Every Scripted TV Series from BIPOC Creators or Showrunners in 2022-2023
Progress continues to be incremental in front of and behind television cameras in Hollywood. An October 2021 UCLA Television Diversity study examined 461 scripted television shows airing or streaming during the 2019-20 season. It revealed that only 32.1 percent of scripted broadcast network shows, 28.1 percent on cable TV, and 26.8 percent on streaming platforms, featured majority non-white casts. Each category saw an increase of roughly 2-3 percent over the previous season. In summary, despite popular claims of a “renaissance” for BIPOC creatives in Hollywood (especially for African Americans), there’s still much work to be done on the matter of inclusion in all job areas.
As their study states, the BIPOC group is not proportionately represented to their share of the U.S. population, even though audience interest in programming with talent that represents the nation’s diversity, continues to increase.
When BIPOC narratives are controlled by non-BIPOC creatives, character story lines may lack authenticity, or may feature writing dependent on stereotypes, or characters depicted as “culture-less.” Therefore, a key question never to stop asking is whether the nation’s so-called “racial reckoning” will have any real impact on the industry’s hiring practices in a way that will be apparent in 2022’s television diversity reports. At the moment, the outlook remains foggy.
One thing that’s clear is that reality TV reigns, and, based on each network’s 2022 schedule, it’s a trend that will not only continue, but accelerate.
Here is IndieWire’s look at scripted series created and/or overseen by BIPOC creatives for major platforms, scheduled for the 2022/2023 television season. The list will be updated as networks (especially the streamers) solidify their lineups and make midseason announcements. Although, it remains unclear what exactly the traditional television calendar will look like next year and beyond, with disruptors like Netflix premiering new series practically every week throughout the year, and new streamers solidifying their standing.
Throughout the year, there have been numerous new series announcements, pilot pickups, and series orders, but most have yet to be dated, and are therefore excluded from the below list, which will be updated periodically, as firm dates are set.
ABC
“Abbott Elementary” – Quinta Brunson, creator, star
“Black-ish” – Kenya Barris, creator
“Grey’s Anatomy” – Shonda Rhimes, creator
“Promised Land” — Matt Lopez, creator
“Queens” – Zahir McGhee, creator
“The Wonder Years” — Saladin Patterson, creator
“Women of the Movement” — Marissa Jo Cerar, creator, writer, showrunner; Gina Prince-Bythewood, director
Amazon
“Harlem” – Tracy Oliver, creator and showrunner
“Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Donald Glover, co-creator
“With Love” – Gloria Calderón Kellett, creator, showrunner
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” – Jenny Hahn, creator
AMC
“Sherman’s Showcase” – Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, creators
“The Walking Dead” – Angela Kang, showrunner
Apple TV+
“Truth Be Told” – Nichelle Tramble Spellman, creator and showrunner
BET
“Sistas” – Tyler Perry, creator
“Assisted Living” – Tyler Perry, creator
“The Oval” – Tyler Perry, creator
“Twenties” – Lena Waithe, creator
“Tales” – Irv Gotti, creator
BET+
“Bruh” – Tyler Perry, creator
“Ruthless” – Tyler Perry, creator
“First Wives Club” – Tracy Oliver, creator and showrunner
CBS
“The Neighborhood” – Meg DeLoatch, showrunner
“Bob ♥ Abishola” – Gina Yashere, co-creator
“S.W.A.T.” – Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, co-developer and co-showrunner
CBS All Access
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” – Jenny Lumet, co-creator
Comedy Central
“Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens” – Awkwafina and Teresa Hsiao, creators
Disney+
“Diary of a Future President” – Ilana Peña, creator and showrunner
“Doogie Kamealoha M.D” – Kourtney Kang, creator and showrunner
“Ms. Marvel” — Bisha K. Ali, creator
“Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” — Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, creators
“She-Hulk” — Jessica Gao, creator
“The Proud Family” — Bruce Wayne Smith, creator; Doreen Spicer, co-developer
Freeform
“Grown-ish” – Kenya Barris and Larry Wilmore, creators
FX
“Atlanta” – Donald Glover, creator
“Mayans M.C.” – Elgin James, creator
“Snowfall” – John Singleton, creator
“Reservation Dogs” – Sterlin Harjo, showrunner and co-creator; Taika Waititi, co-creator
FOX
“Our Kind of People” – Karen Gist, creator
“The Cleaning Lady” – Miranda Kwok, developed by
HBO
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” – Robin Thede, creator, showrunner
“Industry” – Mickey Down, co-creator
“Los Espookys” S2 – Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega, showrunners
“Westworld” – Lisa Joy, co-creator, co-showrunner
HBO Max
“DMZ” – Roberto Patino, developer, showrunner; Ava DuVernay, executive producer
“Made for Love S2” – Christina Lee, showrunner
“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” – Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, showrunner
“Rap Sh!t” – Issa Rae, creator; Syreeta Singleton, showrunner
“The Flight Attendant” – Natalie Chaidez, co-showrunner
“The Sex Lives of College Girls” – Mindy Kaling, co-creator
“Young Love” – Matthew Cherry, creator, showrunner
Hulu
“Ramy” – Ramy Youssef, creator and showrunner
“Wu-Tang: An American Saga” — RZA, Alex Tse, creators
NBC
“Young Rock” – Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang, creators; Nahnatchka Khan, showrunner.
Netflix
“Dark Desire” — Leticia López Margalli, creator
“Never Have I Ever” – Mindy Kaling, co-creator
“Inventing Anna” – Shonda Rhimes, creator
Nickelodeon
“Young Dylan” — Tyler Perry, creator
OWN
“All Rise” — Dee Harris-Lawrence, showrunner
“Cherish the Day” – Ava DuVernay, creator; Raynelle Swilling and Teri Schaffer, co-showrunners
“Queen Sugar” – Ava DuVernay, creator
“David Makes Man” – Tarell McCraney, creator; Dee Harris-Lawrence, showrunner
“The Kings of Napa” – Janine Sherman Barrois, creator, showrunner
Paramount+
“The Game” – Devon Greggory, showrunner
Showtime
“Flatbush Misdemeanors” – Kevin Iso, co-creator
“The Chi” – Lena Waithe, creator
“Ziwe” – Ziwe Fumudoh, creator and executive producer
“The Man Who Fell To Earth” – Jenny Lumet, co-creator and co-showrunner
Starz
“BMF” — Randy Huggins, showrunner
“Blindspotting” – Daveed Diggs, co-creator
“P-Valley” — Katori Hall, creator, showrunner
The “Power” franchise – Courtney A. Kemp, creator and showrunner
“Run the World” – Leigh Davenport, creator; Yvettte Lee Bowser, showrunner
TBS
“Chad” – Nasim Pedrad, creator
“The Last O.G.” – Jordan Peele, co-creator; Saladin K. Patterson, showrunner
TNT
“Claws” – Janine Sherman Barrois, showrunner
The CW
“4400” – Arianna Jackson, co-showrunner
“All American” – Nkechi Okoro Carroll, showrunner
“All American: Homecoming” – Nkechi Okoro Carroll, developer, executive producer
“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” – Keto Shimizu, co-showrunner
“Kung Fu” – Christina M. Kim, developer, co-showrunner
“Naomi” – Ava DuVernay, co-developer
“Riverdale” – Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, developer, showrunner
“The Flash” – Eric Wallace, showrunner
“Two Sentence Horror Stories” — Vera Miao, creator
