April 23. 2003
®l|e Portland ©bseruer
Page B3
Focus
Reid Addresses Media Image
Former ‘Talk
Soup’ host
hopes to
be an
agent of
social change
✓z
A ctress-com ic
Aisha T y 1er Lands
t
..« j
a Spot on ‘ Friends’
(AP) AishaTylerlooks
at a reporter’s hand ex
tended in greeting and de
clines to shake. Is the new
addition to “Friends” un
friendly? No, just consider
ate.
“I have a cold,” she says
apologetically, clutching a tis
sue. It takes more than a minor
bug to keep Tyler down, how
ever. The actress and comedian
is energetic, smart and, sniffles
or not, a real stunner.
Tyler, who begins a four- I
week run on “Friends" starting I
Thursday,April 24(8p.m. EST), J
Aisha Tyler will have a four week
run as a sexy paleontologist
on ‘Friends.' The former
‘Talk Soup’ host is not the
first non-white character on
the hit NBC comedy, but she
happens to be one o f the first
ethnic love interests of lead
characters Ross and Joey.
time.”
Given a shot as guest host, she
drew such an overwhelming re
ended last year but helped make her sponse from viewers that she was
also happens to be among the
traffic.
a media darling: Esquire magazine hired full time. Witty AND sexy
very few nonwhite love interests
“I screeched over and practi deemed her one o f the "W omen We w hat’s not to like? Others appreci-
— ’or faces, for that matter — to cally killed three people. And I
Love" and Maxim listed heramong ated what she stood for as well,
grace the popular NBC comedy.
started banging on my car and it its “ Hot 100.” It also won her the
“W hat’s wonderful is there are
Ross (David Schwimmer) and was new and I was thinking I prob
devotion of fans, including high people who would write in saying,
Joey (Matt LeBlanc) compete for ably shouldn’t bang on my car,”
school and college boys who write ‘It’s so great to see a smart, offbeat
the attentions o f Tyler’s character,
black woman on T V ,'” Tyler said
a sexy paleontologist who shares
“But
I don’t think I set out to have
R oss'
s ^ passion
^ „ he for
f c l dinosaurs,
M „ w h,K girl.
* * “ * •* » « « ’ « » « W ie e «
a standard-bearer career. I just set
friend on “Friends," Tyler points
Lauren T ^ n d Gabrielle Union"
Tyler has a sustained role in a show
that’s been criticized for whitewash-
ing multiethnic Manhattan.
“The role w asn’t written particu-
larly foran African-American. I think
they were just trying to cast the
right actress,” Tyler said.
She nearly d id n 't survive hear
ing the good news from her man-
ager, delivered by cell phone while
Tyler was driving in Los Angeles
aS attractive IH White Culture, SO maybe OU,,° be t ny and communicate
S G COUP f Or a black WO/MM who is h ’t Being an agent o f social change
light ,o aPPeal,o blackandwhitemen-
ture images carry weight.
“Typically, black women are not
seen
as attractive in white culture,
-------------------------------------------- ------------------- — ------------------
so maybe it’s a coup for a black
she said. “It was the biggest thing such sweet nothings as “You’re woman who isn’t light to appeal to
in the whole world."
the funniest chick I’ve ever seen" black and white men,” she told Heart
Bigger even than her job as the and offer to buy her a beer.
& Soul magazine last year. “Maybe
host o f E! Entertainment’s “Talk
When Tyler tried out for “Talk it’s a coup for us that we start to be
Soup." In 2 0 0 1, she became its first Soup,” she thought the show would seen as attractive — not as pretty
female host.
never hire a black woman. “I was for black girls, but just beautiful,
The 11 -year-old comedy show
just going to go in and have a fun period.”
~ Actress-comic Aisha Tyler on changing the perception of black women
throughhermedlalmage
(A P ) — B lac k
“I ’m not sure black
A m e ric a n s s h o u ld
folks fully understand
take control o f their
the pow er that m edia
image in the m edia,
has in our life,” Reid
actor T im jte id says.
sa id W e d n e s d a y at
R e id , 5 8, b e st
M organ S tate U niver
k n o w n fo r his TV
sity. "W e are becom
roles on "W K R P in
ing who they portray
C incinnati,” "Sim on
us as being. W e’ve al
&
S im o n ”
an d
lowed ourselves to be
Tim Reid
"F ran k 's P lace,” has
com e a collection o f
sincecreated studios in V irginia negative statistics. Sim on says
that produce m ovies, docum en dress like a gangster, and we do.”
taries and television show s with
Reid gave the keynote address
more richly draw n black charac at the historically black university’s
ters.
first Communication Day.
*
*
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Black-white gap narrows for TV viewers
Nine of 20 top
shows are equally
watched by both
African Americans
and Caucasians
(A P )— As networks add diver
sity to their prime-time casts, blacks
and whites share more favorite se
ries than ever, an annual study o f
viewing habits reports.
Nine o f the top 20 series among
black households also are favor
ites among whites, the most over
lap in at least 10 years, says the
latest study ofblack viewing trends
from ad-buying firm Initiative Me
dia. Most are dramas such as ER,
Law & Order, C Sl and Judging
Amy, but M onday Night Football
and 60 Minutes also made both
lists.
“ in the past there has always
been a polarization; the top 20 lists
L _ ______ r__
Cedric the Entertainer is the
“Lunch Lady" in Fox's Cedric
the Entertainer Presents, the
most popular show in black
households.
*
were very different," Initiative's
Stacey Lynn Koerner said. “Now
what w e’re seeing is there are more
shows these ethnic groups have in
common. One o f the reasons is the
shows themselves are depicting
multiethnic casts and multiethnic
situations.”
Though fewer shows feature
predominantly black casts
NBC
and WB have none
51 o f last
fall's series included ethnically di
verse casts, up fromjust 13 in 1995,
the study says.
The study also show ed that
blacks continue to watch more TV
lhan any other demographic group,
an average o f 76.8 hours a week —
the most viewing in eight years —
compared with 53.1 hours a week
for whites. Black homes watch far
more daytime, late-night, Saturday
morning and cable programming.
Fox’s Cedric the Entertainer
Presents was last fall’s most popu
lar series in black homes, followed
by U PN ’s quartet o f M onday
sitcoms, led by One on One and
Girlfriends.
Although the overall audience
for those sitcoms was nearly 80%
b lack , o th e r b lack -led se ries
showed popularity among a more
diverse audience. Cedric's audi
ence was 52% black, compared with
39% for Bernie Mae and just 24%
for A BC ’s Damon Way ans sitcom.
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