quotenneger" which basically can be translated into "Rating-N(word)".

Funny enough series like "Family Matters" have a white token guy ^^;

I wonder how many people cry out loud that there are not enough white people on Telemundo...

Stuff like this can be pretty much over-analyzed. And basically it all runs down to this: how much people of a certain group do we want to apply too - how can we get them in front of the TV to sell our advertising minutes to companies.

THAT is all that matters.

And honestly I think people from Mexico tend to tune in to networks airing in spanish.

Here in germany we have about 8% people from turkey. Nobody is crying that there need to be more turks on TV and nobody is arguing that a couple of turkish-themed comedy shows which have come up in the recent past have to legitimacy to be produced/aired.

I just watched "Sicko". There are more important problems.

magicbox, which one are you the shemale or the animal fucker? Or are you both?? You seem like both.

Who cares?! I don't watch tv to look for certain types of people, I watch it for the show. Even if there were more gays on tv, what would that prove?

This list is offensive. We're bashing networks for not having enough gays on their programs? No, whether a show has gays or not should not be a positive or negative strike against it.

I demand networks to HAVE SHEMALE characters. Also people who has sex with animals. If they HAVE to acknowledge a mimority, they have to acknowledge us all.