NBC’s “Undercovers” is notable for its sleek spy drama action, its breezy “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” dynamic between the married lead couple, and its executive producer’s pedigree as the creator of “Lost.”
Oh, and the two leads happen to be African-American. One of them is Atlanta actor Boris Kodjoe.
We’re 26 years removed from the debut of seminal sitcom “The Cosby Show,” yet in the world of TV dramas, minorities rarely get the solo lead along the lines of “House” or “The Mentalist.” Efforts over the years to do so have been sporadic and short-lived. (“City of Angels,” anybody?)
Not that minorities are invisible in dramas. They’re sometimes paired off with a white person — as in LL Cool J on CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles.” Or they’re sprinkled into ensemble casts such as ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and the upcoming CBS remake “Hawaii Five-O.”
The last notable minority leading a prime-time drama on broadcast TV goes back four years: “Day Break” starring Taye Diggs on ABC. The confusing “Groundhog Day” concept didn’t even last 13 episodes.
“The fact they are unsuccessful the few times they’re tried often puts a brake on further development,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University who has taught a class on minorities on TV. “It’s a silly conclusion for a programmer.”
In “Undercovers,” which debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday on NBC, Kodjoe and British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw play married caterers drawn back into the spy game. J.J. Abrams, whose last spy drama “Alias” was heavy on mythology, opted for lighter fare this time around, telling E! that it’s more akin to the 1980s show “Hart to Hart.”
“J.J. Abrams didn’t have a particular race in mind when he cast our roles,” Kodjoe said by phone earlier this month during a break in shooting in Los Angeles.
“It’s sad” that this situation is considered unusual, Kodjoe added. “It should be normal. All we can do is inspire others. Wake up and smell the coffee: This is the way the world looks like.”
Thompson said if “Undercovers” fails, “we’ll probably see things go back to the usual: Integration occurs on television dramas through ensembles.”
“We have come a long way,” he added, “but the fact this is something that we still categorize demonstrates we still have a ways to go.”
Kodjoe actually was part of an all-black ensemble drama on the pay cable network Showtime a decade ago called “Soul Food.” He carries a much greater responsibility on this show with a much larger budget.
“I have to step it up,” he said. “I haven’t had a day off yet. It’s been crazy! The task of launching a show is daunting.”
Yet, at the same time, he added, “It’s a dream come true. My character is so multidimensional. I get to do new things every day. We shoot in different locations. I do martial arts. I speak different languages. It’s never dull.”
He and his family recently moved to Los Angeles from Atlanta because of his job. “For the sake of the kids, we could not do the long-distance thing,” he said. But his charity foundation Sophie’s Voice, for kids with spina bifida, is still based in Atlanta. He and his wife, actress Nicole Ari Parker, are planning a big fundraiser here in March 2011.
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