SoapZone Community Message Board

My response:

I actually applaud CBS for what they did. Representation is important and respectfully, primetime and daytime writing teams have been 95% White. General Hospital just cut the ONLY Black writer they had on staff due to “budget.” If you have sufficient representation, then it add authenticity and also needed diversity. A woman I’ve known since the 7th grade is successful actress/writer. She paid her dues and repeatedly tried for writing positions and only two years ago, did things start paying off. As a result, she how now written: The Academy Awards, The Primetime Emmys, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and The Grammy’s Salute to Hip-Hop. I won’t share her name because I don’t have her permission. She said it was hard to even get a chance which is all she ever wanted.

CBS is also responsible for BIPOC representation on their reality competition shows. Why? Because it was necessary. There were always just a 2-3 BIPOC on these shows and majority were White. It wasn’t because BIPOC were not applying to these shows. They were, but not being selected. So change was needed and now you see much better representation on shows like The Amazing Race, Big Brother and Survivor.

Lastly, I will mention what happened in 2004 when Shonda Rime was casting for Grey’s Anatomy. She said that what was paraded before her was majority White actors and a miniscule of minority actors. At the end of that day’s casting, she pulled the team aside to ask for more people of color. They honored her request. But why was it even necessary?

I’m 50 years old and I can state with absolute certainty there was not adequate representation on television when I grew up. Scumbag that he is–Bill Cosby has mentioned that multiple networks passed on “The Cosby Show” because it was believed that no one would watch a comedy with a Black married couple, where the dad was a doctor and the wife a successful attorney. That is positively insulting! We all know the show was a ratings beast during its entire run.