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Undercovers Cast Struggles to Change Racial Stereotypes within U.S. Broadcast Television: A study how a prime-time series with leading black actors failed to maintain a viewing audience

December 17, 2010 at 2:44 am Leave a comment

Undercovers Cast Struggles to Change Racial Stereotypes within U.S. Broadcast Television: A study how a prime-time series with leading black actors failed to maintain a viewing audience

Recent studies show U.S. television shows are beginning to feature Black actors in dramas, whereas in the past, Black actors were limited to sitcoms or comedic genres (Bielby, Bielby 1994; Hunt 2002).  But, it remains to be seen whether black characters can be successful as lead actors in drama series during network prime-time timeslots.  Television shows in America are driven by the ratings they receive on a regular basis.  It is known to be challenging for television producers and screenwriters to create a television series that generates a respectable viewership.  Sometimes the former involves a level of risk-taking that can be achieved by developing a diverse cast of characters or creating a unique storyline, among other varying factors.  Undercovers, a prime-time drama series, attempted to attract an audience by starring two black characters when it premiered on NBC during the Fall 2010 TV Season.  However, the show failed to gain significant ratings and prompted the network to cancel the series before a second season could be contracted.  In my report, I will discuss various aspects of the show including its representation and discussion of race, gender, sexuality, and body image.  I will try to reach conclusions on why American audiences may prefer a white-majority cast over one that uses minorities in lead roles.  Further, I will explain possible reasons for the series’ lack of success and popularity with the mainstream popular culture in America. 

While Undercovers fell considerably short of its potential to change the influence race has on prime-time shows, the show still represents a shift within the racial ideology of popular culture.  The history of television has a legacy of under representing the population of Black Americans since the early 1950s (Brooks and Marsh 2007).  In 1965, I Spy was the first network drama series to feature a black lead character with Bill Cosby.  The series “reintroduced Blacks to prime-time starring roles” and paved the way for shows like Julia, Room 222, and The Mod Squad, as well as the several other television shows with Black characters that emerged during the 1970s (Brooks and Marsh 2007: xvii).  Throughout the past several decades, Black characters have been disproportionately represented in demeaning roles (Brooks and Marsh 2007) and are still slightly more likely to be portrayed as criminals in television shows than White or Latino racial groups (Hunt 2002).  In addition, White characters continue to dominate prime-time television, as they make up about 80 percent of the total screen time measured for characters of all racial groups (Hunt 2002).  That is why Undercovers should be classified as part of the new trend in drama series that features minorities in lead roles. 

The new series, like a significant number of other series released in today’s popular culture, relied on its producers’ reputations to help market the show and try to ensure viewership.  Many modern television shows feature veteran producers, as more than two-thirds of NBC’s series consist of production teams “associated with prior hit series” (Bielby and Bielby 1994: p. 1302).  Undercovers was labeled “highly anticipated” by critics because of its co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams who’s past work included producing shows like Lost and Alias.  Both of Abrams’ shows are drama prime-time series that each completed at least five seasons of episodes (Carter 2010).  Abrams should have been able to reference his past work to reassure viewers that the television shows would be produced by following a similar quality procedure.  According to Bielby and Bielby, the producer also could have told the public to expect the series to have “elements proven successful with audiences in the past” (1994: 1293).   But, the series Undercovers, underperformed and in the end, Abrams’ resume could only carry the new series so far.

Undercovers aired on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and was a drama that revolved around six credited cast members and included 26 guest actors who for the most part each appeared just once throughout the season.  The basic plot for the series involves former CIA agents who come out of retirement after spending five years away from the job.  These two agents, Steven and Samantha Bloom are both of Black racial identities and receive a majority of the screen time within the series.  While retired, the Blooms began their own catering business, which consists of several hired chefs, including Samantha’s sister Lizzy Gilliam.  Lizzy is also Black and receives screen time in seven of the eight episodes and plays a supporting role in the series.  Agents Steven and Samantha Bloom are married and during the CIA missions, they each learn how to work together to stop terrorist threats and/or attacks.  Throughout the series, the agents resolve conflicts in various countries including Sweden, Ireland, North Korea, and Switzerland.  Undercovers is considered a rarity in prime-time series because its Black characters did not interact in a stereotypical “Black-oriented sitcom” or in a “Black-oriented drama fraught with social issues or family pathos” (Elber 2010).  I believe the series attempted to create a plot that resembled the investigative or spy-type drama series that tend to draw high ratings from American audiences of today.  In each episode, the plot usually begins when a criminal draws attention to his or herself by kidnapping or murdering another person.  Once the CIA boss, Carlton Shaw, hears about the incident, he notifies the Blooms.   Throughout the season, the Blooms are managed by Carlton, who is an older White male.  Carlton represents an authority figure and orders the Blooms to stop the villains from causing any further terrorism or crime.  There are also two other White CIA agents, Leo Nash and Bill Hoyt, who serve as assistants to the Blooms during their missions.   

