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CBS has sailed through somerough waters when unveiling its fall lineup at the Television
Critics Assn. summer press tour in recent years.
For much of the last decade, executives have faced heavycriticism from TV journalists over the near-absence of peo-
ple of color in leading or prominent roles on the network.
While other major broadcast networks steadily increased
the presence of African Americans and other minorities, the
trend at CBS when it came to the casting of starring roles
steered primarily toward white men.
The backlash reached a crescendo at the 2016 press tourwhen CBS presented a slate of six new comedies, all featuring
white men, including Joel McHale and Kevin James. CBS En-
tertainment President Kelly Kahl and Thom Sherman, sen-
ior executive vice president of programming, encountered
even more grilling the following summer, over the network’s
fall slate; of its six new shows, only one, “SWAT,” had a minor-
ity lead, and none had a woman in a leading role.
The furor subsided last year when CBS introduced several
shows with minority leads, including “The Neighborhood,”
“God Friended Me,” “FBI” and “Magnum P.I.”And when the
network presents its upcoming prime-time slate Thursday,
it will show even more momentum on the diversity front:
Three of its five new shows feature performers of color in lead
roles. In addition, “The Neighborhood,” “Magnum P.I,” “God
Friended Me,” “FBI” and “SWAT” are all returning, giving
CBS one of the most ethnically diverse lineups of the four ma-
jor networks.AFTERYEARS of criticism, CBS is rolling out three shows for fall with performers of color in lead roles. Clockwise from top: Simone
Missick in “All Rise”; Mike Colter and Katja Herbers in “Evil”; and Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku in “Bob Hearts Abishola.”CBSEye on diversifying
In a change, CBS’ fall lineup features shows with minority stars
Michael YarishCBS Elizabeth FisherCBSBYGREGBRAXTON>>>
[SeeCBS, E5]It is not
such a
golden
age in
‘Once’
Warning:
Spoilers
for “Once
Upon a
Time ... in
Hollywood”
follow.
I have
seen a lot of “Who would win
in a fight?” lists, from the
classic — Batman versus
Superman — to the current
—Nancy Pelosi versus
Kellyanne Conway — but I
can safely say none included
Butch and Sundance versus
Tex Watson and the Manson
girls.
Until now, of course.
In “Once Upon a Time ...
in Hollywood,” Rick Dalton
(Leonardo DiCaprio) and
his stuntman Cliff Booth
(Brad Pitt) are not real
cowboys, but they play them
in the movies. Like the
titular leads of “Butch Cas-
sidy and Sundance Kid,”
Rick and Cliff find them-
selves facing obsolescence
in a culture with dwindling
interest in their particular
skill sets or brand of “High
Noon” masculinity. Like
Butch and Sundance, they
are granted one last stand.
Only this time, the cow-
boys win.
In a plot twist that re-
quired the use of an acid-
laced cigarette to smooth
over the gaping holes in
narrative and historical
credulity, Rick and Cliff
(and Cliff ’s dog!) kill the
murderous hippie freaks in
a literal blaze of glory and
ride off into the sunset (al-
beit one of them in an ambu-
lance).
“Once Upon a Time ... in
Hollywood”has been hailed
by many as a fairy tale, an
homage to that place of
dreams formerly known as
Tinseltown. And at more
than two and half hours,
much of it spent finding just
the right camera angle for
Brad Pitt’s jaw, Quentin
Tarantino’s thrift-store-
scavenged, photo-archive-MARY McNAMARA[See‘Once,’E4]Summer in the city, clas-
sically speaking, is pretty
much owned by the Holly-
wood Bowl. The once won-
derful Los Angeles Festival,
last mounted in 1993, is an-
cient history. There remains
no word on a promised Mu-
sic Center international fes-
tival. But an ad-hoc, quint-
essentially L.A. music festi-
val just might have begun
percolating downtown.
For the first time,
two venerable, venturesome
L.A. concert series, Piano
Spheres and Monday Eve-ning Concerts, dipped their
toes into the summer con-
cert waters with what felt
like festival-ish program-
ming. REDCAT is hosting
its annual New Original
Worksseries, a three-week-
end workshop for emerging
and mid-career artists that
continues until Aug. 10. And
the new music ensemble
wasteLAnd has begun a
Summer Academy of Com-
position, which culminates
in concerts Sunday and Aug.
10 in the Chinatown gallery
Automata.
The Piano Spheres event
Saturday night in its usual
venue, the Colburn School’s
Zipper Hall, could be looked
at as a kind of coda celebra-
tion to the series’ 25th sea-
son but was, in fact, the start
of something new, a jazz
sideline. Concluding the sea-
son of probing L.A. pianistsMUSIC REVIEWFirst notes of a
summer festival?
Monday Evening
Concerts and Piano
Spheres show the way
for L.A.’s music scene.
MARK SWED
MUSIC CRITIC[SeeMusic,E4]It’s no exaggeration to
say that Broadway director
and producer Hal Prince
made the musical modern.
When the Golden Age was in
danger of losing some of its
luster, he reinvigorated the
art form with sex, politics
and a conceptual sleekness
that seized the imagination
of a more liberated genera-
tion.
No figure in Broadway
history had a bigger influ-
ence on how shows looked
and behaved in the second
half of the 20th century.
Prince, who died Wednesday
at age 91, directed a series
of groundbreaking shows
whose productions were in-
separable from their author-
ship. The breathtaking list
includes “Cabaret, “Com-
pany,” “Follies,” “A Little
Night Music,” “Candide,”
“Sweeney Todd,” “Evita”
and “The Phantom of the
Opera.”
As a producer, he was just
as prolific in turning out
landmark works. Having
served as an apprentice for
the Broadway masterAN APPRECIATION
Prolific legend
changed course
of Broadway
BROADWAYdirector and producer Hal Prince, who
died Wednesday at age 91, earned 21 Tony Awards.Al SeibLos Angeles TimesHal Prince redefined
the modern musical
by steering shows like
‘Cabaret,’ ‘Phantom.’
CHARLES McNULTY
THEATER CRITIC
[SeePrince,E5]From bedroom
to the big timeClairo’s debut album
builds on her viral
“Pretty Girl” without
sacrificing any charm
or intimacy. E3Comics...................E6-7
What’s on TV..........E8