minorities with shows like “In Living Color” and “Martin”. WB and UPN followed in ’95, allowing NBC, CBS, and ABC to edge away from the genre. But once these networks grew up, they also moved away from the genre. “The launching of new networks has become the black man’s burden.”, “When a new network starts, they go after the starving audience. Once they find success, the [black] shows are used and discarded.”(Entertainment Weekly).The third and final excuse is the shows themselves. The problem today, according to the creator of The Jeffersons, Norman Lear, is that we are no longer making universal series with black characters. The black audience has its own set of stars and viewers. They have become used to seeing programs that have not only black faces but also have cultural references, things specifically for them. When they do not see that in a program, they do not think that it is for them. And the opposite is true. But the one true excuse and fear that networks have is a simple one, they fear bad ratings. With bad ratings come fewer viewers, and with fewer viewers is less money. Actors and actresses are not the only ones to feel the pinch of discrimination. Behind the cameras and glitz and glamour, there are the people that run the whole show. They are the network producers and executives. “This business is extremely fair-unless you happen to be Asian, black, Hispanic, gay, or a woman.”. The person behind this quote is an executive at a major entertainment company, and one of the few minorities in a position of power in the entertainment business. It is important to keep the people in power diverse because they are the ones who make all of the decisions. If they were kept diverse, then some problems would not arise. Case in point: On an episode of Will and Grace on NBC, the original script called for a Salvadorian maid to be referred to as a “...
