[TV] female main villains, gay male leads, black 16-40 leads

[N-7]

The Wire? Omar is the freaking man; he's black and gay.

I was going to say the same, The Wire for 1 and 2.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

Wolverine owns your number 3. Kick ass female sidekick, kick ass love interest , kick ass female Villain who was basically second in command. Viper was awesome wish she could be in more.

Anything number 1 is owned by anything with Tyler Perry's name on it.

[Deleted]

Wolverine owns your number 3. Kick ass female sidekick, kick ass love interest , kick ass female Villain who was basically second in command. Viper was awesome wish she could be in more.

Anything number 1 is owned by anything with Tyler Perry's name on it.

Whoah, whoah, whoah... stop the press! There was a non-animated TV show/series for Wolverine? Who aired it?

[Mace]

Your use of superlatives and generalizations is excessive. Just off the top of my head already,

1. Black male leads: Last Resort, Fresh Prince of Bel Air and many other comedy shows.

2. Gay male leads: Torchwood and Modern Family and many other comedy shows.

3. Female main villain: Ugly Betty, True Blood, Elementary and Once Upon a Time.

Also, your use of "Western" is disgusting. The diversity profile of TV shows in non-US countries is completely different and in a completely different contexts. For example, UK and French TV shows are a lot more diverse than US shows, despite having a much lower population diversity (only 11% are ethnic minorities). Scandinavian countries also have almost homogenous populations and yet manage to fit in some diversity.

Last Resort doesn't count, guy is a senior - you get lots of older black men, it's the younger ones you don't get
Fresh Prince and other comedy shows - are black only shows, they don't count
Torchwood - the lead character is bisexual not gay, and it's the only non-gay show in existence with a non-straight lead male.
Modern Family - many shows have gay characters and even gay mains, but no gay main leads. doens't count
True blood, once Upon A Time all have co main villain, the most evil characters are male e..g Dark One.
Heard of Ugly Betty, wasn't that a chick show though? did any guys ever watch that?

[Pendulous]

Last Resort doesn't count, guy is a senior - you get lots of older black men, it's the younger ones you don't get
Fresh Prince and other comedy shows - are black only shows, they don't count
Torchwood - the lead character is bisexual not gay, and it's the only non-gay show in existence with a non-straight lead male.
Modern Family - many shows have gay characters and even gay mains, but no gay main leads. doens't count
True blood, once Upon A Time all have co main villain, the most evil characters are male e..g Dark One.
Heard of Ugly Betty, wasn't that a chick show though? did any guys ever watch that?

Sounds like you and the OP are just being incredibly picky for the sake of being incredibly picky and specific. This guy doesn't count because he's not THE lead, this guy is bi not gay. This guy is black but so is everyone else in the show.

I mean this 100%. Who really cares?

[Gallahadd]

Last Resort doesn't count, guy is a senior - you get lots of older black men, it's the younger ones you don't get
Fresh Prince and other comedy shows - are black only shows, they don't count
Torchwood - the lead character is bisexual not gay, and it's the only non-gay show in existence with a non-straight lead male.
Modern Family - many shows have gay characters and even gay mains, but no gay main leads. doens't count
True blood, once Upon A Time all have co main villain, the most evil characters are male e..g Dark One.
Heard of Ugly Betty, wasn't that a chick show though? did any guys ever watch that?

So you say there's not enough black mains... yet discount shows where the whole CAST is black? How does that work?

Technically captain Jack is PANsexual and that as only because of the highly misguided love storyline between him and Gwen, the actor has always said that to him Captain Jack is gay. Even if he is Bi/pansexual that is still a lead that's not straight, why split hairs?

What's the difference between a main and a main lead? oh right, there isn't one.

Actually in True Blood there is no main most evil character, it's more focused on the main villain for THAT season and there have been PLENTLY of evil bitches in True Blood. Hell it's not a stretch to say the MOST evil character (due to being the only character who is still a human and thus has no excuse for being such a thundercunt) is a female, namely Sarah Newlin.

Ugly Betty was a comedy, aimed at basically everyone, I know plenty of guys who watched it. And again just because it's a chick show doesn't change the fact that the most evil character in the show was a woman.

Also, just thought of another one. Xena, warrior princess, again there wasn't really a "main" badguy, but the closest thing they had was Callisto, a very very VERY evil female main villain.

[Krunsh]

As an ignorant white male with blonde hair and blue eyes who drives a 10mpg truck, What exactly is the issue? /sarcasm off. Give it time. It's a media that's steadfast in its ways and makes what people watch. It will evolve eventually.

