Hollywood does it again

I sat down to watch the first episode of NCIS Los Angeles, a spin off of the very good NCIS program. I have no issue with the acting, the writing, the action and storyline presented in the first episode. Amid a backdrop that is supposed to be in Los Angeles, I felt like I stepped through the 1940's time warp in casting, with a twist.

The main characters are White and African American. I saw one Latino, who was cast as a gardener and a regular is a woman of Portuguese descent was also cast, so she counts as "Hispanic."

Hello, this is supposed to be in the city of Los Angeles???

Los Angeles has one of the nation's largest populations of Asian Americans. According to Census 2000, 10.6% of the city's population is Asian American and yet nary an Asian face was to be seen, not even as background. If you've ever been to Los Angeles, you would see a lot of Asian Americans and Latinos.


The City of Los Angeles in 2000 boasted a 48.5% Hispanic population and 29.3% non-Hispanic Whites. African Americans comprise 9.9% of the city's population. While I don't expect television shows to have a quid pro quo on ethnic representation, I also expect them to not ignore the large numbers of minority populations that have built that city. The series Charmed did that to pathetic proportions, where nary an Asian primary character was ever to be seen in the city with over an 18% Asian American population.

It's time Hollywood stepped up. This is 2009, not 1960!