Underrepresented Voices

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

“I saw this black and white world and I used to wonder where I would fit in, in this world that didn’t seem to see me. I think it’s really interesting that I grew up to be what I needed to see on television when I was a kid.” - Sonia Manzano, Performer

Interviewees discuss the portrayal and contribution of underrepresented voices on television, in the entertainment industry, and in society at large.

Highlights

Sonia Manzano on writing Sesame Street stories on cultural change

LeVar Burton on it being a big deal to see black people on television when he was growing up

Marla Gibbs on staying behind at the first table read of The Jeffersons to offer her opinions on naturalistic dialogue, among other points

Joseph M. Wilcots on being the first African-American to join the camera union

Leo Yoshimura on the persistent lack of representation of Asian Americans on television

Silvio Horta on the Latino heritage and social class of Ugly Betty

Who talked about this topic

Dr. John Leverence

Dr. John Leverence on Viola Davis winning an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2015 (for How to Get Away with Murder) as the first Black actress to win in that category

Debbie Allen

Debbie Allen on the impact of Roots; on being cast as "Nan" in Roots: The Next Generation

Debbie Allen on the impact of Roots; on being cast as "Nan" in Roots: The Next Generation

John Amos

John Amos on the public reaction to Roots

John Amos on his experience playing "Kunta Kinte" on Roots and how his background prepared him for it

John Amos on the effect of Roots on his personal self-esteem

John Amos on how roles for African-Americans have changed since he started acting

Lucie Arnaz

Lucie Arnaz on problems faced with I Love Lucy due to her father, Desi Arnaz, being Cuban

Larry Auerbach

Larry Auerbach on representing Sammy Davis, Jr.

Bob Banner

Bob Banner on producing It's Showtime at the Apollo

Paris Barclay

Paris Barclay on producing City of Angels

Paris Barclay on his involvement with the Diversity Committee of the Directors Guild of America

Paris Barclay on whether or not he's faced racism in the television industry

Anne Beatts

Anne Beatts on original (and sole African-American) Saturday Night Live cast member Garrett Morris and how he was used on the show

Milton Berle

Milton Berle on booking the African-American group The Four Step Brothers on Texaco Star Theater

Lewis Bernstein

Future executive producer Lewis Bernstein on his impressions of Sesame Street upon seeing the show for the first time circa 1970

Executive producer/former Director of Research Lewis Bernstein on Sesame Street's effect on racial tolerance in children

Steve Binder

Steve Binder on producing Petula, and the controversy surrounding a segment of it (part 1)

Steve Binder on producing Petula, and the controversy surrounding a segment of it (part 2)

William Blinn

William Blinn on "Huggy Bear" on Starsky and Hutch

Allan Blye

Allan Blye on the moment between Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark on Clark's 1968 special Petula when the two performers linked arms, which caused controversy at the time

Steven Bochco

Steven Bochco on City of Angels and the importance of the series' predominantly African-American cast and crew

Steven Bochco on adding the character of Jonathan Rollins (played by Blair Underwood) to diversify the fictional firm of L.A. Law

George Bodenheimer

George Bodenheimer on ESPN Deportes

Pat Boone

Pat Boone on controversial performances on The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and his view of race relations

Pat Boone on problems he got from sponsors when booking African-American performers on The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom

Ed Bradley

Ed Bradley on being told by his boss Ed Joyce at WCBS radio not to worry about losing his job after a second African-American man was hired there

James L. Brooks

James L. Brooks on writing for Room 222 - the second show on television starring a person of color

Vivian Brown

Vivian Brown on dealing with racism in the industry

Ken Burns

Ken Burns on his documentary series Baseball, and his career-long exploration of race in America

Ken Burns on producing the WWII documentary The War: A Ken Burns Film

LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton on it being a big deal to see black people on television when he was growing up

LeVar Burton on being inspired by Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek

LeVar Burton on the unique perspective shown in Roots - history as told by the African point of view

