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ABC taps into diversity, drama and comedy for the fall
During the summer television press tour, the CBS network took a hit from several critics for its lack of diversity in new series.
For its fall season, ABC is the flipside of a network’s commitment to casting minorities in prominent roles.
Paul Lee, the head of ABC Entertainment, during a panel discussion in front of the nation’s critics, was naturally asked how the ABC network became a case study in diversity and if this approach reflected a mission statement.
Without missing a beat, Lee informed the group that the network has “a mission statement to reflect America,” which in a way is “not so much diversity as authenticity if you’re reflecting America.”
For added punch of legitimacy, Lee observed that “we went out of way to approach some of the best storytellers.”
Great storytelling is the fail-safe method to launching a successful new series. One has to wonder if that was the network thinking in coming up with “Selfie,” a practice so annoying and narcissistic that a series by the same name is hardly “relatable” or remotely appealing.
Oddly enough, “Selfie,” a putative comedy, relies so much on the premise of “My Fair Lady” that the lead character Eliza Dooley is another version of Eliza Doolittle, while her mentor Henry Higenbottam is a modern day Henry Higgins.
The hook for “Selfie” is as aggravating as the social media phenomenon of the delusional idea that one’s picture must be posted with a frequency greater than that of an old man with an enlarged prostate having to visit the bathroom at recurrent intervals during the night.
In this case, Karen Gillan’s Eliza Dooley, though a successful sales agent in a pharmaceutical company, lacks social graces because her interaction with the world appears to be limited to being “friended” by strangers on Facebook because of her posting of repeated self-portraits.
An unfortunate and highly embarrassing accident that goes viral causes Eliza to seek the help of reluctant co-worker Henry Higenbottam (John Cho), a marketing guru. Eliza solicits Henry to rebrand her image, which needs a lot of work and tries his patience.
One thing to say about “Selfie” is that you can chalk up the starring role of an Asian-American as another major advancement for the cause of diversity.
On the other hand, Las Vegas odds-makers might not rate this show’s chances highly, and John Cho could be off the air before too long.
On the diversity front, the new comedy “black-ish,” a title that could be too clever, shows promise for an affluent African-American family (think modern day “The Cosbys”) which lives in a predominantly white upscale neighborhood. The patriarch, Andre Johnson (Anthony Anderson), insists on holding true to black culture.
The problem in the Johnson family is that one of Andre’s sons, reaching the age of 13, wants to have a bar mitzvah, just like his school buddies.
Andre’s father (Laurence Fishburne) is an amused bystander, while Andre’s wife Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) may not be black enough.
More ethnic variety is found in the new comedy “Cristela,” named after the show’s creator and star Cristela Alonzo, who plays the titular character, now in her sixth year of law school and still far removed from leaving the nest of her traditional Mexican-American family.
On the brink of landing her first big gig as an unpaid intern at a prestigious law firm, Cristela’s pursuit of success is more ambitious than her family thinks is appropriate.
Humor in the workplace seems to turn on her being mistaken as a janitor, while the laughs at home come at the expense of the clash of old culture and a working-class family unaccustomed to modern ideas.
A new drama that looks promising, maybe because of its creator’s pedigree with “Scandal,” is the serial legal drama “How to Get Away With Murder,” starring Viola Davis as Professor Annalise Keating, who gets entangled with four law students in a murder plot.
Brilliant, charismatic and seductive, Professor Keating has no qualms about advising her students to bend the rule of law in her criminal law class. Little do they know that they will have to apply what they learned to real life, living up to the show’s suspenseful name.
Another new dramatic series with great potential is the ambitious “Forever,” the story of New York’s masterful medical examiner Dr. Henry Morgan, a man with a secret who fears exposure.
Ioan Gruffudd is the star, and though he has been around, I have yet to know how to pronounce his name, both given and surname.
Pronunciation matters little, because Gruffudd’s Dr. Morgan is an intriguing man of mystery, whose immortality has lasted for centuries.
Every time he dies, he returns to life from a nearby body of water, completely naked. This is a slight problem considering the proximity of the Hudson River.
Dr. Morgan has only one friend, his confidant Abe (Judd Hirsch), who knows his secret. However, the good doctor’s work has brought him notice from detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza), and as they work together on homicide cases, she becomes curious about who he is.
Each week, a new case and the budding friendship between the medic and the cop will reveal layers of Henry's long and colorful past.
“Forever” may last long enough to unravel plenty of mysteries. Meanwhile, chalk it up to ABC for getting another minority actor in a major role.
I thought “Selfie” was irritating to an extent, and I am finding “Manhattan Love Story” somewhat grating because the idea of a romantic comedy exposing the differences between men and women through unfiltered thoughts is most aggravating in its execution.
Analeigh Taylor’s Dana and Jake McDorman’s Peter meet cute and start dating. The gimmick for “Manhattan Love Story” is that we get to hear the characters’ thoughts as they stare dreamily at each other while sipping a latte or some adult beverage. Apparently, this will be constant.
If you’re thinking this series evokes Woody Allen, you’re not alone.
During the press tour, one critic got a negative response when asking about a reference to Allen’s romantic comedy “Manhattan.”
They may say “no” but I am thinking maybe “yes,” and what’s would be wrong with that, unless, of course, the show is quickly canceled?
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
