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1. 3) Cory - first or second time executive producers don't get to "hand-pick" their actors; right now only Jerry Bruckheimer and Dick Wolf get to do that.

   Posted by: SoCal | Feb 26, 2007 8:05:13 PM

   I can't recall exactly where I read that Shonda Rhimes had the final say in her cast selection, but I know for certain that was the case. While working with ABC, one of her stipulations was selecting a racially diverse cast that reflected what she personally believes to be representative of the general population and/or hospital staff. Ms. Rhimes insisted on this and given her writing credits ("Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" as an example) and ABC's desire for a hit show at the time of her pitch, they pretty much gave her cart blanche in regards to selecting the final cast (again, I read this, I don't personally know this but in a few of her interviews she does specifically state her intension on racial diversity).

   Posted by: Cory | Feb 26, 2007 10:55:37 PM

   
   

2. Leland, Second that again. I admire your willingnees to take on those who adamantly refuse to think. Some people cannot be bothered to fight their own battles even when they have so much skin in the game. Pathetic.

   Posted by: rudy | Feb 27, 2007 6:56:23 AM

   
   

3. Leland -

   as much as I have enjoyed your comments in the past, your profane response to my post was uncalled for and immature - you are behaving like a schoolyard bully to anyone who opposes your point of view.

   I would hardly depend on Ebony for accurate reporting on the specifics of a network drama series deal, and I don't think anyone else who looks for the details would either. As for Cowan and Lipman, by the time they were EPs for Queer as Folk, they'd done 5 or six series in a showrunner capacity and some 10 or 12 pilots along with that - so yes, they have a great deal of experience and power, not to mention they were working for a cable network known for giving EP's carte blanche and not a micro-manager like ABC. Oh yes, and they're white men.

   Cory - I fully realize and relate to Ms. Rhimes insistence on a diverse cast. I've done it, I know others who have, it's atough fight but not impossible. Nonetheless, the network has the final say on specific cast choices either outright (at network callbacks), or in the contract negotiating process. And although you can certainly insist on talent (actor, director, writer, etc.) of color and the network will contractually make "all best efforts" to do so, if they have a holdover talent deal they can burn off by putting them in your show, they'll do it - that's the deal you make to get your show on the air.

   I, for one, am giving Isiah the benefit of the doubt and at the very least appreciate his apology and attempts to just lay low and get back to doing excellent work. It's also worth noting that Grey's Anatomy is getting its best ratings ever (in the history of Thursday night dramas for them) in spite of all the behind-the-scenes drama.

   Some of us try to see the glass full; Leland prefers to yell at it.
   

   Posted by: SoCal | Feb 27, 2007 12:51:50 PM

   
   

4. White people enslaved niggers. White people beat them, sold their children and owned their parents. White people dragged niggers across the ocean in chains for the purpose of jumpstarting their economy with some free labor. White people lynched niggers, stole their land, and forced them to ride the back of the bus, and go to separate bathrooms. White people denied niggers the right to go to the same schools, and the right to vote. When niggers tried to take their place as equal human beings with equal rights in this country, they were fire-hosed, beaten, lynched (again), attacked by dogs, jailed, stabbed, spat upon, cursed from pulpits and assassinated. Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King are examples of people who paid the ultimate price for advocating equal rights. Thanks to their efforts and those of countless others niggers disappeared and African Americans emerged in their place. The price for the change was paid in sweat, pain, sacrifice and blood. Equality is still off somewhere in the future. We are getting closer, be we haven’t overcome yet. Not while practices like racial profiling still exist. I had to remind you folks because it is still Black History Month.