LeVar Burton on the impact of Roots

Vince Calandra

Vince Calandra on getting African-American talent on The Ed Sullivan Show

Vince Calandra on Ed Sullivan's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and putting African-Americans on television

Reuben Cannon

Reuben Cannon on how the business of casting has changed since he started

Diahann Carroll

Diahann Carroll on performing in the feature film Carmen Jones

Diahann Carroll on her dramatic performance in Naked City which garnered her an Emmy; her continued feelings about the lack of roles for blacks in Hollywood

Diahann Carroll on diversity in television

Marcy Carsey

Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner on the Cosby spin-off A Different World and the awareness the program brought to black colleges

Thomas Carter

Thomas Carter on the African-American cast of The White Shadow and fan reaction to the show

Thomas Carter on addressing racial issues in the series Equal Justice

Thomas Carter on the portrayal of African-Americans on television in 2013

Thomas Carter on dealing with racism in his career

RuPaul Charles

RuPaul Charles on the pressures of being black and gay during the run of The RuPaul Show and on RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul Charles on the legacy and message of RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul Charles on the contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race, and their courage and vulnerability

RuPaul Charles on his message as a performer

Connie Chung

Connie Chung on experiencing racism at work

Connie Chung and Maury Povich on Chung as a trailblazer

Dick Clark

Dick Clark on the diversity of American Bandstand

Nick Clooney

Nick Clooney on hosting a teen dance show (The Nick Clooney School Salute) in Lexington, Kentucky and integrating the show

William Clotworthy

William Clotworthy on working with Garrett Morris on Saturday Night Live

Dick Gregory with Emerson College

Dick Gregory on racism in America

Carlos Mencia with Emerson College

Carlos Mencia on doing Latino-based humor, and on listening to accents

Carlos Mencia on the controversy surrounding his use of the term "beaner"

Carlos Mencia on how different groups react to his act, and Mind of Mencia

Paul Rodriguez with Emerson College

Paul Rodriguez on the Mexican-American community's reaction to a.k.a. Pablo, and their objections to his act

Paul Rodriguez on being inspired by Richard Pryor to use his Mexican heritage and identity in his act, and on the language he uses in his act

Paul Rodriguez on the then-current state of his career, and on his relationship with the Mexican-American community

Paul Rodriguez on things he has had the opportunity to do in his career, and on the then-current state of Latinos in comedy

Henry Colman

Henry Colman on a scene of a black man dancing with a white woman on one of Matthew Rapf's shows and the network's decision to cut the scene

Ken Corday

Ken Corday on minorities on Days of Our Lives

Judy Crown

Judy Crown on diversity in her field

Ann Curry

Ann Curry on aspiring to be a news anchor like Walter Cronkite early in her career, and how she navigated her ambitions with few available role models in broadcast journalism who were women or people of color

Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis on participating in the Civil Rights Movement

Ossie Davis on the impact Roots had: "Roots helped supply America with a truer definition of who black people were than any other work that had come along"

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee on her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

Ruby Dee on how TV's portrayal of minorities has changed

Sam Denoff

Sam Denoff on specific episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show - "That's my Boy"

Phil Donahue

Phil Donahue on interviewing boxer Joe Frazier and doing the show from Attica Street prison

Mike Douglas

Mike Douglas on booking African-American acts for The Mike Douglas Show

Hugh Downs

Hugh Downs on racial tensions and booking diverse guests on The Tonight Show

Hector Elizondo

Hector Elizondo on Cane representing a Latino family

Arthur Gardner

Arthur Gardner on the depiction of Native Americans in television in the 1950's

Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs on staying behind at the first table read of The Jeffersons to offer her opinions on naturalistic dialogue, among other points

Marla Gibbs on casting African-American actors on 227

Leonard H. Goldenson

Leonard Goldenson on the impact of Roots

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Louis Gossett, Jr. on appearing with James Garner in the feature film "Skin Game," and on appearing in socially-conscious projects

