21 Current TV Shows That Feature Diverse Main Casts (Photos)
It’s hard to ignore the fact that Hollywood is notorious for whitewashing pretty much everything, so just in case you’re wondering or need reassurance that people of color do exist onscreen, here are 21 shows that actually have a diverse cast.
“Queen Sugar”
Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Sugar” follows three estranged siblings (Rutina Wesley, Dawn Lyn-Gardner and Kofi Siriboe who come together to take care of their late father’s sugar cane farm.
“The Expanse”
This sci-fi series takes place hundreds of years in the future where humans have settled and colonized the solar system.
A detective (Thomas Jane) is tasked with finding a missing woman (Florence Faivre) which turns out to be a huge conspiracy.
“Sense 8”
Talk about diversity, this thriller is about eight people from around the world — like different countries and stuff — who find themselves suddenly mentally connected and try to elude a mysterious organization that is set out to destroy them.
“Grey’s Anatomy”
This long-running medical drama focuses on a group of doctor’s and their lives, relationships and tragedies.
“How to Get Away With Murder”
This ABC show is about a brilliant and charismatic lawyer (Viola Davis) who teaches a criminal defense class called “How to Get Away With Murder” where she ends up taking five students (Karla Souza, Aja Naomi King, Alfred Enoch, Jake Falahee and Matt McGorry) under her wing, but what transpires is a slew of murder mysteries and dark truths.
“Black-ish”
Kenya Barris’ “Black-ish” is centered around an upper middle class black family trying to raise their kids in a wealthy and predominately white neighborhood while attempting to not lose sight of their “blackness.”
“Being Mary Jane”
This BET hour-long drama series follows Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union), a black successful news anchor, as she tries to move up the career ladder, while balancing her family’s mini crises as well as her own personal life.
Paul’s best friend, confidant and executive producer is a Latina woman.
“Insecure”
Issa Rae’s “Insecure” is about two black women who are quite the opposite of the well known “strong black woman” stereotype.
Issa (Issa Rae) and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji) deal with work-place drama, their own messed up love lives along with their insecurities.
“Atlanta”
There’s really no way to perfectly sum up what this show is about because it’s so over the place, but basically it centers around Earn (Donald Glover) who is trying to do better in life for himself and his daughter so he begins managing his cousin’s (Brian Tyree Henry) rap career.
“Orange is the New Black”
This original Netflix series is about a PR executive (Taylor Schilling) who did some shady stuff in her past and it finally caught up with her. She ends up being thrown in a minimum-security prison where she figures out life and makes friends and stuff.
“Power”
This STARZ hit show is about a successful and powerful nightclub owner (Omari Hardwick) who has it all — the perfect home, a gorgeous wife (Naturi Naughton) and seemingly never-ending money.
Oh, he also runs a drug empire on the side with his best friend (Joseph Sikora) and has very close run-in’s with his former lover who also happens to be a federal agent (Lela Loren).
“New Girl”
Although the center point of this series is a white girl, she has plenty of diverse friends (yay).
It’s about a quirky school teacher (Zooey Deschanel) who moves into a loft with three men (Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris). Her best friend (Hannah Simone) also pops up quite frequently.
“Empire”
Lucious Lyon is a hip-hop mogul and CEO of Empire Entertainment … he’s also dying. Due to his predicament, he must entrust his company to one of his three sons and the reappearance of his ex-wife Cookie makes things a little bit more difficult.
“Night Of”
This eight-part HBO series is about a complex murder case in New York City and a Pakistani-American college student (Riz Ahmed) is at the center of it all.
It all began with what was supposed to be a night out on the town and turned into a murder mystery.
“Quantico”
This drama is set over two different timelines where one follows a group of FBI recruits as they go through training and the second timeline shows New York City under a terrorist attack. The culprit it seems is one of the FBI recruits.
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
This Fox sitcom follows a group of detectives all with different personalities and are headed by a new commanding officer.
“Luke Cage”
This Netflix original is about a fictional superhero (Mike Colter) who was a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin and now he fights crime.
“Black Mirror”
This series doesn’t have a set main cast because each episode works as a standalone drama.
The show has included actors like: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Malachi Kirby and Hannah John-Kamen.
“American Crime”
This ABC series works as an anthology so each season focuses on a new topic. The first season dealt with race, class and gender politics, the second season is about sexual assault at a private school and the third season follows five people attempting to live out the American Dream.
“3%”
This Netflix original Brazilian dystopian thriller set in a future where the world is divided between poverty and progress and affluence. People are given the chance to go to the “better side” but only 3 percent succeed.
“Marco Polo”
This Netflix original follows a young Marco Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) who set out on a journey to the court of Kublai Khan (Benedict Wong). The show may carry a white guy’s name, but he’s also the only white person in the main cast — and by season 2 he’s not even the main character.
