From the margins to the mainstream: Race, comedy and prime time TV

This event and waitlist are now at capacity. Please join us for the Livestream here starting around 8pm on Thursday, September 17th. 

The fall season is about to launch. Last year, we saw the likes of "Fresh Off the Boat," "Black-ish," and "Jane the Virgin" poke fun at racial stereotypes, while appealing to audiences across color lines.  And in the land of late-night television, South African comedian Trevor Noah will soon replace Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show.”  Is comedy serving as a necessary “spoonful of sugar” to get audiences to accept diverse casting as the norm? Or is comedy being used as a cloak to perpetuate racism?

In this Crawford Family Forum program, we’ll feature an advanced screening of the “Fresh Off the Boat” season premiere and follow it with look at the long-term implications of the success of these shows and how their existence is changing how we talk about race. What are the behind-the-scenes battles that have taken place? And what’s next?

Moderator:

Take Two’s A Martínez (@AMartinezLA) 

Guests: 

Melvin Mar (@ChineseGuy88), executive producer of “Fresh Off the Boat”

Joz Wang (@JozJozJoz), editor of 8 Asians and founder of V3, the largest digital media conference for Asian-American journalists, bloggers and more

Angela M. Hutchinson (@IamBiH), casting director and founder of the Breaking into Hollywood nonprofit for show business professionals 

Additional panelists to be announced.

We want to hear from you

@KPCCforum
@AMartinezLA
@ChineseGuy88
@JozJozJoz
@IamBiH
#PrimeTimeDiversity