It’s not a magic show for May sweeps:

A study of Asian Americans in prime-time television, released Monday, shows that Asians, who make up 5 percent of the U.S. population, play 2.7 percent of regular characters. It also shows virtually no Asian actors are on situation comedies, and the characters they play in dramas tend to have less depth than most regulars, with minimal on-screen time and few romantic roles. [AP/Yahoo!]

One of the few bright spots:

…the study’s authors particularly lauded ABC’s “Lost,” which has a South Asian character and a Korean married couple who speak Korean on-screen — with English subtitles, something almost never seen on prime-time shows. [AP/Yahoo!]

Continue reading →

Abhi: This is from Ahmedabad’s today’s Gujarat Samachar. An old fashioned school established in Ahmedabad few years ago called “TAPOVAN”. Middle and elementary school kids decided that TV has been a bad influence lately, so they decided to have “Funeral” for the TV on the street and took a TV to the cremating place and burned it. Only in India.

The scene above looks quite Lord of the Flies-ish to me. I would not want to cross the path of this bloodthirsty mob. My contacts on the Indian Street (our family is from Ahmedabad) inform me that this violence was precipitated in part by frustration over the plot twists of this season’s ALIAS. My sources in the State Department tell me that, as of now, it looks as if the Prime Minister will call upon KPS Gill once more, to end this before more blood is shed.

I think this whole affair is especially depressing in light of the latest “research” proving definitively that television makes you smarter. When violence such as this breaks out it’s important to keep things in perspective. Just because you see a picture of yet another brown mob DOES NOT mean that brown people are naturally violent. This simply shows that the cut-throat competition that is considered “education” in third world countries does not allow for these kids to have enough time to know the joys of good tv. I am convinced that given a choice, free from an opressive regime, all men/women would choose to watch t.v. God wants this even. Do you think this scene would have unfolded if Nanny 9-1-1 or the Surreal Life aired in India? I will let you think about that.

The silver lining here is that all of us TV loving Americans can breathe easy knowing that this wave of violence won’t spread here. These kids will surely have their Travel Visas denied if they come to preach their hate here. Continue reading →

Tonight’s episode of reality television show “The Amazing Race” takes its contestants to the streets of Lucknow, India:

Battle lines were drawn as Teams made their way to Lucknow, India. Boyfriends Lynn & Alex led a group against their rivals, engaged couple Rob & Amber, who paired up with former POW and beauty queen Ron & Kelly, in an uneasy alliance. Catching an earlier flight to India, Rob & Amber never relinquished their lead as they battled for first place. Winning the hard-fought match, Rob & Amber stepped on the mat and received a shock when Phil told them that he had their next clue. The leg was not over. [CBS]

The web preview hosts video vignettes, a location briefing, and a call for your own Lucknow stories. “The Amazing Race” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.

Continue reading →

2 TV events that might be of interest to Mutineers –

<

ul>

Kiran Rao on 24 — Sepia Mutiny’s favorite ABCD actor (Kal Penn, alas, is but a close #2) has a recurring role on the Fox hit 24. He writes –

I will be on two episodes of “24” in the next couple of weeks. It looks like I will be on the 4/18 and 4/25 episodes, but there is a small chance you may see me in tonight’s as well. While I don’t have an accent, I do get to carry a gun! 9pm on Fox if you want to catch it.

The curse of the brown actor in Hollywood – you unload several AK magazines without hitting a thing and get popped on the first shot by Jennifer Garner / Arnold Schwarzenegger / Kiefer Sutherland. He had a great writeup of his experience on Alias awhile back.

In between terrorizing the good guys, he occasionally saves their lives as well – but in the hospital rather than during a covert op.

Kiran took a little heat on this earlier and had this to say (read the comments here)-

WHY WHY WHY do brown folks take parts like this!? congratulations to your friend, big time boo hoo for the rest of us. …Kali: would you mind explaining “why why why” this part offended you so much? Was it because there was a brown person playing a plastic surgeon (stereotype #1) or helping terrorists (stereotype #2) or dying quickly (stereotype #3)?…

Read the rest. Whatever the case, I still think it’s cool.

(previous SM coverage of Kiran – here; some of his previous roles were covered on my blog here; Kiran also runs a website focused on desi’s in Hollywood called Hollywood Masala)

Raj Bhakta judges Miss USA — You know, there’s just something really special about seeing someone reach for and achieve their dreams.

Competing with Kiran’s (potential) time slot on 24 tonight will be the Miss USA pageant judged by Mr. Raj Bhakta.

Pageant rules strictly prohibit fraternizing with the contestants before the contest. Consoling the runner’s up afterwards, however, is another story I’m sure.

(previous SM coverage of Bhakta – too numerous; Hat tip to SM reader Pooja who alerted us via the tipline!)