Louis Gossett, Jr. on the impact producer Norman Lear had on opportunities for African-American actors in television

Louis Gossett, Jr. on doing research to play "Fiddler" in Roots, and why the character was a breakthrough for him in terms of his acting process

Louis Gossett, Jr. on filming the "my name is Toby" scene in Roots, and on using the line "there's gonna be another day" (which he improvised) with Alex Haley's permission

Louis Gossett, Jr. on the legacy of Roots

Louis Gossett, Jr. on the role of the actor in society, and how the arts can help or harm

Louis Gossett, Jr. on being the second black actor to win an Oscar, and on what it meant to his career

Louis Gossett, Jr. on how things have changed for African-American actors since he started

Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy on international broadcasters

Walter E. Grauman

Director Walter Grauman on losing his Asian extras at 4 PM, while shooting the TV movie The Forgotten Man

Robert Guillaume

Robert Guillaume on the difficulty of black actors getting on television

Robert Guillaume on his pursuit to be funny without being a buffoon or playing a part with "dignity" on Soap

Robert Guillaume on not emphasizing racial issues directly with his character "Benson" on Soap; but finding ways to make a statement his first television role on Julia

Robert Guillaume on audience response to his character "Benson" on Soap

Robert Guillaume on how the show Benson and the main character were categorized

Robert Guillaume on other African-American actors on television in the late 1970s and early 1980s

Robert Guillaume on multiculturalism

Donald Hall

Donald Hall on Hallmark Hall of Fame's presentation of "Green Pastures"

Monty Hall

Monty Hall on the diversity of Let's Make a Deal contestants

Winifred Hervey

Winifred Hervey on getting accepted to the Warner Bros. Writing Workshop

Winifred Hervey on becoming story editor for The New Odd Couple and rewriting original scripts from The Odd Couple to tailor them to African-American performers

Winifred Hervey on efforts made to diversify the writing staff of Benson

Winifred Hervey on not loving to do "issues shows" on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Winifred Hervey on her biggest challenge in the business - being female and a minority

Winifred Hervey on the representation of African-Americans on television

Winifred Hervey on opportunities for women and minorities in writing

Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller on the list of "don't dos" they had from the sponsors and the network on NBC Matinee Theater, and a near-controversy when he cast an African American actor as a doctor

Ellen Holly

Ellen Holly on how typecasting boxes in actors, particularly African-Americans

Ellen Holly on the difficulties faced by an African-American actress who is considered "too light"

Ellen Holly on writing "The New York Times" article "How Black Do You Have to Be?" and on the reaction to it

Ellen Holly on guest-starring on Dr. Kildare, and on having to wear make-up to make her skin appear darker for the show

Ellen Holly on her groundbreaking early storyline on One Life to Live, where she was the first black actress to play a central character on a daytime drama, and on working with the crew of the show and show creator Agnes Nixon

Ellen Holly on her difficulties renewing her One Life to Live contract after the first year

Ellen Holly on going to bat for One Life to Live producer Doris Quinlan

Ellen Holly on the fallout from her going to bat for One Life to Live producer Doris Quinlan

Ellen Holly on her difficulties playing opposite the actor who portrayed "Dr. Jack Scott" on One Life to Live, which led to her first exit from the show

Ellen Holly on her and Lillian Hayman being fired from One Life to Live by producer Paul Rauch

Ellen Holly on coming to a late realization about One Life to Live and about Agnes Nixon

Ellen Holly on finally learning why she was chosen to be on One Life to Live by producer Agnes Nixon and ABC executive Brandon Stoddard

Ellen Holly on having been the focus of the first year of One Life to Live, and on the producers' fears of it becoming a "black show"

James Hong

James Hong on how little change he's seen in the types of roles offered Asian-Americans in his lifetime

James Hong on the cliched/novelty roles offered to Asian-American actors

Actor James Hong the criticisms of David Carradine's depiction of an Asian character on Kung Fu