Method

To study Undercovers, I conducted a content analysis on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the series.  I used a coding sheet for each of the eight episodes I watched during the season.  The coding sheets helped me keep track of quantitative data for the credited characters and special guests in the show after I identified each character (see final coding form).  I used the coding form to first assign a character ID number to each character in a particular episode.  Then regarding the U.S. Census’ definition of race, I coded the racial identities of each character using the following racial identities: White/Caucasian (1), Black/African American (2), Hispanic (3), Asian (4), Native American (5), other (8), or unable to determine (9).  Next I identified the gender of each character as either male (1), female (2), or unable to determine (9).  A separate component of the coding form intended to record whether there were any transgendered characters represented in the episode and the response was either no (1) or yes (2).  I also coded the sexual identity of each character if it was identifiable in reference to the following preferences: straight (1), gay (2), lesbian (3), bisexual (4), or unable to determine (9).  The last component of the quantitative section was used if a character had a noticeable disability as defined by the U.S. Census, which was coded as either no (1) or yes (2).  In the qualitative portion of the analysis, I recorded substantial representations or discussions by the characters about race, gender, sexuality, or disability (body image).  In addition, I recorded any intersectionality that occurred during each episode, which refers to the representation of two or more of the character’s social identities that I previously described.

I used a comparison of another television show as my second method of study.  I conducted the comparison with NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), which is a CBS prime-time drama series.   I collected data on one episode of NCIS that aired during its Fall 2010 TV Season by using the same content analysis format that I utilized to study Undercovers.  I choose NCIS to compare with Undercovers because the two shows are both prime-time dramas that feature a similar investigation/espionage plot.  However, the series NCIS, is an established drama with the ratings and credentials to support its high reputation.  According to the show’s page on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), it has been nominated for two Emmy Awards in the prime-time series category, including Outstanding Stunt Coordination; Farnsworth; 2008 and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series; During 2005.  The series is in its eighth season and continues to maintain ratings that consistently rank among the top broadcast scripted TV shows during prime-time timeslots according to the Nielsen TV Ratings provided by TVbytheNumbers.com.  Therefore by comparing NCIS to Undercovers, I was able to find some possible factors as to why Undercovers proved unappealing to American audiences.

Results: Content Analysis

            While conducting a content analysis on the series Undercovers, I also recorded its ratings and viewership during its first season.  The show’s highest number of viewers (8.570 million) tuned in for the premiere episode.  While the number of viewers seemed to decrease as the season went on, as episode 8 drew an audience of 5.085 million Americans, which was the lowest viewership for the episodes I researched.  Also the share for the 18-49-year-old age bracket ranged from 4-8.  These rating issues were a main reason stated for the series’ cancellation (Carter 2010).  Moreover, I will discuss some of the deterring factors for the series’ lack of viewers that I found through conducting the content analysis.  These factors can be explained using the representation and discussion of race, gender, sexuality, and body image from the episodes of Undercovers.

Race

The series generally did not portray race as negative factor and it did not seem to change the meaning of the episodes in the series.  When analyzing the credited cast members, the show only depicts portrayals of two racial identities; White and Black.  In the series there are also three Hispanic and two Asian characters that play guest roles in an episode.  The remaining screen time is dominated by Black and White characters as the series features 22 Whites and five Blacks.  Although the show’s racial breakdown appears in favor of White characters, it is worth mentioning that the series featured Steven and Samantha Bloom as the show’s main characters and they appeared together in most scenes.

In regards to the characters, Steven and Samantha Bloom, Blackness is represented as intelligent and intellectual.  When the Blooms travel to different countries they instantly adapt to the culture and national language.  For instance, when they go to a South American country, they are able to communicate with the natives using fluent Spanish (Abrams and Reims 2010h).   The show represents that the Blooms, who are African American, are vastly knowledgeable about world culture.  The former is a positive social view for an audience to understand, as the more open a person is to another’s culture, the less probable that ethnocentrism will occur (Griswold 2008).  

