
CBS
After taking heat last year for premiering six new shows with white male leads, CBS Entertainment President Glenn Geller took an opportunity at the TCAs to reaffirm the network’s commitment to “do better.” For a Hollywood minute, it seemed that might be the case. Doubt starring Laverne Cox and Katherine Heigl seemed promising, but was pulled from broadcast after only two episodes, leaving the network once again with two midseason shows (Ransom and Training Day) that starred white men as the headliners.
If audiences and critics were hoping CBS would right the diversity ship once scripts for the 2017-2018 season started coming in, those hopes were dashed this week when The Wrap broke the news that Mission Control will replace two characters who were specifically written as PoC (People of Color) with white actors. David Giuntoli (Grimm) will take on the lead role, which scriptwriter Andy Weir (The Martian) specifically wrote as an African-American character, while Poppy Montgomery (Without A Trace) has been cast as a character who was originally the bilingual child of a white father and Latina mother. That part of the character has now been altered to accommodate Montgomery’s casting.
Now, Uproxx has learned, via a source close to the production, that another CBS show Living Biblically replaced yet another African-American character with a white actor. Sources close to the production have told us that actress Camryn Manheim (Person of Interest) has been offered a role for a character who was originally called Mr. Meadows. In the pilot script, written by Patrick Walsh (2 Broke Girls), Mr. Meadows is described as “45, African-American, No-Nonsense Boss.”
Uproxx reached out to CBS for comment. An official spokesperson replied:
“Living Biblically is an inclusive pilot in which four of the six stars are diverse or female. The characters in the pilot also represent various genders, ethnicities, and religions.”
A second source close to the Living Biblically production confirmed the show hoped that recasting Mr. Meadows as a lesbian woman would balance the ratio of men to women in the series and help offset the criticism of removing a character of color.
The casting of Manheim, Giuntoli, and Montgomery now makes three characters in two pilots that CBS has recast with white actors. While Manheim is always a welcome presence and it’s refreshing to see another LGBT character on television, the revision remains part of a disturbing trend and one that seems particularly to give CBS trouble. Diversity is not interchangeable. Recasting Mr. Meadows as a woman isn’t an issue in and of itself; surely there are plenty of black actresses who would’ve been up for tackling the role. In the year 2017, casting departments shouldn’t be choosing between minorities or women. Both exist, often in the same bodies.
It’s cause cbs is the olds network and olds don’t like anything that isn’t white
The reality is that CBS’ ratings are strong. The only place they take a beating on this issue is from the press. From a business standpoint, there is no reason for them to do anything differently than the way they have been doing it.
I’m going to keep not watching CBS but now it’s out of protest. I’m so woke.
No one cares.
Jesus fucking Christ. Can we not go 5 minutes anymore without being outraged about something?
STAY WOKE!!
superior donuts is somewhat surprising for CBS, not that great of a show but they try. A pretty diverse cast for CBS, and an attempt at race related discussions of today. That said I doubt it sees season 2.
Jermaine Fowler is an up and coming comedian.
Well Superior Donuts has been renewed for season 2 I just read today which is a good thing for both diversity of cast and because the show is funny with some great strong character of casting. I personally am extremely pissed at CBS for arrogant cancellation of shows that never had a chance, I would never watch their streaming service simply because If it succeeds I see ABC and NBC following suit and charging us for mediocre programming with a smattering of quality shows. Right now I find far better quality series on Netflix such as Spotless, House of Cards, and Bloodline. I could live without network television altogether….maybe we all should.
David Giuntoli wasn’t even close to being the best actor on Grimm, so I’m sure this would be a dumb move anyway, even without learning that it should’ve originally gone to a POC. Ugh, CBS. Ugh.