BET Orders 'Second Generation Wayans' and 'House Husbands' to Series

"New Girl," the buzziest debut show of the 2011-2012 television season, may also have been the whitest. Starring Zooey Deschanel, in bangs and big glasses and being "adorkable," the sitcom could be an avatar for the still-preponderantly white casts of major network shows. Less blogged and written about were two new series on BET, "Let's Stay Together" and "Reed Between the Lines," both featuring mostly African-American casts. During BET's April 19 upfront presentation, executives announced that both shows, as well as flagship series "The Game," had been renewed, while "House Husbands" and "Second Generation Wayans" were given the green light.

Robi Reed, BET's vice president of talent and casting for original programming, sees the network's reaffirmed dedication to scripted programming as an important contribution to television. "At BET, there are roles now where they don't exist in mainstream TV, where African-American actors get to play leads," Reed said. "We've been waiting for [African-American leads on network TV] for a really long time, and unfortunately, instead of getting better, things have gotten more scarce. And it's been great to offer that to talent and have them support it and have them take that ride."

Though the major networks haven't announced their 2012-2013 season, the news from pilot season hasn't indicated that the debuting shows will be any less white than usual. When it comes to African-American actors working in TV, Reed has plenty of performers to choose from, given the dearth of good roles elsewhere on the dial (excepting TBS, home to "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and "Are We There Yet?," among others). This leaves talented African-American performers out of luck but gives Reed the opportunity to cast a newcomer or to give a more established performer a fresh start. Among the latter is Gabrielle Union, whom Reed cast in BET's original TV movie "Being Mary Jane."

"It's a career-changing role for her," Reed said, "where she'll be able to really stretch. And in all these years, she has not been able to do that in mainstream television." The rest of the cast feel similarly about the project, according to Reed. "We had a table read, and it wasn't planned, but everybody kind of went around the room and shared what that moment felt like," Reed said. "Richard Roundtree down to the youngest actor, talking about how important it was to have this dramatic series and have it be at BET, and to glean from each other. The older cast members did not think they would really see [that] during their lifetime."

BET isn't solely focused on casting African-Americans. Unlike the major networks, Reed and her co-workers want to cast "how the world really is, people of all types of shades and colors and ethnic backgrounds," she said. "As our department grows, those roles will become more apparent."