The show does not however, escape racial stereotypes as a central theme throughout the series revolves around how Samantha Bloom is objectified by her sex appeal.  The show thus reinforces Black female stereotypes such as the hypersexual “jezebel.”  The term “jezebel” is used to signify a Black woman who is over-sexualized to sell a product or idea (Collins 2009: 81).  Samantha is over-sexualized in a way that allows her to gain the attention of men of any racial identity in the show.  Samantha is portrayed as an attractive woman, who flaunts her beauty and sex appeal.  During one scene where the Blooms are trying to get information from a male suspect, Samantha tells Steven that she will use “sexpionage” to make the suspect provide information (Abrams and Reims 2010a).  In the process, she strips down to her underwear to distract the enemy and changes her tone of voice to a deeper and more intimate style, which allows her to lure in the suspect.  In another episode, Samantha pretends to be emotionally interested in a male character to help the CIA arrest him.  She uses her physical beauty to lure him into custody by wearing a skimpy bathing suit and attempts to charm him (Abrams and Reims 2010b).  Subsequently the CIA agents are able to stealthily obtain data from the suspects in each scene and thus complete their missions. 

Whiteness among male characters in the show is portrayed as superior and experienced, while Whiteness is represented by female characters as naïve and egotistical.  A reoccurring element of the show’s storyline includes secret meetings between the Blooms and their White CIA boss, Carlton Shaw.   The boss represents a dominant White male who keeps order within the agency and gives the Blooms their assignments.  Although dialogue between the Blooms and Carlton is usually professional and serious in tone, there are a couple scenarios where minor racial tension takes place.  One particular conversation occurs after Carlton finds out that the Blooms have failed to complete their mission (Abrams and Reims 2010c).  The White boss appears disgusted that the Blooms have failed and thus makes them feel inferior and embarrassed by yelling at them.  He states that he might have made a mistake by reassigning the agents to another mission, although his statements are not explicitly race-based.  The show eventually explains that the Blooms made an honest mistake and the possible crisis within the agency does not escalate into anything too dramatic.  Meanwhile, White female characters play minor supporting roles in the series and often are portrayed as objects to the White male characters.  When a White male character is portrayed as a criminal or villain, White females are usually the ones who play their loyal assistants.  However, the White women do not appear to understand the plans that their leaders are attempting to carry out.

Gender

            Gender is important within the context of the Undercovers series, as it suggests several ideas about how an intelligence agency such as the CIA is set up institutionally.  The show also focuses on the marriage of Steven and Samantha Bloom, so insight about their relationship and gender roles can be defined from the episodes as well.  In total there are 23 male characters and nine female characters, which include special guest roles. 

            Male characters in the show are overrepresented and portray a hierarchy within the field of international espionage and entrepreneurship.  For example, when Steven and Samantha Bloom enter a bar in search of a criminal, Samantha encounters gender discrimination (Abrams and Reims 2010d).  When the agents announce they want to speak to the criminal, the bar owner says he will only speak to Steven.  Samantha tries to go back to speak with the man as well, but the owner says that “girlfriends are not allowed.”  When Steven meets with the criminal, he gets into a fight with the security guards and then proceeds to talk with the criminal.  While the scene portrays Steven as a strong and capable CIA agent, it also symbolizes how women cannot participate in certain dangerous aspects of the mission.  Throughout the series, the Blooms try to split up the work equally on missions, but it can often seem like Steven does more of the dangerous activities.

            Steven Bloom further represents a strong masculine character that overpowers Bill Hoyt, who is an effeminate male character.  In one scene, Bill is depicted as less masculine than Steven, who is portrayed the “hegemonic” or as the “idealized form of masculinity within American culture” (Linneman 2007: 1).  Steven picks on Bill for wearing silk pajamas, saying that he looks like Lady Gaga (Abrams and Reims 2010c).  This questions Bill’s masculinity due to the reference of a female pop singer.  In addition, Steven and Bill‘s characters contrast if one compares their appearance.  Steven, who usually wears a leather coat, fits a more rugged and strong personality.  His body type is considerably more muscular than Bill’s, who is skinny.  Steven’s character does not intimidate or harmfully bully Bill in any of the scenes; thus the comparison exists in the series for comedic relief.

Steven Bloom also portrays a masculine character through his attitudinal behavior.  In multiple scenes of an episode, Steven refers to himself as the “human lie detector” (Abrams and Reims 2010d).  He brings up his self-proclaimed nickname whenever he suspects he is right about someone being dishonest.  Samantha appears annoyed about her husband’s boasting.  The show implies that Samantha doesn’t like it when a man thinks he is always right or when he is too self-confident.  The former also represents how a man can sometimes feel he is “right” or have a haughty ego in some circumstances. 

