Six new CBS series, six white male leads. With prime-time diversity growing, why is this network falling behind?
When CBS presents its fall programs at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour this week, its lineup will include three new comedies built around TV veterans Kevin James, Matt LeBlanc and Joel McHale; a tech-infused medical drama with Dermot Mulroney, a legal drama with Michael Weatherly and a reboot of “MacGyver” starring Lucas Till. Six new shows that all star white men.
For CBS, that’s not exactly new. Few of its fall programs in the past decade have featured a minority actor in a starring role. In its current lineup, the network has the lowest number of minority leads among broadcast networks — three — and is the only broadcast network to not have a series built around a family of color.
In contrast, ABC, NBC and Fox are each launching at least one series this fall with a person of color as the lead, further expanding their already more diverse gallery of stars. Read more here.