   Gay people face discrimination. The effect on the lives of people suffering from discrimination due to racism and homophobia is quite similar in most ways. Those effects are doubly difficult for people like me who are forced to hurdle both obstacles regularly in order to have a happy life. However, the history of the two is not the same. The price for equality must be paid. Gays cannot get a free ride and hide in the closet the way TR Knight did and then pop out and declare the word faggot and the word nigger are equal. They are not. One has to be peering through a particular shade of rose-colored glasses to attempt to call Rhimes out for not condemning Washington at the same time one coddles and supports Knight’s lack of forthrightness about his sexuality and the tepid “I am a man who happens to be gay, don’t give any grief about it” stances he has taken since he was “forced” out of the closet. Instead of facing up to Washington and saying “Yes I am gay and you are out of line calling me a faggot in my workplace” allowing his co-workers to support him, he hid in the closet, allowing others to fight his battles for him. Was it fear that was toping him? Do you think freedom fighters weren’t afraid when they had to face the Bull Conners of this world? Or those people who walked for more than a year during the Montgomery bus boycott in order to gain the right to sit down, after they paid their money. Do you really think it is going to come any easier for Gays? Why should Rhimes be making statements on Knight’s behalf if he isn’t standing up for his own truth? Instead some make the racist assumption that she supported Washington just because he was black. Not maybe because she knew him, and/or liked him, and/or was glad to have him working on her show, BUT, just because she’s black and he’s black. That’s what they do those black people. So you naturally attack her because you’re gay and Knight is gay. Is that how this goes?

   Under the column of adamantly refusing to think, so-called gay people steal the crown from the hood when it comes to not being able to see what’s right in front of you especially when it comes to your own racist issues. There is so much to learn from the long painful journey of blacks in America; especially since early pioneers of the “Gay” movement modeled it after the civil rights movement. Instead, no matter which gay blog I read, some men avail themselves of every opportunity to attack and denigrate black people. So you want an apology? Pay your fare.
   

   Posted by: Buddha Gaydah-Apollo | Feb 27, 2007 1:19:43 PM

   
   

5. It occurs to me that since I got caught up in the comments that I never commented on the post itself. So I have to wonder, what the hell is the point? 2 actors had a disagreement and one used the f-word and now he’s been turned into the grand wizard of the Klan.

   There is so much that’s unknown about what happened last October. Who was there? What really started it? Knight said on Ellen that he was not late, but he did not say what the disagreement was actually about. Dempsey has flatly denied that there was any physical altercation although I still see that reported regularly. In fact, Dempsey has offered no account of what happened or what he was reacting to when the voices were raised. Even the outspoken Heigl has never actually indicated whether she was there or not, nor has she given a full account of what happened that day. I recently watched for a 3rd time an interview on Oprah where she asked Knight, Dempsey, Washington and Avery about the incident (they were all there together) and all indicated it was more like a spat in a family than anything else and was the result of not communicating effectively, which led to resentments building up. It took less than 5 minutes and voices were raised, and then it was over. No physical violence. All agreed that Avery took Dempsey and Washington to task about the outburst later, and then they all put it to bed. Washington has never indicated why he reacted so angrily to the reporters’ questions at the Golden Globes. What was under his skin that day?

   Why would there be any need for Rhimes to make a public statement about a private matter that had already been handled internally, or an incident that all involved indicated was really a small internal matter? Through the end of last year the story was mostly conjecture and rumor. Actually, it remains that way today. Knight confirmed that Washington said the word on the Ellen show, but I have not seen where he stated that he feels that Washington dislikes him because he is gay, or that that he feels intimidated by Washington, or even that he dislikes Washington. Washington referenced him in his extensive pubic apology, but neither Washington, nor Knight nor even Dempsey has ever uttered a word about whether there was or was not a private apology. Although the resident mindreaders on this blog seem to think they know.

   Finally, I am struck by how similar in tone Dempsey and Washington comments are in the post. Both speak in carefully worded, non-committal statements. They remind me of men who’ve had trouble with the media and are trying to say as little as possible so as not to offend anyone. Seems to me that they are showing a little maturity, and it time for all of the others of us to follow suit. There are IMPORTANT battles to fight. Enough with the trivia already.

   
   

   Posted by: Buddha Gaydah-Apollo | Feb 27, 2007 1:21:50 PM

   
   
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