            Undercovers portrays a nontraditional type of relationship between Steven and Samantha as they live an equalitarian lifestyle at home.  When the series shows the couple in their home together, it emphasizes how their relationship is a positive and intimate one.  Each partner supported the other with their personal goals within the workplace or with their personalities.  Even though it seems that Steven would have more dominance in the relationship because he plays a more influential role during CIA missions, the series portrays a balance in their relationship.  This balance occurs when portions of the episodes feature the catering business and show Samantha at work.  It is suggested that she dedicates a higher amount of energy and effort into the business than Steven.  So the series, in essence represents gender as a social identity that has distinct and separate roles for the male and female characters. 

Sexuality

            Sexuality is not overly represented in the show, as the storyline is concerned more with producing an action or suspenseful drama.  When I coded all the of the characters’ sexual preferences I found 17 straights, 14 unknown/other, 1 gay, and no lesbian characters.  I choose to label a total of 14 characters’ as unknown or other because the show’s characters revolved around solving a mystery or crime.  Thus, the plot did not offer enough dialogue or representation of the characters’ sexual preferences to be able to make an accurate classification of their sexuality, in my opinion.  Based on the quantitative figures that I coded regarding the sexuality identities of the show’s characters, straight characters are represented as an overwhelming majority.  Also the series makes a statement by only representing heterosexual relationships.  The show does not express sexual diversity from my perspective. 

            Sexual attraction between the characters in Undercovers is based solely on physical beauty.  The Blooms are an exception to the former because they have a relationship that is based on an intellectual bond as well as physical attraction.  In one particular episode Leo Nash, one of the accompanying CIA agents for the Blooms’ mission, had sexual relations with someone from a different political administration, in order to obtain information (Abrams and Reims 2010g).  In this show he sleeps with a woman, who in turn gives him a copy of the president’s speech.  This isn’t the first time the character has done this, as Leo has flirted or had sex with attractive women in other episodes to gain information.  This represents that the show is portraying certain men as shallow because they may have a disregard for ethics or monogamous relationships.  It is also interesting how Leo brags to Steven about having sex with the women, as if he does not know how he is risking his professional career.

            The show has one gay character, Lance, who plays a minor role within the series.  Lance, a White male who works at the catering business, only appears once during the episodes I viewed.  The character is mildly picked on by other colleagues during the few scenes he receives screen time in.  I see Lance’s role in the series as insignificant due to the low amount of actual screen time he receives.  NBC as a network has been improving the number of LGBT-inclusive hours of original programming, but its grade is only “adequate,” according to the GLAAD Network Responsibility Index 2009-2010.  This limited LGBT representation may show that the series purposely used a gay character in a minor role in the series to avoid any viewer backlash they may fear.

Disability

Characters in Undercovers were portrayed as disadvantaged if they did not have the sufficient intellect to complete their assigned tasks.  The series only features one disabled character throughout the episodes that I coded and the male character had a mental disorder, specifically a bipolar disorder.  Thus, I will choose to discuss disability in terms of a character’s body image, since the show did not represent any characters with physical deformities.   

            The show moreover emphasizes the role of the characters’ body, as it points out Steven’s physical strength and Samantha’s physical beauty.  This brings up another point that the younger characters are more likely to participate in action or fight scenes, while older characters are portrayed as conspirators or observers.  For instance, Carlton Shaw does not participate in any of the missions that he assigns his agents, as he only helps the agents with their travel plans.  Therefore, in a sense, age is considered a disability or a hindrance.  Only the younger characters were shown as having the ability to travel through multiple countries and fight enemies who could unexpectedly attack.

            Female characters in Undercovers, especially Samantha Bloom, are represented as sex objects and symbolize a male gaze.  The creators of the series exploit Samantha’s physical attractiveness and she often appears in seductive clothing to cause distractions when the CIA agents are looking for information.  This objectification occurs due to the dominant role men have in producing television and other media that creates these patriarchal values women cannot escape (Hammett 1997: 86).   One episode presents Samantha’s beauty as almost hypnotic through a male’s perspective.  On the streets of Brazil, Samantha pretends to be tourist as she “accidently” walks into a suspect wanted by the CIA (Abrams and Reims 2010g).  Samantha reacts in a typical way a woman may react when walking into a man; flustered and overly apologetic.  Samantha asks for directions to a location in the city and then lures the man into a restaurant for a drink.  This scene represents how the show does gender and how it sexualizes Samantha in many of the scenes, so she can seduce criminals or suspects.  It also shows how some men become weak around women and agree to anything they may say; if they are attractive enough. 

