Fall Programming Takes Diverse Turn

[Brett Ferino]

NEW YORK - Come to Whoopi Goldberg's hotel, or Luis Guzman's doughnut shop. Cheech Marin is dad to a talk show host. Steve Harvey is back, and Will Smith airs family dirty laundry.

Television makes a strong move toward ethnic diversity with its new fall programming, particularly in comedies. Eighteen programs will features minority stars, including eight new comedies — up from two new comedies last year.

NBC also committed to a series starring Tracy Morgan of "Saturday Night Live" for midseason.

Four years ago, television networks came under harsh criticism for lack of minority representation in prime-time programming, and the NAACP threatened boycotts if there were not improvements.

Those attacks, coupled with the success of programs like ABC's "My Wife and Kids" and "George Lopez" and Fox's "Bernie Mac," may have contributed toward this year's increase in diversity, said Doug Alligood, senior vice president at the advertising agency BBDO.

"The criticism did not hurt in terms of making people wake up to this, although I'm sure a lot of people don't want to admit that had anything to do with it," Alligood said.

Goldberg stars in NBC's "Whoopi," as an ex-singer who runs her own hotel in New York City. Fox has given the green light to "Luis" and "The Ortegas," featuring Marin in a show with improvisational elements. Harvey hosts a talent show for average folks with odd talents.

The WB will launch "All About the Andersons," with comic Anthony Anderson playing a struggling actor and single father, and "Like Family," where a troubled poor white teenager is sent to live with a suburban black family.

UPN has a new series with rap star Eve and a comedy about divorced families developed by — but not starring — Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Those new shows will play on Mondays, where UPN has already established a night of black-oriented comedies. But UPN will move Monday's most popular show, "One on One," to Tuesday, leading off an intriguing "fade to white" strategy. Each of four comedies that night adds progressively more white actors.

Alligood noted the increase of multi-ethnic casts, where networks are obviously trying to appeal to more than one group. The challenge is to do it seamlessly, he said, not where it appears one ethnic group is being used as a comic foil.

"When a white person is brought into a black show, the white person is usually pretty stupid," he said.

Lisa Navarrete, spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, said she's pleased with the evident progress toward diversity. She expressed disappointment that NBC's "Kingpin" and the WB's "Greetings from Tucson," with predominantly Hispanic casts, were canceled.

"If you're looking at it demographically, if you're not reflecting the fastest-growing groups, you're doing a business disservice, not just a public relations disservice," she said.

A call to the NAACP was not returned Monday.

Goldberg caught the irony of being picked up by NBC, which has fashioned itself as a hip, urban network but features relatively few minorities. She joked that "Friends" has lately added a black actress to its cast, "so when it's shown uptown it's called `Friend.'"

"I know there's not been a lot of black people on NBC," she said while talking about her show to advertisers. "But the ones that have been on NBC have been successful, so I guess that's a good sign."