Silvio Horta

Silvio Horta on the Latino heritage and social class of Ugly Betty

Eddie Foy III

Eddie Foy III on casting Julia

Gwen Ifill

Gwen Ifill on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine and seeing a role model who was African-American

Gwen Ifill on being the first female and first African-American to moderate Washington Week

Julie Ann Johnson

Julie Ann Johnson on the changes she's trying to make in the stunt industry to improve safety, and also for minorities and women

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson on broadcast networks and the black community

Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones on first working on Holllywood films

Quincy Jones on the impact of Roots

Robert Justman

Robert Justman on the development of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Rocky Kalish

Irma and Rocky Kalish on being white writers on an all-black show, Good Times; on how they adapted to their cast

Irma Kalish

Irma and Rocky Kalish on being white writers on an all-black show, Good Times; on how they adapted to their cast

Hal Kanter

Hal Kanter on how his show Julia originated out of his feeling a responsibility to help the image of Black Americans

Asaad Kelada

Asaad Kelada on challenges breaking into the TV industry

Ernest Kinoy

Ernest Kinoy on The Defenders episode "The Non-Violent" and the Civil Rights movement

Ernest Kinoy on the public reaction to Roots and its impact on the Civil Rights movement

Ernest Kinoy on the legacy of Roots and Roots: The Next Generations

Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt on being an African-American performer on television in the 1950s

Eartha Kitt on dealing with racism in television

Mario Kreutzberger

Mario Kreutzberger on working for the biggest minority in the US vs. representing a whole country in Chile; on how the content of Sabado Gigante "has to go with the needs of the community"

John Langley

John Langley on working to reverse negative stereotyping of people of color as criminal suspects (and hitting their demo) on Cops, by going against the grain of actual percentages

Gene LeBell

Gene LeBell on doing stunts for black actors

Norman Lear

Norman Lear on what prompted him to create shows about upwardly mobile black families with Good Times and The Jeffersons

Sheldon Leonard

Producer Sheldon Leonard on the classic Dick Van Dyke Show episode "That's My Boy?" (airdate: September 25, 1963)

Producer Sheldon Leonard on the impact of casting of Bill Cosby in I Spy

Loretta Long

Loretta Long on the power of television, and on the impact that her character of "Susan" on Sesame Street has had on black television characters

Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano on watching TV as a child and not seeing "herself" depicted in the media

Sonia Manzano on being cast on Sesame Street

Sonia Manzano on writing Sesame Street stories on cultural change

Sonia Manzano on the difficulty for an Hispanic actor to find non-stereotypical roles

Sonia Manzano on watching TV as a child and not seeing "herself" depicted in the media

Sonia Manzano on writing Sesame Street stories on cultural change

Ann Marcus

Ann Marcus on her attempt to integrate the cast of Peyton Place

Ann Marcus on her attempt to integrate the cast of Peyton Place

Bob Markell

Bob Markell on the pressure on Robert Hooks in the 1960's while working on N.Y.P.D.

Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall on network censorship experienced writing the I Spy episode "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise" (airdate: November 10, 1965)

Garry Marshall on The New Odd Couple, which used the original series' scripts with an African-American cast

Garry Marshall on the lack of African-American characters on Happy Days

Jerry Mathers

Jerry Mathers on the classic Leave it to Beaver episode: "Beaver and Chuey" which featured minorities on television

S. Epatha Merkerson

S. Epatha Merkerson on experiencing racism as a college student in Indiana

S. Epatha Merkerson on the excitement of seeing black people on television when she was young

S. Epatha Merkerson on wearing a wig to cover her natural hair when portraying her Law & Order character "Lt. Anita Van Buren"

S. Epatha Merkerson on whether opportunities for black women on television have changed over the years

Newton N. Minow

Newton Minow on an argument he had at public station WTTW in Chicago during the 1970 development of the first Black-produced television drama B irds of the Iron Feather, where Jesse Jackson and other Civil Rights leaders demanded an all-Black crew