            Characters in the show often expressed or exhibited fearless attitudes; whereas treating an injury or wound represented a weak character trait.  For example, when Faber, who is a guest character with bipolar disorder, cannot decode information quickly enough, his terrorist leader shows little patience for him (Abrams and Reims 2010c).  The terrorist leader does not seem to care that he has a mental disorder because he pushes him to decode faster.  Also Faber only requests jellybeans in order to decode the information and the show does not discuss that the character is being cheated of money for his services.

Intersectionalities

The matrix shows the series’ breakdown on how it represents characters across the social identities of race, gender, sexuality, and disability.  Undercovers had a tendency to only represent non-disabled characters, with the exception of one character.  The show also represents a disproportionate number of White characters who are straight, as there were 10 such characters (out of the total 32 characters).  Thus the matrix points out how female characters were underrepresented, in comparison to their proportion in the U.S. population, as there were only nine total female characters. 

            In the CIA missions, Steven and Samantha Bloom, who are both Black, took control of many of the plans and operations.   The supporting White characters, Bill Hoyt, Leo Nash, and Carlton Shaw, were shown as behind-the-scenes characters.  Carlton dealt with certain details of the mission, but he didn’t help the Blooms once they embarked on the operations.  Therefore the series represents how Carlton’s White dominance allowed him to assume the less risky role, as he waited in a secure location.  However, Carlton did sometimes present as stern leader to the Blooms.  In one discussion, Carlton portrays an intrusive, stern boss.  He dictates the Blooms’ decisions and discusses how they should use better communication in their relationship and on missions together (Abrams and Reims 2010d).  The Blooms’ also ask Carlton for guidance before missions.  This represents a traditional hierarchy between a white male in a leadership position and black workers (Steven and Samantha Bloom) who are subordinate to the former.  This relationship is shown as the status quo in the show, rather than a struggle between a boss and his workers.

            Also the series, many of the episodes followed patterns regarding how the CIA agents divided the workload across gender and race.  Steven, a Black male, and Samantha, a Black female, both provided intelligence and physical strength in missions.  While Bill Hoyt, a White male, usually sat in a squad car and communicated wirelessly to the Blooms.  He gave the Blooms critical information about where the criminals were in relation to them using technological devices.  But the Blooms tended to carry out the more dangerous procedures of the missions, such as deactivating bombs among other stunts (Abrams and Reims 2010b,h). 

Results: TV Show Comparison

            In my television show comparison with NCIS, I found that there are significant differences between the popular drama series and Undercovers. First I analyzed the social identities of the credited characters of NCIS who regularly appeared in the series.  I found that NCIS has a considerably less diverse cast than Undercovers.  There is only one minority in NCIS, Director Leon Vance, who is a Black man.   I believe the white-majority cast is a significant reason why American audiences may prefer a show like NCIS over Undercovers. The genre that the shows represent typically have mostly White lead actors with only one or two minority cast members (Elber 2010).  Elber further states that a show that features a Black character is challenging to produce. 

Both dramas have similar plots, but I noticed that NCIS has a more developed and complex storyline.  The plot opens like a typical criminal justice television series, as a suspect is cornered on the street for doing a deviant act.  Also like Undercovers, NCIS developed a plot around stopping terrorist suspects from causing destruction.  Since NCIS is an established series, it had much higher ratings than Undercovers, as it drew 19.427 million viewers and had a rating for the 18-49 age group of 3.9 and a share of 11 for its episode.

              In NCIS, gender is highlighted significantly more than it is in Undercovers and it creates conflict among the characters during the episode. Proportionately, there was a ratio of about 3:1 in favor of the number of male characters in the agency office.  This represented a gender divide that the male agents are viewed as more experienced and powerful within the agency.  For example, in the NCIS episode, the male characters often were the only ones relaying new information or strategies for the mission, while the female agents just listened.  The females could contribute to the conversations, but they did so after the majority of the plan had already been discussed among the male agents.  The series represented females as intellectually inferior and showed how a hierarchy and male dominance existed within the agency explicitly. 
             The NCIS episode was unpredictable in a sense because while it seemed to portray men as the dominant sex in the agency, the females were the ones who stepped up during the main action scene.  The lone female agents; Liat and Ziva, each played a significant role in the agency’s success.  First, Liat shot down one foreign enemy the agency was after and then Ziva jumped from what looked like a roof and attacked another enemy.  The scene represented that the female agents are just as brave and skilled as the male agents of the agency. 

In terms of disability, NCIS, like Undercovers, represents how the elderly agents are viewed as a liability within the agency.  Eli David, who was the father to Liat, could not move as quickly as everyone in the agency.  The former became an issue when an enemy targeted the farther and Liat had to protect him.  Eli is similar to the Carlton character in Undercovers because he too must stay in a secure location, as he is the eldest agent member and thus is not physically in good condition. 
              In the episode, sexuality was not explicit.  It seems that the agents do not have the opportunity to discuss or represent their sexuality because they are constantly working to keep their lives professional and respectable.  The notion of discussing sexuality may get in the way or prohibit the agents from performing their jobs.  Also there were no explicit intersectional representations that I saw as significant or identifiable because the show lacked diversity.  There was only one Black character in the show and the majority of the characters were male. 

Discussion

In my opinion, the series Undercovers ultimately failed to carry a faithful viewing audience because it did not take enough risks.  Even though each episode’s plot contained action and suspense, the show lacked controversy.  There were not enough racial/ethnic discussions and gender and sexuality was based mainly on societal norms or stereotypes.  

Overall race is not frequently discussed during the series, as the producer may want to portray a “safe” representation of race.  Black characters were portrayed in safe representations during times of racial conflict, for example before and during the Civil Rights Movement (Pescosolido 1997).  So it is puzzling that Undercovers does not emphasis race, as U.S. society does not currently have a high level of racial tension.  Although, the characters in the series sometimes need to cooperate, especially the CIA agents, in order to complete missions efficiently.  The study of race-specific ideology within sociology has been a discipline on the decline in America since 1985 (Martin and Yeung 2003).  Thus Undercovers may be a result of a trend that may exist due to society’s conservative values.  Conversely, the show also could be influenced by television station ownership.  One reason that could explain why white-majority casts are so dominant in America and tend to be disproportion to their actual population may have to do with how minorities own just 13 or the 847 “big four” network-affiliated stations (1.5 percent total) (Turner and Cooper 2006: 3).                                                                                                        

            In general, I have come to a conscious that the series does not portray significant gender differences between the main characters.  It seems as though Steven and Samantha Bloom compete in missions to see who can prove that they are more important to the mission than the other.  If this theme was present in all of the series’ episodes then perhaps the conflict would have represented an interesting struggle for power between the male and female characters in the show.  But in the end of episodes, the characters always found a way to work together.  Again, the lack of conflict between characters within the series may have led to the show’s low ratings. 

            Overall, the show represented a safe portrayal of most aspects or topics of U.S. culture and society.  Thus the show’s issues may not have been pertinent enough for its viewers to debate or critique.  In conclusion, the U.S. popular culture needs to diversify more or it will be inaccurate depiction of its diverse population.  If a television show with a cast as diverse as Undercovers, doesn’t receive high ratings in today’s society, it may in the near future.  Experts expect that at some point during this century, ethnic minorities will outnumber those of the majority culture in the U.S. (Bean 2002).  Therefore, “a greater degree of societal and governmental flexibility will be required to extend the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to all Americans” (Bean 2002: 15). 

Notes

1. A royal engagement ceremony postponed episode 9 in the season.  Therefore I conducted a content analysis on an episode of NCIS for that particular week.

2.  Because Undercovers does not portray a substantial number of disabled characters, I chose to identify the show’s emphasis on body image instead.

References

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Pescosolido, Bernice A., Elizabeth Grauerholz, and Melissa A. Milkie. “Culture and Conflict: The Portrayal of Blacks in U.S. Children’s Picture Books Through the Mid-and Late-Twentieth Century.” American Sociological Review June 62.3 (1997): 443-64. JSTOR. Web.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Amazon.com, 1990-2010. Web. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Turner, Derek, and Mark Cooper. “Out of The Picture: Minority & Female TV Station Ownership in the United States.” McGannon Communications Research Center Oct. (2006): 1-50. Free Press. Web. <http://www.freepress.net/files/otp2007.pdf>.

TV Ratings, TV Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com. Web. <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/>.

Entry filed under: Diversity, Racism, Social Conflict. Tags: black actors, j.j. abrams, NBC, ncis, pop culture, undercovers.