In my American Studies class we’ve
been talking about how on TV there are often “token” characters that are only
there to make the show more diverse. My teachers have made it clear that this
applies to dramas, so that left me wondering about other forms of TV. Since I
generally prefer sitcoms to dramas, I decided to look up the top sitcoms to see
if they follow a similar system of having “token” characters.
According
to TV Guide, these three were top in the ratings for sitcoms in 2013.
The Big Bang Theory
Two and A Half Men
How I Met Your Mother
The Big Bang Theory features Kunal
Nayyar as Raj Koothrappali. Raj is the only non-white main character out of
these three shows. Clearly, making sure the shows are diverse is a lot less of
a concern for the producers of sitcoms than dramas, but why?
These
shows do draw fewer viewers than the dramas, but they still have around 16
million viewers each episode. In my opinion, I think that dramas are more
concerned with having their “token” characters because in dramas there are often
“good guys” and “bad guys”. For example, in class the vast majority of dramas
we talked about were crime shows. In these shows the main characters are
typically trying to solve a new case or arrest a new criminal each show. If all
of the main characters on the show are the “good guys” and if they’re all white
than the only characters left for minorities to play are the roles of the “bad
guys”. Therefore, it is important for the main casts of dramas to seem more
diverse, even if they are just tokens, so that all of the “good guys” aren’t
strictly white.
Sitcoms,
on the other hand, are usually more light-hearted and don’t usually have a lot
of criminals or “bad guys”. Therefore,
the networks might not view it as important to make sure their cast is diverse.
Personally, I think this is an issue that should be addressed because I think
that TV shows shouldn’t only be diverse so that they don’t generalize certain
groups as the “bad guys”. Why do you think that top rated sitcoms are less
diverse than the dramas?
I agree with what you're saying. I think that sitcoms do worry about diversity lesss than dramas do. However, I think that "token" minorities that are on sitcoms are usually supposed to be the funny or silly characters. I think that goes back to what we were watching in class about how African Americans used to be portrayed, and how they were portrayed as people that just did silly things or kind of acted crazy. I think this is visible in New Girl with Winston, one of the main characters, or 30 Rock with Tracy Morgan, or even What I Like About You, which is a very old show.
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