Okay yesterday I told you I was going to give “VH1 Divas” a shot—although I wasn’t sure that the lineup was strong enough. But I’ve got to confess that I DVR’d the show instead of watching it live because “Fringe” looked so much more appealing. The sci-fi thriller’s season premiere didn’t disappoint either. In fact, I was perched on the edge of the couch for 44 minutes. (”Divas” on the other hand, had me pushing the fast forward button time and again.) Anyway back to “Fringe”… as I watched Lance Reddick’s character sternly direct an FBI agent to sign a bogus report, I couldn’t help wishing that more people of color got to be on quality shows with freaky themes like “Fringe”. (Or, for that matter, top of the line expertly written dramas like “Damages”.)
Seeing more of ‘us’ is simply not enough. If that’s the only criteria then we’ll have to be satisfied with “Meet the Browns”. By raising the stakes, however, we get to see a variety of depictions. Ensemble casts seem to be the only way in right now. But maybe someone will get the bright idea to tweak the formula and build an “ensemble” cast that more heavily relies of people of color in the future. I guess Reddick is filling the slot once held by Richard T. Jones as the brother is my favorite sci-fi show since “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” bit the dust. Plus it is great to see one of the brothers from “The Wire” land so well. Now he needs more airtime (which I suspect he’ll get since he has a surprising close relationship to a questionable character).
But are more interesting contrast will be to watch C.C.H. Pounder show two sides of herself as the mother in “Brothers” versus her role in “Warehouse 13″. From the title of this post it is clear that I am coming down favor of seeing more of Mrs. Frederic, who is eery, scary, ageless, emotionless and also wields a whole lot of power in yet another covert organization. Her cameos transform the show from an “X Files” clone to something much quirkier and ominous. You never know when she’s going to show up (so I say more please—that is if the show gets picked up).
I’m pushing sci-fi as the next frontier not just because of my undying love for Benjamin Sisko (or I was one of a handful of people who actually watched “The 4400″,—where a black woman had the power to destroy the world just by giving you a look). Actually, I believe there’s an opportunity to create characters without being inhibited by the perceptions and problems of the real world. And if we can make a breakthrough in that genre perhaps other writers, show runners and the networks themselves will get a clue.
If you liked this post, we think you might like these too:
