This season’s pilots reflect more minorities in starring roles
The recent trend toward mostly-white casts on U.S. TV might finally be starting to reverse itself. This year’s pilot season on U.S. TV features a number of pilots with African-American leads. These pilots include “Undercovers,” the Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style show from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek), which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe as a sexy spy couple, and a spinoff from Criminal Minds starring Forest Whitaker. Though there are still only four new drama pilots starring minority actors, it’s a big step up from the zero African-American stars on new dramas in 2008.