There’s an old saying that on Christmas day, the only biz going are Chinese restaurants packed with Jewish patrons. When the other 80-90% of the country is distracted by holidays, superbowls, and the like, some interesting, if otherwise overlooked, ethnic combos rise above the fold.

I’m a news / TV junkie and usually keep the feed on in the background when I’m working from home. The last 30 min may have been a milestone for desi’s on TV news.

Today’s CNN Situation Room was anchored by the dapper Ali Velshi standing in for Wolf Blitzer who was undoubtedly enjoying time at home with his family. Relative to CNN’s usual fare, Sit Room is a more “raw” up to the minute format featuring a heavier mix of live reports on the big stories.

So, instead of the same Iraq update loop that gets run on Headline News, for ex., the update goes straight to the on-the-scene reporter – in this case, Raman Aneesh – posing with mic in hand in front of a row of Hummers. And, for an update from the international desk, he turned to Zain Verjee.

20 minutes of namebrand news, an unbroken string of Desi reporting talent. Pretty cool.

A quick check on Fox News revealed anchor John Gibson interviewing Fox’s Baghdad reporter, Ms. Reena Ninan.

Now, at least when I did the quick check, MSNBC chose to deal with reporters on vacation by doing something different – they ran a documentary on the life and times of Michael Jackson

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Sunkrish Bala will appear on Will & Grace tonight and Grey’s Anatomy on Sunday (thanks, Kiran):

Sunkrish Bala will be appearing on TV during Thanksgiving weekend. Look for him on “WILL and GRACE”– Thursday, Nov. 24th, 8:30PM on NBC and on “GREY`S ANATOMY”– Sunday, Nov. 27th, 10PM on ABC. These are guest starring roles and will likely feature him prominently. [Link]

Height: 6’1″ [Link]

He’s previously been on CSI:NY and My Name is Earl. He had a part in Desipina’s production of Barriers and played Rama in an adaptation of the Ramayana:

… I watched Cornerstone’s production of The Ramayana float effortlessly across the David Henry Hwang’s stage… a shortened and speeded-up version tailored to hold the attention of American audiences…

There is a silly but funny scene in which Rama tells Lakshman of their need to forge an alliance with the monkey kingdom. “Uh, I don’t think they like to be called that,” Rama’s brother delicately points out. There follows an argument about the socially sensitive term to use (Vanaras), although, Rama complains, he can’t keep up with all these self-descriptions — “Why can’t they pick one name and stick with it?” And later, when he hears the Vanaras actually calling themselves “monkeys,” Lakshman points out that “It’s all right for them to call each other that…” [Link]

Romantic lead, maybe? Going from cabbie to Latin lover, exoticized though it might be, would be one step up in the reductionist sitcom pecking order.

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Female roommates divvy up cute boys on the WB’s One Tree Hill. Sophia Bush calls dibs on ‘Narrayan,’ ‘Jabbar’ and the lead singer of the Foo Fighters. Apparently can’t spell.

Desi please. No I don’t watch, just flipping through.

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Watch Omi Vaidya rockin’ the pug in the American version of The Office airing Nov. 22 (thanks, Kiran):

He plays a Sikh IT Tech that helps Steve Carell’s character with some computer issues. [Link]

A bunch of us auditioned for this role. It started out as a “Pakistani IT Tech” wearing a turban. They seemed to get some of the culture right, but the joke centers around Steve Carell’s character wearing a giant “Karnak” type turban. [via email]

Vaidya previously created the reality dating show ‘Prem or Not to Prem.’

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