BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—CBS’ new entertainment bosses got more than a warm welcome as reporters grilled them on the network’s lack of diversity. “We are absolutely moving in the right direction,” declared Kelly Kahl, who was named president of CBS Entertainment in May, the same time Thom Sherman, who was also on hand for Tuesday’s session, became senior executive vice-president for programming. The two execs were reminded that, for the second season in a row, no women landed the lead role of a new CBS series. “We had six pilots with female leads, but those pilots were not felt to be as good as some of the other pilots,” said Sherman, quickly adding, “That had nothing to do with the female leads.”As examples of other kinds of casting diversity, they pointed to the upcoming police thriller S.W.A.T. and returning comedy Superior Donuts as two shows with African-American stars — Shemar Moore and Jermaine Fowler, respectively.

Source: thestar August 02, 2017 12:00 UTC