Fall TV Diversity Scorecard

Sure, we have a black president now, but do you want to see a real sign of racial progress? Watch NBC's 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'-like spy drama 'Undercovers' this fall, a drama that has cast as its leads two black performers (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) for no apparent reason other than their talent and attractiveness.

All right, maybe having a network drama with two people of color as leads doesn't look much like progress to you, but this is network TV we're talking about, which, as a mirror of the nation, is notoriously slow to respond to social trends (like, say, the changing complexion of America). We're also talking about a TV landscape in which some of the shows with the most racially diverse casts ('Heroes,' 'Lost,' 'Law & Order') have just gone off the air.

Judging by what we know of the fall's TV fare, as announced by the networks last week, there are hardly any shows with all-white casts, but how many of them have leading roles for actors of color, and how many just have the occasional best-friend or supportive-coworker roles?

St. Petersburg Times TV critic Eric Deggans gives the biggest thumbs-up for diversity to NBC's new fall shows. Besides 'Undercovers,' Deggans cites 'Outlaw', with Jimmy Smits stars as a Supreme Court justice who quits the court and starts his own law practice; 'The Event,' a drama featuring Blair Underwood as the president of the United States; and 'Outsourced', a comedy about a customer-service call center in India, whose cast is mostly actors of Indian heritage.

For NBC shows with people of color in lead roles, he might also have cited 'Friends With Benefits,' a 'Friends'-like ensemble comedy whose leads include biracial 'Melrose Place' costar Jessica Lucas, and 'Law & Order: Los Angeles.' Okay, we're only guessing about that one, since its cast hasn't been announced yet, but given the history of the franchise, it's a safe bet that the cops and prosecutors will be diverse lot.

Of course, NBC may have the highest number of new shows with actors of color in lead roles primarily because it's adding the most new shows, period. Still, Deggans suggests, a slate with as much casting diversity as NBC's doesn't happen without a conscious commitment from the network. Besides, even though NBC is dropping 'Heroes,' the original 'Law & Order,' and 'Mercy,' it's holding onto such diversely-cast shows as 'Community,' 'Parks & Recreation,' 'The Office,' '30 Rock,' and 'Law & Order: SVU.'

ABC is also fielding a lineup of diversity-minded new shows. 'Detroit 1-8-7,' an ensemble police drama, has at least five actors of color, most notably, 'NYPD Blue' vet James McDaniel, in its principal cast. 'Off the Map,' from Shonda Rhimes, the diversity-minded creator of 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Private Practice,' is a medical drama set in South America with a largely Latino cast. Another ensemble drama, 'My Generation,' a then-and-now look at classmates from a Texas high school marking the tenth anniversary of their graduation, has a multiracial cast led by Mehcad Brooks ('True Blood'). And 'Happy Endings,' another 'Friends'-like comedy, features Damon Wayans Jr. among its six leads. These shows will be joining a lineup that's losing 'Lost,' 'Scrubs,' and 'FlashForward' but is holding onto 'Grey's,' 'Practice,' Desperate Housewives,' 'Modern Family,' and 'V.'

The CW deserves credit for its two new scripted dramas. Maggie Q stars as the assassin heroine in the latest version of 'Nikita,' while 'Hellcats,' about a college pep squad. stars Sharon Leal as a cheerleading coach and Robbie Jones as one of the few men on the team.

Fox has three new shows with curiously pale casts: 'Lonestar,' a soapy drama set in the Texas oil industry, ensemble family comedy 'Raising Hope,' and romantic comedy 'Running Wilde.' Fox does have 'Ride-Along,' a police drama starring the biracial Jennifer Beals, with supporting roles for Delroy Lindo and Todd Williams. It also has yet another 'Friends'-like ensemble comedy, 'Mixed Signals,' with multiracial Liza Lapira as one of its stars. This season, Fox canceled 'The Wanda Sykes Show' and 'Brothers' (a sitcom with an all-African-American cast), but it's holding onto such shows as 'Glee,' 'House,' 'Fringe,' and 'Human Target.'

CBS is creating a spinoff from 'Criminal Minds' that will star Forest Whitaker. Otherwise, its new shows tend to be diverse only in their supporting casts. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park will be riding shotgun on the new 'Hawaii Five-O,' Jurnee Smollett will play a junior lawyer on 'The Defenders,' and Reno Wilson and Nyambi Nyambi will have supporting roles on comedy 'Mike and Molly.' The network is losing 'The New Adventures of Old Christine,' where Wanda Sykes was arguably one of the leads, but is holding onto such shows as 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'NCIS: Los Angeles.'

As on CBS, there are a lot of new shows on NBC, ABC, and Fox where diversity is limited to supporting players in best-friend or junior-associate roles. Aml Ameen is one of those junior associates on NBC's legal drama 'Harry's Law.' Actors of color are supporting players only on NBC adventure shows 'Chase' and 'The Cape' and comedy 'The Paul Reiser Show.'

On ABC, there are more junior-partner types played by African-American and Latino actors on medical drama 'Body of Proof' and legal drama 'The Whole Truth.' Romany Malco and Christina Chang have supporting roles as cops (Malco's is also a best-friend part) in support of Michael Chiklis on superhero saga 'No Ordinary Family.' Over on Fox, the new cop dramedy 'Good Guys' features Diana Maria Riva as a police captain.

Why is it important to have diversity in starring roles? Network TV audiences are shrinking, but network TV remains the default, mainstream choice. People like to see people who look like themselves in starring roles, and that includes members of long-ignored groups who are making up an ever-increasing percentage of the mainstream viewership the networks need, more than ever, to reach.

It's noteworthy, too, that these are the shows the networks greenlit because they did so, not out of political correctness, but because they believed these were the shows that would attract the most advertising dollars. Sponsors don't want edgy, socially experimental shows; they want shows that will provide hospitable environments for their commercials and will attract desirable groups of viewers. So the vote of confidence in a show like 'Undercovers' doesn't just come from Hollywood creative types or network suits, but from corporate America. It's not about quotas or tokenism, it's about free-market capitalism in action.

One more observation: When Fox executives presented their fall lineup to the press last week, one reporter asked about diversity behind the scenes. The execs were stumped; they couldn't name a single writer or director on any of their new shows who wasn't white. That doesn't mean Fox deliberately excludes non-white showrunners, or that other networks don't have the same lack of diversity. (Aside from Rhimes, how many non-white showrunners are there?). Once that changes, once the networks hire a diverse group of writers and directors to tell stories using diverse casts to diverse audiences, that'll be a sign of progress.

•Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.