John Moffitt

John Moffitt on how The Ed Sullivan Show reflected the Civil Rights Movement

Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban on the portrayal of Mexicans in film and television

Ricardo Montalban on Gene Lockhart's advice to him about maintaining an acting career

Ricardo Montalban on his Emmy-winning performance as an American Indian in How the West was Won

Ricardo Montalban on playing his characters with dignity

Ricardo Montalban on the founding of Nosotros

Leslie Moonves

Leslie Moonves on the controversy over dividing the teams on the reality show Survivor by race

Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno on appearing in The 20th Century-Fox Hour production of "Broken Arrow" and having to put on a Native American accent

Rita Moreno on breaking ground as a Latina actress

Rita Moreno on being a role model for latino actors and actresses

Garrett Morris

Garrett Morris on being the only black cast member on Saturday Night Live and other shows

Garrett Morris on the representation of minorities on cable TV versus network TV

Michael Moye

Michael Moye on the not-so-diverse writing staff of Good Times

Michael Moye on whether or not he experienced racism in the television industry

Michael Moye on hiring diverse writers

Michael Moye on some people seeing racism where he does not

Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols on how African-Americans were portrayed on television while she was growing up

Nichelle Nichols on almost leaving Star Trek, and then staying at the behest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nichelle Nichols on Gene Roddenberry coming up with the idea for Star Trek, and wanting a diverse cast

Nichelle Nichols on meeting Coretta Scott King, and discussing Star Trek with her

Nichelle Nichols on Gene Roddenberry making Star Trek a breakthrough for diversity on television

Nichelle Nichols on the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren" in which she shared television's first interracial kiss with "Captain Kirk" (William Shatner)

Nichelle Nichols on how things have changed for African-American actors since she began her career

Nichelle Nichols on fan reaction to the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren" in which she shared television's first interracial kiss with "Captain Kirk"

Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy on his penchant for playing ethnic roles in his early TV career

Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek producer Gene Roddenberry's description of "Spock" and the concern that "Spock's" initial skin coloring of red might read black on black and white TV sets

Agnes Nixon

Agnes Nixon on the groundbreaking "Carla Grey passing as white" story on One Life to Live

Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor on receiving accommodation from the NAACP for casting African-American actors on In the Heat of the Night

Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos on the future of Latinos on television

Edward James Olmos on the ongoing lack of diversity on television and in movies

Bernie Orenstein

Bernie Orenstein on lectures he gives on the influence of African Americans in television

Roscoe Orman

Roscoe Orman on his awareness of the lack of diversity on television during his childhood

Roscoe Orman on "Gordon's" relationship with "Susan" on Sesame Street

Timothy Van Patten

Timothy Van Patten on diversity on The White Shadow

Dick Van Patten

Dick Van Patten on issues Eight is Enough dealt with throughout the series

Maury Povich

Maury Povich on co-anchoring news in Los Angeles with future wife Connie Chung; on her start at CBS

Connie Chung and Maury Povich on Chung as a trailblazer

David Pressman

Director David Pressman on some of the social issues covered on One Live to Live

Jorge Ramos

Jorge Ramos on interviewing President Obama and pressing him on immigration reform

Jorge Ramos on Univision covering presidential politics and its importance to the Latino community

Jorge Ramos on hosting an English-language show for Fusion

Jorge Ramos on what he hopes to achieve with his influence

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on what separates Univision from other news gathering organizations

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on issues that are important to them personally

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on Univision's role in the 2008, 2012 and then-upcoming 2016 elections

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on the emergence of Latino candidates in presidential elections

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on changes they've seen in television journalism and Spanish news

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on the then-future of Spanish-language news and Latino journalists

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on dream projects or goals in the then-future

Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashad on her role as "Courtney Wright" on One Life to Live in the early 1980s, and how character Asa Buchanan (played by Philip Carey) appeared to have been married at some point to every character but her's

Phylicia Rashad on how The Cosby Show reflected reality

Marian Rees

Marian Rees on producing The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Marian Rees on executive producing Ruby Bridges

Marian Rees on the African-American crew on Ruby Bridges and gaining Ruby Bridges' trust

Marian Rees on the Norman Rockwell painting on which Ruby Bridges was based and recreating it

Marian Rees on public reaction and the educational benefits of Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection's "Almost a Woman"

Gene Reynolds

Gene Reynolds on how African-Americans were depicted on Room 222

John Rich

John Rich on casting Mike Evan as "Lionel Jefferson" on All in the Family

Director John Rich on Sammy Davis Jr.'s suggestion, as a guest on The Tonight Show, that he would make a funny guest star on All in the Family (leading to his appearance on the classic episode "Sammy's Visit")

Hank Rieger

Hank Rieger on publicity for NBC shows starring African- Americans

Hank Rieger on NBC's African-American executives

Al Roker

Al Roker on being one of the only African-Americans on camera in the Syracuse area when he was in college

Meta Rosenberg

Meta Rosenberg on developing the series Julia starring Diahann Carroll

Aaron Ruben

Aaron Ruben on why "Gomer Pyle" didn't go to Vietnam and why there were no African-American's in Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show

Aaron Ruben on developing, casting, and producing Sanford & Son

Maria Elena Salinas

Maria Elena Salinas on how identifying with two cultures informed her news reporting

Maria Elena Salinas on the state of Hispanic news when she started

Maria Elena Salinas on appealing to different aspects of the Latino community

Maria Elena Salinas on interviewing then-governor Pete Wilson about his stance on immigration issues for California

Maria Elena Salinas on covering immigration and doing advocacy journalism

Maria Elena Salinas on being called "the most recognized and trusted Hispanic newswomen in America"

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on what separates Univision from other news gathering organizations

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on issues that are important to them personally

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on Univision's role in the 2008, 2012 and then-upcoming 2016 elections

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on the emergence of Latino candidates in presidential elections

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on changes they've seen in television journalism and Spanish news

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on the then-future of Spanish-language news and Latino journalists

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas on dream projects or goals in the then-future

Jay Sandrich

Jay Sandrich on the thrill of having the number one show in American be about an African American family (The Cosby Show)

Isabel Sanford

Isabel Sanford on The Jeffersons legacy within the African-American community

Joseph Sargent

Joseph Sargent on casting black extras on Gunsmoke

Bob Schiller

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on racial issues on Maude

Herbert S. Schlosser

Herbert S. Schlosser on his role in getting more African-Americans on television with shows like I Spy and Julia

Herbert S. Schlosser on programming Julia, and on African-American representation on television

Robert Schuller

Robert Schuller on dealing with Civil Rights and racism on Hour of Power

Richard Shapiro

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

Esther Shapiro

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

Jack Shea

Jack Shea on diversity on television during the era of Sanford and Son

Jack Shea on diversity within the DGA

Abby Singer

Abby Singer on dealing with Affirmative action as a production manager

John Singleton

John Singleton on The Arsenio Hall Show being the only variety show that would put on hip hop and R&B artists at that time

John Singleton on directing Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" music video, and his vision for putting Michael Jackson with "a whole bunch of black people"

John Singleton on how opportunities for African Americans in entertainment have changed over the course of his career

Gary Smith

Gary Smith on working with Sammy Davis, Jr. and on working with African-American performers

Dick Smothers

Tom and Dick Smothers on their dealings with CBS, their firing, and their thoughts about the larger political issues which may have contributed to the demise of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Tom Smothers

Tom and Dick Smothers on their dealings with CBS, their firing, and their thoughts about the larger political issues which may have contributed to the demise of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Lynn Stalmaster

Lynn Stalmaster on the risks taken with Roots and portrayl of minorities on network television, and how it changed

