Showbiz Sandbox 275: TV Casting Isn’t Just Black and White
March 30, 2015
Thanks to the success of new shows like “How To Get Away With Murder”, “Black-ish”, “Fresh Off The Boat”, “Jane the Virgin” and, of course, “Empire”, Deadline Hollywood reports this year’s pilot season is experiencing an explosion of minority casting. Networks are now writing roles specifically for ethnic actors and demanding series pilots feature a diverse cast. Though long overdue, the suggestion that the “pendulum might have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction” ruffled a few industry feathers.
In less controversial news, the Library of Congress announced the 25 recordings it will be adding to the National Recording Registry this year. Among them are classics by The Doors and Radiohead, Broadway cast albums and hits by The Righteous Brothers and Johnny Mercer. There are even a few historical wax cylinder recordings dating all the way back to the 1890s.
And just when you thought the awards season was long over, the New York Independent Film Critics held their annual meeting to select the IRA Film Awards. Our host Michael Giltz was on hand to argue, discuss and vote for the best in movies from last year with a prestigious group that believes they have better taste than all those other awards shows. We’ll go over the list of winners.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including who will replace Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show”, the popular television series “Downton Abbey” calls it quits as does Zayn Malik, a now former-member of One Direction.
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IMDb Preserves Legal Win Over Revelation of Actress’ Age
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/imdb-preserves-legal-win-revelation-784985
2014 IRA Film Award Winners
http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2015/03/2014-ira-film-award-winners-iras-are.html
IRA Awards Best Films of the 1960s
http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-ira-awards-best-movies-of-1960s.html
Steve Martin, The Doors and Radiohead Albums Named to National Recording Registry
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steve-martin-doors-radiohead-albums-783734
Sorry Wrong Number Radio Play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r5GZral6zs
Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/homewax.php
Trevor Noah Will Succeed Jon Stewart At ‘Daily Show’
https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/trevor-noah-will-succeed-jon-stewart-at-daily-show-1201462430/
The Onion Reviews The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
http://www.theonion.com/video/the-onion-reviews-the-hunger-games-catching-fire,34637/
Zayn Malik Quits One Direction
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/zayn-malik-quits-one-direction-20150325
Heartbroken Workers Seek Compassionate Leave after Zayn Malik Quits One Direction
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/11498773/Zayn-Maliks-departure-from-One-Direction-has-fans-seeking-compassionate-leave.html
Gustavo Dudamel’s L.A. Phil Deal Reverberates Across Classical Music World
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-gustavo-dudamel-la-phil-contract-extension-20150328-story.html
HBO Expands Its Offerings of Vice Content
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-hbo-vice-news-20150327-story.html
‘The X-Files’ Revived at Fox for Six-Part Limited Series
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/x-files-revived-at-fox-783960
Craig T. Nelson to Star in ‘Coach’ Follow-Up Series for NBC
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/craig-t-nelson-star-coach-784791
Elvis Costello Penning Memoir ‘Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink’
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/elvis-costello-penning-memoir-unfaithful-music-disappearing-ink-20150323
BBC Ditches ‘Top Gear’ Host Jeremy Clarkson
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bbc-ditches-top-gear-host-781162
Apple to Relaunch Beats Music Service With Trent Reznor
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/apple-beats-plan-paid-streaming-music-service-20150326
Willie Nelson Is Launching His Own Brand of Weed
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/26/willie-nelson-is-launching-his-own-brand-of-weed.html
‘Downton Abbey’ Done After Season 6
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/03/26/downton-abbey-done-after-season-6/
Pilots 2015: The Year Of Ethnic Castings
http://deadline.com/2015/03/tv-pilots-ethnic-casting-trend-backlash-1201386511/
Gene Saks, Tony-Winning Director of Neil Simon Hits, Dies at 93
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/30/theater/gene-saks-actor-and-director-of-stage-and-film-dies-at-93.html
Check out our latest podcast about entertainment news from an insider’s perspective. I love the story on the rise of diverse casts on network TV. Some folk (anonymously, natch) complained about how some white actors were shut out of certain roles because the show already had enough white people on it. To which every actor of color would say, “Welcome to my world, b****!”