As I sat home intently watching the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards this past sunday, I couldn’t help but notice NBC‘s light attack on my sensibilities every 10 minutes with it’s barrage of commercials unleashing it’s new agenda.
It’s one thing to have to endure the expected network promo and propaganda during a large, star-studded, nationally televised event, but what makes this particular onslaught especially cringe-worthy, is that it was shoving this new agenda in our faces. Our multi-racial, see-thru-your-B.S. faces.
Apparently, the new fall line-up for primetime NBC programming is Hellbent on putting forward a politically correct and diverse spin on things, by loading the slots with shows spearheaded by minorities and members of subcultural demographics. While there’s nothing wrong with that at all, it’s the manner in which NBC is going about it that kept bugging me out. It’s like they just opened a bag and dumped it on the table and said ‘Here! see?? We can be equal oppurtunity too!’. There spilling it all out there like they’re proving a point. As if we’re supposed to commend them for FINALLY reflecting a broader scope of the nation at large. To top it all off, the slogan behind this new campaign is “More Colorful”. What The Fuck does that mean???!!!
This tagline was first brought to my attention by my homegirl, The Jaded New Yorker (See her blog here; http://www.thejadednyer.net/), in my post about the show, UnderCovers, starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She pointed out how ridiculously questionable this phrasing was and I felt her eyebrow raise. At first, I shrugged it off…..but after seeing this flash in front of me at least 15 times as I watched an ad spot for a new series about a female U.S. Marshall (Chase) 
, another one revolving around a Latino Judge (Outlaw, starring Jimmy Smits) 
, a Comedy about outsourcing that looks like it’s going to be laughing at Southern Asians and Middle Easterners more than laughing with 
, and finally, a show featuring an overly-dramatic Blair Underwood as a Black president (The Event) 
, I threw my hands in the air!
It’s more like a quota fill than a new slate. I haven’t seen such a deliberate attempt to attract a new audience and show that a network is in tune since the CW first debuted as the WB and UPN gave us such gems as The Steve Harvey show, Sister Sister and Sparks.
With that said, I’m glad someone’s giving minority actors work, let alone leading roles. It’s really just the marketing that’s killing me a bit. Either way, I’ll still be watching Undercovers and hoping it doesn’t suck or get yanked before it gets good.
Thanks Raquel for foreseeing the wompage.
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16's Candles 
Dude I TOLD you. They’re lucky I’m a loyal NBC viewer (and entertainment junkie) or I’d up & leave the network for good. Still, someone in their marketing department needs to get chin-checked for that slogan…
Nice dig on the subversive minority I can’t complain about too much here. I do suppose they could still have bojangles along with the sleeping latino (sombrero in towe).
But that outsourcing shit is a bit out of bounds. And, even though they clearly have us under the scope for all the wrong reasons, I’ll take the baby hits with the baby steps