The “Scandal” Effect: Black Women on Television

also, the new show Sleepy Hallow starring Nicole Beharie as a lead!

I watched the first episode and I am impressed for a pilot it is very good. A lot of people have talked for a long time when is Meagan Good going to get her breakthrough? Well, I believe Deception is the first time Meagan is the lead in television or film. I am very happy for her! Meagan and Laz Alonzo have serious chemistry! I think people should be happy that maybe, television is finally starting to change. Now there is Scandal, Mindy Kaling's show on FOX, and now Deception on NBC, three networks with women of colour in the lead this is good news. I just hope people give Deception a chance and NBC also really gives the show a chance to succeed.

I'm a bit flummoxed about how Black people still clamor for firsts as if the world hasn't changed by 50 years. Integration, in the American sense, was a scam from the beginning and 50 years later it has only gotten worse. At this point in time is the inclusion of Black women as leads or as viable partners for white males or significant brokers in (white) halls of elite power  really something progressive to celebrate?

Meanwhile, the masses of people, especially Black and Brown women, get poorer and poorer.

I love the fact that our demographic can be looked at as more than those stupid reality shows. Love and HIp Hop, Basketball Wives etc they do not appeal to some of us and they send out a negative image this is a relief. I didn't know I needed a show like Scandal until it came to television .

You can watch the entire first episode right now, online.DECEPTION Pilot Episodehttp://www.nbc.com/deception/video/pilot/n30467/

NBC's executive VP of drama programming is a sista(Pearlena Igbokwe) she was at Showtime.  We may start seeing more people of color in dramas on NBC, we'll see.  

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbc-pearlena-igbokwe-drama-development-347072

If you have Comcast you can see the pilot episode of Deception on On Demand; I watched it earlier this evening, it was ok.  Good looking men(Laz Alonzo & Wes Brown) on the show though :)

I really hope to see these shows take off(it seems Scandal already has). It's good to see more black female leads, and I hope this will help change attitudes about black women in the media. I read that in Deception, the lead is supposed to have been a maid? That makes me roll my eyes a little bit, but I won't knock it just for that. I'm excited to see more of this trend.

Makes me wish they hadn't canceled Undercovers, though. It could have been better, but I really think it had potential, and I was sad to see it go. 

It looks like the networks are starting to move away from the (un)reality tv shows. Thank God! I look forward to watching Deception although it's hard for me to get into network television since I haven't watched in so long, that is unti Scandal came on, but that's only one show.

I will be watching Deception. Other then Meagan there are other actors that I like. 

In the interview Kerry did with Oprah, she did state that hopefully her being on Scandal will open the doors for others. So I'm happy to see the show. Some black people are already trippin over the show, whats new. 

Shonda Rhimes and Kerry Washington have done an amazing job with Scandal. I love the show, and even though I can’t watch it live because I work long hours at DISH, I always catch it on my DVR. Scandal is even set to auto-record on my DISH Hopper along with the other big four primetime network shows using PrimeTime Anytime, so I can still watch the show when I forget to set a timer. And since I like Scandal so much I’ll definitely check out Deception. If its lead actress is anything like Kerry Washington I’m sure I’ll love it.

Deception seems like Scandal meets Revenge from the previews.  NBC doesn't really have great dramas, so I hope this one is an exception.  I like Meagan and think she has that ingenue quality with a very broad appeal.  Like Hayden Panietterre (sp?) is another example.

It's about time!

It's definitely exciting to see Scandal thrive and have such a strong following, and if other shows led by black women catch on, I hope it will signal a shift in the idea that black women are only useful as side-kicks and negative 2D stereotypes. I still see certain corners of the industry aggressively trying to market this nonsense, and I don't believe that profit is entirely the motivator.

But here's hoping this is the beginning of a move towards more black women leads and more positive visibility for black women on television.

Megan Good is beautiful. I've liked her ever since Eve's Bayou. I hope this show doesn't get the ax before the season if over though. People might be expecting a Scandal like angle, but from what I can tell from the previews, she is a cop going undercover to solve her best friend's murder.

On a unrelated note, Kerry Washington's weave is poppin!!! I'm no fan of weaves personally but hers is really good.

Yes, it would be pleasant to think some progress has been since Lt Uhura's "Hailing on all frequencies, captain" some 50 years ago.