Blacks conspicuously absent in TV series

Long before he set out for the White House, Barack Obama sought to adjust the colors on America's TV sets.Four years ago, fresh off his star-making keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Obama challenged the television industry to live up to its responsibility as the country's "most powerful media" and accurately reflect the United States' population. "TV ought to reflect the reality of America's diversity and should do so with pride and dignity, not with stereotypes," he told the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.But as Obama prepares to move into the White House in January, he and his family will be hard- pressed to find black people like themselves represented on any of the major networks: ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox.In fact, not only will they have great difficulty locating any black family in a leading role on the networks, but they also will see it's nearly impossible to find a scripted comedy or drama that features a young person of color in a central role.Although the networks' prime-time slates are packed with more than a dozen comedies and dramas revolving around family life or involve characters who are related ("Brothers & Sisters" and "Two and a Half Men," for example), almost all of them have predominantly white casts. A black family has not anchored a network series since "The Bernie Mac Show" left Fox in 2006.The subject is an uncomfortable one for the networks, as most high-ranking network executives and diversity managers declined to talk about the issue.The only black family regularly on prime-time network television is on CBS' "The Unit," where Dennis Haysbert plays the leader of an elite special ops force. And although an increasing number of black people and other minorities have scored regular roles on series ("Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes," "Fringe," "Heroes," "Lost"), those performers are largely relegated to supporting or minor roles.Although the development season is in full gear, the only black family that would anchor a forthcoming major series is animated: "Cleveland," a spin-off of Fox's "Family Guy." (Two other black family shows are on cable - ABC Family's acclaimed but struggling "Lincoln Heights" and TBS' "House of Payne," which is popular but blasted by critics.)Instead of answering inquiries, CBS, ABC and Fox submitted statements declaring their commitment to diversity while pointing out their individual progress.CBS' chief of diversity, Josie Thomas, would not comment. Other executives point to the ratings failure of series with predominantly minority casts or central characters such as last season's Hispanic drama "Cane" on CBS, that network's "City of Angels," ABC's "Daybreak," NBC's "Whoopi" and "The Tracy Morgan Show." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM