Our TV shows are far too white
 

says Lenny Henry. DO you agree?

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...l-Thea-007.jpg



Lenny Henry has criticised British TV programmes such as Broadchurch and Miranda for being 'too white'

Comedian and actor Lenny Henry launched a scathing attack on British TV hits including Broadchurch, Miranda and Midsomer Murders last night for being too white.

The 55-year-old criticised the shows for having fewer black actors than similar programmes in America, saying they were not representative of modern Britain.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...#ixzz2wIiRPGID

well i'm a white male, so i don't think i'm allowed to have an opinion. I'm sure he has a good reason for saying what he is saying, i just don't care.

honestly, i don't care.

good for him though, speaking out against whatever he's speaking out against.

Drive for an hour outside any big City in the UK and the programmes represent exactly what you will find, a very small percentage of the Black/Asian population.

I think he forgets that the UK has about 3 % black people like LH. He should get out of LOndon more

indeed, he seems to come out with comments like this once a year, ie just before Sports or Comic relief.

:laugh2:

to be fair, i wouldn't like to live in a country where i was the racial minority. I'm glad i don't have to.

I'm gay, but i don't expect to see an equal amount of gay relationships on TV, i know that i'm the minority, and it would be weird if the TV portrayed a world where gay relationships were just as common as straight relationships. It would be nice if they portrayed more realistic gay relationships in stead of the clownish stereotypical gay men that Tv shows usually use to represent gay men, but still, i don't for one second ever expect to see just as many gay men on Tv as straight men,

that being said, i'm a white male, so at;least i get to see a lot of white males on TV all the time, so it's not exactly the same.

With a gay population of around 5% in the UK the soaps for example have been way way over representative in the last 20 years.

UK soaps are for hetero women though, not for gay men. so you can't blame us for that.

lesbians in straight porno for straight guys, and gay men in straight soaps for hetero women, neither are really about gay people at all...

that's just fetishizing gay people.

True, its about ratings than progress

Wasn't it the Midsomer Murders producer who said the cast in that needed to be all white because it was a last bastion of Englishness

That was pretty dumb, though it's true that most more rural locations are overwhelmingly white

I think it's fine

.

I can see his point with corrers or eastenders, but as said the others are representative of the community.

Yes Lenny.
they are not letting enough black actors to get a role.
But many Top Black British Actors are now on USA TV shows
like on Chicago Fire on SkyLivingHD (UK Weds 8PM)
http://www.trbimg.com/img-506b9b51/t...02/600/600x395

EE should have more black people in the show, in East London the population is like half black people! TV in general needs more black actors/actress' i agree!

I would imagine black actors go to the states because there are more black people and as such more roles.

Honestly if it means less Lenny Henry on TV I'm all for ethnic cleansing.

I have to agree these programmes are set in rural areas and in time periods where the majority of the people living there would be white so I can't see a problem.

To put additional black people into programmes like these would not be a true reflection of life in these areas.

On a related note however I feel mainstream soap operas like Eastenders and Coronation St do not reflect the racial mix of people living in our cities. I feel there are at best only "token" black and/or Asian families in these soaps thus also not portraying a true reflection of life in the inner cities.

OK...isn't the black population far higher in america than the UK? I think tv shows (outside of eastenders/london based shows where whites should pretty much be a minority if we are honest) are fairly representative.

Unfortunately for Lenny and his "controversy" he has picked TV programmes that are set in Twee villages in Shropshire (or similar) and he wants them peopled with black families. Stick to advertising the Premier Inn Lenny would be my advice.

Yes he gets big money on that deal

I heard he got a one off payment of £456.19

jammy bugger:shocked:

Tv shows are fairly representative I would say.

Isn't it a bit like going to Africa and whinging "Where are all the white people, this isn't fair?"

We're a predominantly white country so what does he expect? Fair enough if he wants more shows with black leads or whatever but picking out shows like Miranda (with about 4 or 5 characters) is a bit pathetic. Do we need at least one black character in every show to make him happy.

Lenny who. the guy who has never been funny. he must be short of attention

what a load of crap.

what year is this sometimes i wonder what some of these twats are on did he just watch 12 years a slave and think its a different century lol.