Nick Stewart

Nick Stewart on performing for both black and white audiences on the Vaudeville circuit

Nick Stewart on black performers and the type of comedy they practiced

Nick Stewart on the NAACP protests of Amos 'N' Andy

Nick Stewart on the end of Amos 'N' Andy due to protests from the NAACP (Part 2)

Nick Stewart on how race relations affected the television industry

Nick Stewart on the then-current state of African-Americans on television

George Takei

George Takei on the dearth of Asian people in the entertainment industry early in his career

George Takei on Gene Roddenberry envisioning diversity as the strength of the Star Trek crew

George Takei on being an Asian-American actor

George Takei on being an Asian-American actor

William Tankersley

William Tankersley on how CBS Program Practices handled Civil Rights storylines on TV shows in the 1950s

Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel on the subject matter of episodes of Studs' Place, including a guest appearance by Mahalia Jackson

Tony Thomas

Tony Thomas on the black community's reaction to Benson and its cancellation

Grant Tinker

Grant Tinker on diversity on television in the 1960s

Grant Tinker on the lack of diversity in television

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams on appearing on The Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club as a child and not being allowed to win a car on the show because an African American boy had already won one on the show

Leslie Uggams on getting recognized on the street after appearing on Sing Along with Mitch and the extra pressure she felt as an African American woman in the spotlight

Leslie Uggams on the pushback from the network to her being on Sing Along with Mitch because she was African American and how Mitch Miller stood up for her

Leslie Uggams on discrimination she faced early in her career and barriers she broke down by appearing on Sing Along with Mitch

Leslie Uggams on the role television played in the Civil Rights Movement

Leslie Uggams on how The Leslie Uggams Show came about and her efforts to have a diverse crew and writing staff

Leslie Uggams on the success of Roots and what it taught Americans about their own history

James Wall

James Wall on being initially turned down by CBS when he applied for a stage manager position at the network

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner on what he believes The Cosby Show was trying to achieve

Malcolm-Jamal Warner on black culture on The Cosby Show

Malcolm-Jamal Warner on how the portrayal of Black Americans has changed since he started acting

Keenen Ivory Wayans

Keenen Ivory Wayans on battling racism with humor at a young age ("Call me Mr. Nigger")

Keenen Ivory Wayans on how he handled hot-button issues on In Living Colo r with his writing staff; on writing about the riots between the Black and Jewish communities in Brooklyn in a takeoff on "West Side Story"

Keenen Ivory Wayans on an In Living Color sketch about black men being an endangered species and on dealing with censorship at the network

Keenen Ivory Wayans on how the portrayal of African-Americans has changed on TV

Bob Weiskopf

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on racial issues on Maude

Tom Werner

Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner on the Cosby spin-off A Different World and the awareness the program brought to black colleges

Susan Whiting

Susan Whiting on diversity in Nielsen samples

Joseph M. Wilcots

Joseph M. Wilcots on being the first African-American to join the camera union

Joseph M. Wilcots on being the first African-American in the camera operators union

Joseph M. Wilcots on how things changed for black cinematographers during his career

Larry Wilmore

Larry Wilmore on the writers of The PJs, and on the diversity of the writing staff

Larry Wilmore on changes he's seen in for African-Americans in television

Ethel Winant

Ethel Winant on dealing with the network on casting blacklisted actors and minorities on television in the '50s

Ethel Winant on difficulties she encountered in casting minority actors for shows like Playhouse 90 and The United States Steel Hour's production of "Doomsday at Noon"

David L. Wolper

David Wolper on the origin of Roots and finding out about Alex Haley's book, and the development of the hit miniseries

Leo Yoshimura

Leo Yoshimura on the persistent lack of representation of Asian Americans on television

Leo Yoshimura on playing "Sulu" in several Star Trek parodies on Saturday Night Live over the years, and on lack of representation of Japanese people on television

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