For much of Hollywood’s TV history, four networks ruled the airwaves. Before the competition of streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, the Big Four were in competition with each other: ABC, Fox, CBS, andNBC. ABC was the most family-friendly network, as it was acquired by Disney in 1996. CBS was known for their dramas, like theNCISfranchise, and for hosting many of the major awards shows. Fox was known foranimated adult serieslikeThe SimpsonsandFamily Guy. But NBC stood out with their comedies, sports shows, and, of course, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
NBC’s notoriety doesn’t stop with what it broadcasts. The network’s dramas and comedies are often the first of their kind as far as representation goes. The groups being represented often break from traditional stereotypes and therefore avoid tokenizing those characters. For example, if an Indigenous character is a lead, like inRutherford Falls, they are played by Indigenous actors. Or, in terms of women’s empowerment, women characters range in age, like the actresses ofThe Golden GirlsorThe Good Place, and complexity. In the case of Black voices, shows likeGrand Creware written by Black creators. Even LGBTQ+ representation pushes beyond the stereotypes like inGo On. Before Netflix’s inclusive productions, NBC was the trailblazer of television.
InSuperstorethe main character is Amy,portrayed by America Ferrera, a Latina who is a devoted mother and employee, but is unhappy in her marriage. She achieves upper management positions for her ability to organize. In the hit series,The Sex Lives of College Girls, one of the four roommates is Bela (Amrit Kaur), an Indian-American woman from New Jersey. She dreams of being a comedy writer when she graduates from college and is sex-positive. Typically, women, especially AAPI, are portrayed as anti-sex or asexual until they fall in love. Although it was canceled after two seasons,Rutherford Fallscenters on two Indigenous characters portrayed by Indigenous actors. Michael Greyeyes, who portrays Terry, is Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and Jana Schmieding, who plays Megan, is Cheyenne River Sioux.
Related:Exclusive: Night Court Stars Lacretta and India de Beaufort Discuss the NBC Reboot
Women’s Liberation
Regarding women, NBC has pushed the envelope so far it cannot be located. Throughout television’s history, women have been blonde, beautiful, thin, and young. Often, the leading women on television, especially procedural crime shows, are the epitome of brains and beauty, wanted by every man on the show, but have no time or desire to date or have sex. Hollywood’s obsession with youth is pressed even further when the lead actress is paired with an actor 15 to 20 years older than her, perpetuating the myth that youth equates adoration and needing guidance. Some would even define this as grooming. Yet NBC took these ideals and virtually obliterated them.
Golden Girlsbrokepractically every “rule” of women on television. The main actresses were in their 50s, portraying women in their 50s, and dealing with real issues that come with aging. Whether it was employment, aging parents, and maintaining relationships with adult children,Golden Girlsshowed audiences that life can continue and even start over at 50+.
Related:Friends: 6 Reasons Why We’ll Never Support Rachel Choosing Ross Over Paris
WhileLaw and Order:SVUreceives criticismfor portraying cops as compassionate, the show pushes boundaries in another way. Lead Detective Olivia Benson is middle-aged and becomes Captain in her 50s. Despite the show’s unrealistic conviction of sex offenders, the show makes a point to undo the “ideal victim” narrative or the person who will garner the most sympathy.
InThe Good Place, two women lead the storyline. While Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and Tahani (Jameela Jamil) are both young and have virtually flat stomachs, television rarely shows youthful, beautiful women dying accidental deaths. The comedy series pokes fun at the afterlife while centering on women who are smart and willing to change.
Black Voices
In television, Black stories are often caricatures rather than three-dimensional characters.Complexdetails how Black characters have been tokenized throughout television. For example, Nina on3rd Rock From the Sunoften combats racist remarks from Dick, an alien who is living among humans. The article also mentions Markus onDoogie Howser, M.D., who is given a second chance by a Doogie, a white person, after taking him, hostage. Though the stereotypes of the angry woman or criminal impact real life. AsMcKinseydiscovered, Black creatives who are in higher positions in Hollywood often are relied upon for their experiences in the writer’s room and beyond.
Phil Augusta Jackson worked with Issa Rae onInsecureand on two NBC shows:Grand CrewandBrooklyn Nine-Nine. According to Buddy TV, Jackson was inspired by his own life to createGrand Crew. The show centers around a group of friends who hang out at a wine bar and talk about issues concerning the mental health issues men face, like unresolved father-son issues and being vulnerable.Brooklyn Nine-Ninestars Terry Crews as Sergeant Terry Jeffords and Andre Braugher as Captain Holt. The show tackles real-life issues like police brutality, corrupt police, and racial profiling. Jackson revealed to Black Girl Nerds that some scenes between Crews and Braugher strike a chord and the entire set will take a pause. Yet before Jackson was in the writer’s room, another prominent comedy show tackled issues like class disparity and the AIDS/HIV epidemic using comedy.A Different Worldencapsulates producer-actress-director Debbie Allen’s personal experience at Howard, an HBCU, according to Essence.
LGBTQ+ Tops
LGBTQ+ representation has been widely tokenized on television. If acharacter is lesbian, they are fetishized for male audiences. Gay men are either ultra femme or closeted, but both are called slurs. Some characters are even coded, as in they give off stereotypes or fetishized qualities. For example, a coded bisexual woman is often the one to initiate a threesome or portrayed as hypersexual, while a coded bisexual man will announce when he thinks another man is attractive, but exclusively dates women who are models or actresses. NBC has often missed the mark on LGBTQ+ representation, but has become wiser over the years.
Will & Gracebrokea lot of stereotypes surrounding LGBTQ+ culture. Will Truman is a gay man who is out, but is critical of other gay men’s expressions and even retreats back into the closet from time to time. Jack is the other end of the stereotypical gay man spectrum with his obsession with musical theater and over-the-top reactions. That said, the revival made up for fueling the fire by making Jack and Will more three-dimensional.
Surprisingly,30 Rockhas several gay and bisexual characters, though some are coded. For instance, J.D. Lutz is coded as bisexual, while Devon Banks and Jonathan, Jack’s assistant, are out and proud. The representation of lesbians across TV is wanting, but in the seriesGo On, Julie Winters portrays Anne, a middle-aged woman who is grieving her recently deceased wife. Anne eventually attends a lesbian wedding and later meets a woman she dates. NBC has a long way to go with representation, but they are clearly on the right track.
