Representation on TV: Highlights for May Include ‘Sort Of,’ ‘New Amsterdam,’ and ‘Doctor Who’

Diversity and inclusion are crucial parts of television’s ability to reflect the rich multitudes of experiences and perspectives that make up the communities we live in and beyond. We’re highlighting representation news from the industry and shows expanding representation on TV, like with Sort Of, Doctor Who, New Amsterdam, and Reservation Dogs.

This month we have lots of casting news, and we’re also putting the spotlight on the Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity’s (TTIE) “Behind the Scenes:” The State of Inclusion & Equity in TV Writing” Report.

In the News

Sandra Mae Frank Promoted to Series Regular for New Amsterdam’s Final Season 

• Frank plays deaf cancer surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Wilder. She made her debut earlier this season on New Amsterdam Season 4 Episode 1, “More Joy.”
• Prior to her role on New Amsterdam, Frank guest-starred on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. She also performed “America The Beautiful” and the National Anthem in American Sign Language during Super Bowl LVI on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf.

Reservation Dogs’ Devery Jacobs Joins Marvel’s ‘Echo’ Series For Disney+

• Few details about Jacob’s character are known, but it’s been confirmed that she’ll be one of the leads.
• Jacobs received a 2021 Gotham Award nomination for Outstanding Performance in a New Series and shared a 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series for her work on Reservation Dogs.

Yasmin Finney Joins The Cast of Doctor Who Following The Announcement of Ncuti Gatwa as The New Doctor 

• Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa was announced as the new Doctor on Doctor Who on May 8th. He will be the first Black Doctor in the series’ 60-year history.  
• Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney — a Trans actress — was also announced as the series’ newest companion, Rose. 

Directors Guild TV Study Shows Diversity Gains but Not For All Groups

• The study showed that while the total number of shows dropped by 36%, the percentage of TV episodes led by directors of color increased by 5% to 34%. Latino, Asian-American, and Native American directors, however, saw little improvement.

 

On TV Screens: Sort Of

The Canadian series Sort Of is a half-hour comedy that stars Bilal Baig, a co-creator of the series — as Sabi Mehboo. Sabi is a genderfluid millennial trying to find their path and navigate sometimes conflicting priorities and desires. It is a coming-of-age story that interrogates the different labels we use but don’t fit anymore. 

Speaking of the series General Manager of Entertainment, Factual & Sports at CBC, Sally Catto, said Sort Of  “speaks to the complexity of being human with wit, warmth and an authentic sense of inclusivity.”

Sort Of was renewed for a second season in February 2022. It also won a Canadian Screen Award for best writing for a comedy in April 2022. Season 1 can be streamed on HBO Max.

 

Spotlight: TIEE 4th Annual Behind the Scenes Report

This month The Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity (TTIE) released its fourth annual “Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion & Equity in TV Writing” Report.

For those unfamiliar, TTIE is a  consortium of TV writers working to improve Inclusion and Equity for writers in the industry and quality representation on TV.

One way they do this is through research and data like that provided in their annual report.

This year’s report, which was done in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, looked closely at systemic issues that continue to plague the TV Industry. 

Some of the most striking data from the report highlighted how writers from different groups break into the industry and subsequently move up.

For instance, 41% of white women and 47% of white men secured writing jobs after working as an assistant. That was only true for 10% of BIPOC women and 14% of BIPOC men.

Instead, most BIPOC writers who landed writing jobs did so through agents/managers or fellowships/incubator programs. While fellowships and Incubator programs are wonderful, they are incredibly competitive and require extensive work to apply. 

These programs can help close the diversity gap for TV writers, but they are ineffective if the industry isn’t also addressing the discrepancy in more traditional routes of advancement.

The major takeaway from both the report and the report launch panel hosted on May 24th, is that the industry needs to move beyond superficial and performative attempts at diversity. Not only because it’s the right thing to do but because it’s what viewers want.

Charlene Polite Corley, VP of Diverse Insights & Partnerships at Neilsen, used Reservation Dogs as an example to highlight this. She pointed out that Native American access to Hulu went up 6% ahead of the show’s premiere.

Viewers want diversity on screen. They also want accurate, quality representation. They know the difference between that and simply checking boxes. As Corley so succinctly put it, “Presence is not the same thing as representation.”

Corley underscored this with the point that while there is parity in the percentage of Black representation on screen, 58.6% of Black viewers still feel there is not enough representation because it is not authentic representation.

Further, 56% of male fans said the only examples of Native Americans they’d seen on TV were sports mascots.

It is clear from TTIE’s report that there is a lot of work to do. However, to tell the full, authentic, and diverse stories viewers want, it’s vitally important that it’s done.

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