Last time you went to a clinic, chances were good that your
Last time you went to a clinic, chances were good that your primary doctor was of South Asian descent — unless you happened to check into a TV hospital.
Fox’s “The Mindy Project”, a new sitcom about a lovesick ob/gyn, is the first series on broadcast television to feature an Indian-American in the lead role, a milestone that writer/star Mindy Kaling does her best to downplay.
What Kaling and the rest of Hollywood can’t deny is that the industry has made little progress in putting minority actors in leading roles.
While there’s a steady stream of great minority character actors playing diner owners, community-college students and even physicists, they rarely get to be the star. The only returning broadcast shows with that distinction are ABC’s “Scandal,” featuring Kerry Washington, and CW’s low-rated “Nikita,” with Maggie Q.
That lack of diversity was glaring at TV’s Emmy Awards two weeks ago. Of the 25 performers nominated for leading roles in a drama or comedy, only one was a minority actor, Don Cheadle, for “House of Lies.”