[vindicatorx]

This truly is an urgent priority that must be fixed now. Off to write angry letters to television studies to right their heinous crime.
Honestly who really gives a shit what color or sexual preference the main characters are? I don't pay attention to stupid shit like that. Honestly why is it that their sexuality is a must be known? I don't sit around announcing my sexual preference to other people who the hell does?

[Stormcall]

Leverage- Male black lead, 2 female leads.

Leverage also had several episodes with female villains too. And since Hardison is under 40 he should definitely fit what the OP is looking for, however...I think the OP is discounting "ensemble" shows too. He seems to wants a show where the "MAIN" lead is a Black guy. I mentioned Criminal Minds(Shemar Moore was under 40 when the series started so he should be acceptable) and that didn't seem to count. Basically, since Hardison is part of a team in Leverage rather than being the single main lead, and since Morgan in Criminal Minds is part of a team, and not the sole "main" lead in Criminal Minds, they don't count. And Ice-T in SVU would also be ruled out, even if he was under 40.

[mykro9]

My two cents here... Where are the good black and gay actors who will stand up to a script writer and say "I will not stand for these stereotyped roles you are feeding us?"
I was watching Ironsides, if it got cancelled I would be surprised, it was good.

Maybe one of the reasons we are not seeing any of these roles filled is because nobody is writing them, or because no one in power to do so wants to see them, or maybe because the ratings are king and the US population is mostly white still?

You could even go so far as to say that black males in the age range who are interested in fame go the sports route or musician route. You cannot force black males in the age range you are looking for to be actors, and if there is not a large pool of actors to pull from, then how would you cast such a role? It seems you would have to tailor a role for a certain actor and then give them the role.
I hate to point out what a non-actor Jayden Smith is, but he got 2 starring roles in 'The Karate Kid' remake, and 'After Earth'.

Maybe there are so few truly evil women in reality that creating an 'evil' female villain does not make much sense either. Honestly name me any truly evil women in the news. I can name Jodie Arias and Aileen Wuornos, as convicted killers, but how many more are there? The list is short, and therefore the list of female roles for villains is short as well. Martha Stewart is in there as well, but really, does she count? Her crime was as non-evil as it gets.

As for gay leads, do news readers count? Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Thomas Roberts and a few other national news anchors with their own shows are gay and their shows do not make any mention of it it at all, and why should it.

EDIT:
Also, this link lists black and under 40 actors. So there you go, pick movies they have been in.
http://http://www.imdb.com/list/zjsd...?ref_=nm_rls_3

And even this list of female villains:
http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/best-f...llains-movies/

[Deleted]

STrangely all very rare or totallly missing in western tv shows. Have you noticed any of the following too?
1. Black male leads

Deep Space Nine. Cisco is Black, and the main character in the series.

2. Gay Male leads

Southland - Officer Cooper, The Sopranos - Vito Spatafore, Shameless - Ian Gallagher.
There is three, there are lots more.

3. Female Main Villain

BSG - Number 6, Xena Warrior Princess - Callisto, Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Glory, SG1 - Adria (of the ori)

Is there still prejudice and a lot of bias in the entertainment industry? Most a show have to be about black culture or gay life to see a young black male leads or a hollywood first of a gay male character leading star who's not in a show/movie about gays.

[/quote]

No, I dont think there is is bias in the entertainment industry at the present. Sure many years ago that might have been the case, but these days it is most certainly not.

[KayossZero]

Another character I forgot to mention is David Fisher (played by Michael C. Hall) from Six Feet Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F..._Feet_Under%29

"Among critics, David Fisher has been cited as the first realistic portrayal of a gay lead male character on television and is popularly regarded as one of the most beloved characters of the series. Michael C. Hall was widely praised for his portrayal of the character, and was nominated for and won major awards as a result.["

I would definitely agree with this, especially at the time of the shows original air date.

[The King in Yellow]

Let me think...

Stargate had a black guy part of the main cast... -and- multiple female villains..

Star Trek DS9: Main; a black guy.

Star Trek TNG: multiple female villains, just as in Star Trek voyager, which had a main female character, eventually two and female villains...

Then again I don't watch much TV..

Now here's my point: what's the big deal, seriously. Who cares what skin colour or sexuality the main characters have? I'd say all that matters is the story and actors who fit the story..

[Stormcall]

I was watching Ironsides, if it got cancelled I would be surprised, it was good.

Maybe there are so few truly evil women in reality that creating an 'evil' female villain does not make much sense either. Honestly name me any truly evil women in the news. I can name Jodie Arias and Aileen Wuornos, as convicted killers, but how many more are there? The list is short,[/URL]

There are quite a few more female killers than the ones who get media attention. Just because they're not famous or in the news doesn't mean they don't exist, the ID channel has several different true crime series that regularly detail the cases involving female killers. There's at least one("Deadly Women") exclusively devoted to female killers. And women's prisons exist because there's plenty of prisoners to put in them-sure, not all of them are violent offenders, but plenty of them are, too.

