June 27, 2004

1) Brian, the 646 Guy said (on 06/27/04 at 11:46 PM):

Silly man....there are no people of color with significant roles on any TV show where white people are the primary characters....I mean really now....who's going to utter the line, "You want some mo' biscuits?" if there weren't people of color on these shows....I mean we only saw two of them on Friends in 10 years or so....Will & Grace...well we have Rosario and that's more than enough for that show. I mean she gets her one line an episode and that's more than enough...

(And please dear God I hope everyone realizes the sarcasm in this comment and hopes TV producers realize that they need to be a little more multi-ethnic in their casting....)

2) Sin said (on 06/28/04 at 05:14 AM):

Nope. All the ethnic people from the British series were deported by the DHS when they came across the ocean to provide a template for the show.

Which would probably explain why this show is complete and utter tripe. Also, the budgetary allocation for characters of colour was probably stolen by the lighting director so that he could add more Blue Lights of Anal Sex, and the Yellow Halogens of There's a Problem but Brian Will Solve it Using an Ad Campaign Based on Sexy Men in Very Little Clothing.

3) i. bendito said (on 06/28/04 at 06:54 AM):

Give the Yank QAF producers the benefit of the doubt, please.

They may have been paid off by the churches to exclude any gay/DL people of color.

After all, cynicism is not the answer to everything...

4) Patrick said (on 06/28/04 at 12:36 PM):

SAG already has their quota of ethnic actors working on the WB network.

As for Pittsburgh...I used to live there...don't bother.

5) Crash said (on 06/28/04 at 01:02 PM):

I'm more concerned by the obvious lack of barber shops and hair salons.

6) jwer said (on 06/28/04 at 01:21 PM):

Sadly, it's not particularly unlikely that the Friends cast would see very few characters of color, since most of their scenes take place inside their own apartments, and there's nothing terribly surprising about white people hanging out with white people; also, Gregory Hines was on Will and Grace for quite some time, but the same caveat above mostly applies; it's when a show set somewhere other than Utah has no ethnicities in outside scenes that there's a serious problem; for example, the fact that there were hardly ever any non-whites (except Asians) in Central Perk was a much bigger oversight...

7) kevin said (on 06/29/04 at 05:29 AM):

That show is my guilty pleasure; so guilty I feel over watching it that I must admit it publicly for cathartic relief.

I watch Queer as Folk.

Phew, that secret was burning me from the inside out for the past three years.

Speaking of, I once overheard a table of straights -- two women, two men -- talking about QAF. One of the straight couples was telling the other how they'd rented the first season, and felt so much more educated about and sensitive to the gay lifestyle after watching it, and how interesting their lives are. All the while, I wanted to scream: "THEY DO NOT REPRESENT THE MAJORITY OF GAY PEOPLE!" but I was too absorbed in my coffee.

8) plumpernickel said (on 06/29/04 at 09:05 AM):

Ah! My friend Miss Varsha would so love your blog.

9) Peter said (on 06/29/04 at 10:52 AM):

Well.

There's Melanie.

Jewish is like a color.

Right?

10) Varsha Commotion said (on 06/29/04 at 12:13 PM):

Speaking of.

(a) Jewish is not a color. They can point to their black hair all they want, but people whose ethnic origins lie in Eastern Europe are not colored.

(b) "People of Color" may reside in Pittsburgh, but for the purposes of American Television unless they can fit into the category of "Sassy, Tough Balled Bitch with a Heart of Golde" they may as well not exist.

(c) If anyone ever calls me a "Person of Color" to my face, I will beat them with a stick. Fucking American PC Police.

(d) You watch a show like QAF (or alternatively, SitC) and try to correlate with real life ? The fuck ?

Miss Varsha

11) orbicon said (on 06/29/04 at 01:11 PM):

(singing)...one of these posts is not like the others....

12) jason said (on 06/29/04 at 01:30 PM):

The reality is that most people associate with what's familiar. There are plenty of all black sitcoms and nobody bats a pretty little eyelash.

Call me an un PC fag, but thats just the way it is.

13) monte said (on 07/ 5/04 at 02:42 PM):

I believe that the show is actually filmed in Toronto, Canada; although Toronto is pretending to be Pittsburgh. So, the racial mix of Toronto may be reflected in the extras. This wouldn't explain the casting of the main characters though.

14) Devin said (on 12/20/05 at 02:33 AM):

someone said there are black shows with no other ethnicities in them, but when u think about it there is always one white character, for a black show to be successful you have to have at least one white person on the show, at least this is what the networks think, i don't agree