Remember that 2013 Cheerios commercial that had the racists losing their pea-sized minds? You know, the one that featured a Black dad, a white mom and their adorable little brown daughter who wanted her dad to eat Cheerios to make sure he stayed healthy. So many racists left evil, nasty messages on the Cheerios YouTube channel, they had to shut the comments section down. That was only five years ago, so I’m wondering will a Mixed-Race family on TV still cause a commotion?
The reason I ask, is that there’s a new TV show debuting on ABC later this month called Alex, Inc. The show stars Zach Braff – of Scrubs fame – as a husband and father who quits his 9-to-5 to start a company that monetizes podcasts. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The series is loosely based on the life of Start-Up creator, Alex Blumberg. So, where does the Mixed-Race family come in? Braff’s wife on the show will be played by Indian-American actress, Tiya Sircar and they have two adorable, young, Mixie kids.
Interestingly, Sircar often plays ambiguously brown characters but it appears she will be playing an Indian-American in Alex, Inc. More importantly though, Sircar has a major role on the show and won’t just be window dressing. I’m happy about that because it’s important to have Mixed-Race families represented on the small screen. Every kid – grown up kids too – wants to see his family featured somehow in popular culture. I still remember the pride and joy I felt seeing the Cosby’s on NBC when I was a tween.
Check out the trailer. Do you think it will be a hit? Podcasts are hot, but will a show about podcasts do well?
Of course there have been other shows with Mixed-Race couples and families in recent years. NBC’s Parenthood springs to mind as well as almost everything Shonda Rhimes creates, but what about sitcoms? Are there any other sitcoms with Interracial families? Leave your ideas in the comments section. Thanks.
Peace!
