I read something last year arguing if one looks at the percentage of minorities in strong roles in U.S. television series today, it's actually less than in the 1960s. The gist was that there are more minorities on TV, but at the same time, there are far more shows -- and the major networks are actually less diverse if one looks at the percentages. It gets worse with many of the cable TV networks, especially with MTV but even networks like Discovery, HGTV, and the History Channel.
Leonard Nimoy, Gene L. Coon, and Bonanza
- Thread starter Steve67
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^Yep. Contrary to the myths Gene Roddenberry spun, NBC and other networks at the time weren't hostile to diversity, but on the contrary had just recently figured out that minorities bought advertised products too and that they'd improve their profits by reaching out to them. So there was a big push underway to increase casting diversity in NBC's shows, and maybe others as well. Mission: Impossible was one of the big success stories here; Barney Collier was no mere token black guy, but a fully equal member of the team, a brilliant engineer and inventor, undoubtedly the smartest person on the show and quite often the most indispensible member of the team (even if he was often relegated to behind-the-scenes stuff and workman roles). He was also the only cast member to be a regular for the entire 7-year run of the series.
But yeah, although there has been progress since the '60s and '70s in a lot of ways (particularly in terms of the portrayal of Asians, who at the time were either played by white actors or depicted stereotypically, if not both), there has been backsliding as well. Maybe in the age of narrowcasting, there's not as much financial incentive for a given show or network to appeal to a broad demographic.
But yeah, although there has been progress since the '60s and '70s in a lot of ways (particularly in terms of the portrayal of Asians, who at the time were either played by white actors or depicted stereotypically, if not both), there has been backsliding as well. Maybe in the age of narrowcasting, there's not as much financial incentive for a given show or network to appeal to a broad demographic.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Sam Elliot -- sans moustache -- filled in for him for a year, didn't he?
No, Sam Elliott was brought in as a replacement for Peter Lupus, the team strongman (although Elliott's character was a medical doctor). But audiences wanted Lupus back, so he returned for the rest of the series.
What startled me about the young Sam Elliott in M:I was how much he resembled Scott Bakula.
Another show with TOS connections was Here Come the Brides. I didn't watch it, but I know it had Mark Lenard as a main character and a set of three brothers, two of whom were Robert Brown and David Soul. Luckily (in my opinion), TOS was spared the third brother, Bobby Sherman.
Elliot and Lupus split time during the fifth season, so Lupus wasn't completely out of the picture.
Yeah -- as I said, the plan was to phase Lupus out, but when they decided to keep him around, they didn't immediately drop Elliott. So they were both showing up for a while, sometimes in the same episode.
As for Here Come the Brides, that Trek connection inspired a Trek novel, Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, which had an amnesiac Spock sent back in time to interact with the HCTB cast, with Mark Lenard's character (the show's villain) becoming his protector. It's amazing it ever got into print, what with the legal issues involved in such a crossover. It sort of slipped in under the radar.
As for Here Come the Brides, that Trek connection inspired a Trek novel, Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, which had an amnesiac Spock sent back in time to interact with the HCTB cast, with Mark Lenard's character (the show's villain) becoming his protector. It's amazing it ever got into print, what with the legal issues involved in such a crossover. It sort of slipped in under the radar.
A quick answer to the varying posts here:
Nimoy's participation in Trek is DIRECTLY connected to The Lieutenant : he was a guest star in an episode (playing an egotistical Hollywood type) which just about the time GR was starting to think about ST - as The Lieutenant was about to be canceled. One look at Nimoy, and (supposedly) Roddenberry knew he would make a great alien. And who played Nimoy's assistant in that episode? None other than an actress named Majel Barrett. I forget if GR actually knew her (in the Biblical sense) at this point of time or not....
Actually, if one believes the IMDB, Joe D'Agosta, who was the Trek (AND M:I)casting director, did the same job for The Lieutenant. Just look at the episode list, and click through the episodes looking at the guest stars - there is hardly an episode of The Lieutenant that does NOT include a future guest star or cast member of either Trek OR M:I - : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056771/episodes .
The reason for this is, of course, simple: you work with people you know are good, reliable, and you know what they can do. This extends even to directors: there is a REASON a guy like Marc Daniels not only directed a whole slew of Treks, but also M:I , and just about every TV drama in the 60s - he was reliable, damn good, and he also got the shows in on or close to schedule. So yeah, a lot of the same people show up in a lot of Desilu productions in the late 60's - otherwise you end up with a situation like John Drew Barrymore.....
A guy like Windom you KNOW can play your basic nice guy who has gone over the edge - he was BORN a little rumpled and sweaty....
Nimoy's participation in Trek is DIRECTLY connected to The Lieutenant : he was a guest star in an episode (playing an egotistical Hollywood type) which just about the time GR was starting to think about ST - as The Lieutenant was about to be canceled. One look at Nimoy, and (supposedly) Roddenberry knew he would make a great alien. And who played Nimoy's assistant in that episode? None other than an actress named Majel Barrett. I forget if GR actually knew her (in the Biblical sense) at this point of time or not....
Actually, if one believes the IMDB, Joe D'Agosta, who was the Trek (AND M:I)casting director, did the same job for The Lieutenant. Just look at the episode list, and click through the episodes looking at the guest stars - there is hardly an episode of The Lieutenant that does NOT include a future guest star or cast member of either Trek OR M:I - : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056771/episodes .
The reason for this is, of course, simple: you work with people you know are good, reliable, and you know what they can do. This extends even to directors: there is a REASON a guy like Marc Daniels not only directed a whole slew of Treks, but also M:I , and just about every TV drama in the 60s - he was reliable, damn good, and he also got the shows in on or close to schedule. So yeah, a lot of the same people show up in a lot of Desilu productions in the late 60's - otherwise you end up with a situation like John Drew Barrymore.....
