"Some authors should be paid by the quantity NOT written." --Anonymous

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven." --Yiddish Proverb

Television can often reflect the best and worst of us. America's obsession with youth and cosmetics at the expense of intelligence and personality is mimicked in its programming. Diversity is a word that's nearly extinct in television's vocabulary. Tokenism is still pretty much the modus operandi of The Big Three (networks). Oh, they will certainly go through the motions when the NAACP or Rasa throw around that scary ole B-word (boycott). But when everyone's been seen and the brown paper bag test has been done - paying lip service and blowin' smoke was all it was. The Big Three have been suffering from ever increasing "brownout" for well over the past decade. And whatever you do - never grow older. That's a surefire deal breaker. Because when it comes to aging, if you're not speaking of single malt scotch or hitting pay-dirt on The Antiques Roadshow - you're clearly headed for the unemployment line (or lower box seats on Hollywood Squares, whichever comes first). And these two rules of thumb particularly applies to status quo of Daytime television today. Less mileage, with even less melanin means that you're in like Flynn. More on the taboo subject of aging on Daytime later. Up first - the view from the colored section.

In the past, ABC was the network that not only regularly hired/featured more children of the diaspora than the remaining two combined - they also weren't afraid to feature dark-skinned actors as well. And although most of those actors were darker skinned men paired with lighter skinned women, it was still a welcome sight. Sadly, this can no longer be said of ABC. CBS has always been the pre-eminent leader in the melanin resistance movement (with NBC not far behind). Any actor darker than Halle Berry would have a hard time finding work on NBC - and Halle Berry would be way too dark for CBS - period. But my main focus is on ABC. I've watched their Daytime line-up for more years than I have the other two in totality, and whose show General Hospital I've watched for well over 20 years.

Actors of color on General Hospital are going the way of typewriters and vinyl records; they're alien curiosities of a bygone era. Paraded out and displayed for appearances sake only. They're the fringe element on almost all of ABC daytime dramas. Black, Latino, Asian actors are never an integral part of the ABC lineup, much less the driving force or central figure(s) in any of the storylines. General Hospital has only two characters of color left on its show - the very recently hired Mfume Morrison (Justus Ward) - and the perpetually M.I.A Vanita Harbour (Dara Jensen). Real Andrews, an African American actor whom voluntarily vacated the role of Marcus Taggart, was shamefully underused and horribly looked over for years on GH. Left for years without any substantive storyline, Real had no other choice but to leave the show. Not surprising, he was immediately snapped up by another soap (As The World Turns on CBS). I guess Real became tired of being GH*s window dressing, used to ward off protests by the NAACP. I can certainly understand his frustration - that has to get old, pretty damned fast.

Complexions of a "certain hue" seem to throw ABC Daytime Division President Brian Frons and Head Writer Robert Guza into a complete tizzy, Lizzy. Oh, both men clearly have other "issues" that need addressing (like their overall view, handling and portrayal of women of all ages). Brian Frons not only has a very clear preference for blondes, but "non-ethnic" types as well. And the younger, the better. So Mr. Frons has stacked the daytime decks in accordance with his personal preferences. Check out any of the regularly featured players in the ABC daytime lineup. Which characters got the most screen time and storyline? Enough said. Now on to Bob Guza, GH's Head Writer (for lack of a better term).

Mr. Guza has stated in print (regarding Real Andrews' character Marcus Taggart) that he "just doesn*t know what to write for him." Now if you knew the character's story, how much of a kick-ass story was there and was just begging to be written - you could only surmise one thing. That content wasn't the issue - color was. There's no other plausible reason for not developing Marcus Taggart's storyline. From Guza's statement you would think ABC required Mr. Guza to pen weekly dissertations on Afro-American cultural socio-economic issues. Or maybe have Marcus Taggart rap out a Guza-fied hip-hop version of "ManChild in the Promise Land". So let me get this straight Mr. Guza, a man who has the cajones to call himself a professional writer of fiction - doesn't know how to write people? Because silly wench that I am, when you right get down to it, that's just exactly what Marcus Taggart personified. A person. A man. And even more basic - just another human being. One that just happens to be black. I wasn't aware of Marcus Taggart's (or Real's) unofficial status as GH's symbol of "all things black". Wow. General Hospital's very own answer to Nelson Mandela, W.E.B Dubois and Denzel Washington all rolled into one. No wonder the writers were stumped - that's a heavy frickin' responsibility!

And here I thought the ability to relate to the humanity in all of us, in what makes us all so alike (yet individually so unique), was something all good writers had to have a knack for and firm grip upon. I guess when all else failed, seeing Marcus Taggart as human first or simply relating to him as just another guy with problems, was completely a foreign concept to Mr. Guza. How can anyone who calls himself a fiction writer function with such an extremely limited imagination, a clearly neglible professional grasp on fleshing out life-like characterizations and no creative knack for progressing storylines whatsoever? Not very well, that's for sure. But hey, here's a bright side (for Mr. Guza and his cronies at least) - I hear that writers for rags like The Enquirer and The Globe make out like bandits. So at least the Guza crew has a second career option if ABC ever finds a clue and kicks them all to the curb.

Though in all fairness to Frons and Guza, this "brownout" business didn't start with either of them. They just appear to relish it more. And ABC isn't the sole network doing this. NBC is also divesting themselves of "their multi-colored burdens" as we speak. Days Of Our Lives actor James Reynolds (who has played the role of Abe Carver for over a decade), has been fired by NBC. More and more, actors of colors (as well as one over 40), are the ones who are falling into the fiscal breach that's been swallowing network profits.

Note: In fairness to Mr. Guza - in Part 2 of this commentary, I'll lay out the entire back story of the character of Marcus Taggart. Then you can make your own determination on whether or not my assessment of Guza's writing ability and his reluctance, as well my view of Mr. Frons' incredible short-sightedness are at all merited. (End of Part 1 - To Be Continued)

"No thing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Television - a medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well-done." Ernie Kovacs

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