And Ironside got cancelled after 4 episodes.

[Dasffion]

I was watching Ironsides, if it got cancelled I would be surprised, it was good.

Hate to be the one to break it to you but Ironside got cancelled after 3 episodes

[Skippy88]

I would say if you took a snapshot of all current tv shows and tallyed up the stats the OP is probably more right than wrong. While they won't admit it demographics do play a part in casting. Don't forget advertisers are tv stations main customer not the general public. In order to attract advertisers you need shows that will have attract that 18-49 aged group as they will have the most disposable income and therefore buy that advertiser's product. As you dissect that 18-49 group they know what attracts them and what doesn't.

I'm not saying they are right or wrong but if you had the choice between a White Lead and a Black Lead and your stats show the White Lead will attract more advertisers/viewers which one would you go with?

[Hraklea]

Person of Interest has a female main villain.

The current biggest soap opera in Brazil has a gay male main villain. And while I really don't like the show itself, I have to say that he might be the best brazilian actor nowadays.

[Mace]

So you say there's not enough black mains... yet discount shows where the whole CAST is black? How does that work?

I think the point of the post is to highlight prejudices in the entertainment industries, or it's a curious community picking of knowledge to see if there are any shows that fit the criteria the OP is looking for.

Maybe he just thought he, why can't i find a gay character lead or young black male starring as lead roles in any show I watch? ANd I don't think ALL gay shows and ALL black shows really count towards this test now do you? It would be stupid to have a show about black community without black actors or about gay life without gay characters.

- - - Updated - - -

I would say if you took a snapshot of all current tv shows and tallyed up the stats the OP is probably more right than wrong. While they won't admit it demographics do play a part in casting. Don't forget advertisers are tv stations main customer not the general public. In order to attract advertisers you need shows that will have attract that 18-49 aged group as they will have the most disposable income and therefore buy that advertiser's product. As you dissect that 18-49 group they know what attracts them and what doesn't.

I'm not saying they are right or wrong but if you had the choice between a White Lead and a Black Lead and your stats show the White Lead will attract more advertisers/viewers which one would you go with?

and I think that's the problem with our entertainment system or the viewing public. They've dumbed down and has been fed shit for so long, that doing something different like a black male lead under 50 or a male gay character as the lead would cause rating drops, when it's the quality of the show that should matter.

Either that, or it's the tv producers that are racists and homophobes for not trusting the quality of the show or the actor enough to cast a black male as the starring lead or the show having a gay character as the star.

Maybe that's what the OP is trying to say? Personally, I would go with who's the best, if it's a black actor that does the job the best, I'll go with it, if the story is great and it's a good production that works with the lead character being gay, I'd go with that. Wanna bet you'd still get a viewing?

if all black shows can be popular, and gay focused shows too, then why do they think having a black male lead in the 18-49 age range wouldn't ever be a success or your main lead character being gay?

[ravenmoon]

Sounds like you and the OP are just being incredibly picky for the sake of being incredibly picky and specific. This guy doesn't count because he's not THE lead, this guy is bi not gay. This guy is black but so is everyone else in the show.

I mean this 100%. Who really cares?

it's not being picky. Examples have been given that satisfy many of the additional points I wrote - like more than 2 black male chars in the leading cast etc, even though the examples are not that common, but at least they are there for those other points. I had to point out the first points still had no real examples and you have to see why a show about the black community or the gay community wouldn't count. Afterall, black men under 50 and gay men can be heroes and stars too in a society can they not? isn't it odd that not one TV show reflects that? I mean the main lead is the most important character in the show. Especially in a society that values the being at the top over everything is the industry saying something by this?

Let me think...
Star Trek DS9: Main; a black guy.

~snip

Now here's my point: what's the big deal, seriously. Who cares what skin colour or sexuality the main characters have? I'd say all that matters is the story and actors who fit the story..

DS9 - finally a show that did have a black lead under 50

and to your point, it shows the prejudice that exists in the industry, because most people don't care, yet you don't see shows with the main star being a younger black or a main character being gay. The 2 shows so far Star Trek DS-9 and Torchwood, long since ended and not one in the myraid of shows released are. Does this not show an incredible bias in the industry? are you not alarmed by this? What else have you not picked up that you're being fed everyday and treating as normal that really isn't?

It's a curious observation, but it does raise some more serious questions