A guy like Windom you KNOW can play your basic nice guy who has gone over the edge - he was BORN a little rumpled and sweaty....
Interesting insight into the "Nimoyean Way":
In the book The Mission: Impossible Dossier by Patrick White--an excellent book I highly recommend--Leonard, who appeared as "Paris" in seasons four and five of the show, mentioned that after two years on M:I, he wanted out because the role wasn't challenging anymore. He told his agent that he didn't wish to return for a third year.
In the period of time after Mission, Nimoy did some small-scale stage work, appeared in a small budget film, and pursued his love of photography. He considered that time after M:I some of the best-spent time of his career and considered it fulfilling. He was glad to have the money he earned on M:I so he could do those things, but it was more important to try other satisfying projects after the five-year grind of a TV show, as he went from three years on Star Trek to two years on Mission: Impossible--and with characters named "Jim" as his boss in both shows!
In the book The Mission: Impossible Dossier by Patrick White--an excellent book I highly recommend--Leonard, who appeared as "Paris" in seasons four and five of the show, mentioned that after two years on M:I, he wanted out because the role wasn't challenging anymore. He told his agent that he didn't wish to return for a third year.
In the period of time after Mission, Nimoy did some small-scale stage work, appeared in a small budget film, and pursued his love of photography. He considered that time after M:I some of the best-spent time of his career and considered it fulfilling. He was glad to have the money he earned on M:I so he could do those things, but it was more important to try other satisfying projects after the five-year grind of a TV show, as he went from three years on Star Trek to two years on Mission: Impossible--and with characters named "Jim" as his boss in both shows!
I'm not surprised Nimoy got tired of doing M:I. There was virtually no character development of any kind on that show. In the first season, at least the very earliest episodes, we got to see something of what the team members were like as people, how they related to each other, etc. But for most of the series, aside from the occasional Very Special Episode, the main characters were complete ciphers. We saw them playing roles, but there was nothing beneath the surface of their impersonations.
So while Nimoy may have initially enjoyed the opportunity to play essentially a different character every week, and to be free to stretch his emotional muscles as a performer again, I can certainly see it coming to feel repetitive after a while.
So while Nimoy may have initially enjoyed the opportunity to play essentially a different character every week, and to be free to stretch his emotional muscles as a performer again, I can certainly see it coming to feel repetitive after a while.
Good points, Christopher, especially about Asians. I do notice that a lot of the Asian American actors today, though, are half-Asian, sort of like how many African Americans in the earlier days of film and television were often bi-racial and light-skinned. That tended not to be so common in the earlier days, perhaps because the roles were more likely to be stereotypical.
But there were many examples in the 60s and 70s of minorities in prominent roles, though except for, perhaps, I Spy and Julia, almost never in a starring role. Bruce Lee, Lloyd Haines, Desi Arnez, Kam Fong, Miyoshi Umeki, Jay Silverheels, and Eddie Anderson were among actors who could be seen regularly on weekly TV in the 60s, not counting the significant numbers of actors who had guest spots on various shows. The 70s would open up even more roles, though the starring roles still tended to elude minorities.
Bruce Lee was originally supposed to be the star of the 1971 detective series "Longstreet". The series was expressly created as a vehicle for Lee by his close friend Stirling Silliphant. However, the network rejected Lee being a lead. James Franciscus was given the lead, and Lee was reduced to a recurring role as Franciscus' martial arts instructor.
^I guess we have made progress. A few years back, we got Martial Law, a show starring Hong Kong martial-arts star Sammo Hung, who didn't even speak English (he delivered his lines phonetically). Of course, he was given a large ensemble cast to support him, and after a while he was teamed up Rush Hour-style with Arsenio Hall as co-lead, but he was still the official lead character of the show (although his character ended up being portrayed as a very reserved, stoic man of few words, a deft way of handling his limitations at performing in English).
How amazing to live on a planet where two thirds of the people are Asian -- where Asians are the normal human being, diverse as Asians certainly are -- but to live in a country where 40 years after martial arts great Bruce Lee was Kato, the next great opportunity for an Asian on television is . . . to play a martial artist . . . progress does seem to take its time in this great country called the U.S.A.
True. Still, Sammo was really cool.
Although there have been other opportunities for Asian-American actors, although usually not in starring roles and not always playing Asian characters. Dean Cain (half-Japanese) as Superman, Kristin Kreuk (half-Chinese) as Lana Lang, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, and Naveen Andrews (who's really Indian) on Lost, Archie Kao on CSI, Masi Oka, James Kyson Lee, and Sendhil Ramamurthy on Heroes, Grant Imahara on Mythbusters (well, not an actor, but still one of the most prominent Asian-American TV personalities around today), etc. TV is doing better in this regard than feature films, to be sure.
Excellent point -- there is a line and it's moving slowly for quite a few people.
My favorite is the kid with the blond hair that used to be on Saved by the Bell . . . had no idea he was part Asian until I read an article.
I read how Hollywood actually groomed one Asian-American actor, James Shigeta, to be a leading man in the 1950s and apparently because it didn't quite make him a household name over night, there was never another attempt.
James Shigeta was a marvelous actor and he had an incredible voice. Another Asian actor I've admired is Soon Tek-Oh. Any role I've seen him in he delivered a fine performance.
James Shigeta has a wonderful, almost Gregory Peck-like voice and as much presence and charisma as other leading men of the day. He is also much more classically handsome than many of the actors today -- he could easily have been cast as a captain in a Star Trek incarnation. Oh was in so many things when I was a kid, such as James Bond, Hawaii 5-0, M*A*S*H, A-Team, that even if people didn't know his name, they certainly knew his face.
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