The Inaugural List of TV’s Most Inclusive Shows Reveals a Troubling Trend

There's a new list in Hollywood. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, led by founder Dr. Stacy L. Smith in partnership with the Adobe Foundation, unveiled The Inclusion List on Thursday, which is "a first-ever data-driven ranking system that honors the most inclusive series across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms."

The list compiles data regarding on-screen and behind-the-camera personnel to rank the 100 most inclusive broadcast and cable series from the 2021-22 broadcast season and streaming series from 2021 to 2023. The list also includes the top 20 producers of the most inclusive shows on TV.

"The goal of the Inclusion List is to recognize the stories and storytellers who are taking inclusion seriously and whose content reflects their values," Smith said in a statement revealing the list. "With today’s release of the Inclusion List for broadcast/cable and streaming series, we are excited to acknowledge the creative voices championing inclusion across the spectrum of episodic content."

The research team looked at over 560 series airing on broadcast, cable, and
streaming platforms across 15 inclusion indicators. The indicators ranked gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, and age representation for series regular cast. For behind the scenes, gender and race/ethnicity were evaluated across 10 positions to create a crew score. Those roles were: director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor, composer, costume designer, production designer, casting director and first assistant director. The data used to compile the list included more than 4,500 series regular roles and over 11,000 individual crew members across more than 110,000 behind-the-scenes positions.

It takes a long time to compile that amount of data, but a troubling trend already emerges when looking at the inaugural list: a majority of the most inclusive shows have already ended or been canceled, or are still in renewal limbo. Check them out below.

Cable and Broadcast Shows

Queen Sugar ended on OWN after seven critically acclaimed seasons on creator Ava DuVernay's terms, but it is dismaying to look at the rest of the list. HBO's horror comedy The Baby only aired one season in 2022 and the network has not announced plans for more episodes. Naomi, Queens, and 4400 were all canceled by their respective networks after one season.

All American: Homecoming will return this TV season on The CW but with a significantly reduced cast. Twenties creator Lena Waithe said that Season 3 is in the works, but it is going on two years since fans have seen new episodes. Meanwhile, The Kings of Napa and Sistas are both in limbo and waiting for official renewal or cancellation news.

The bright spot on the list is P-Valley on Starz. The gritty comedy from Katori Hall increased viewership between its first two seasons and is a critical darling for the network. The series is expected to return for Season 3 in 2024.

Streaming Shows

Similar issues can be seen in the streaming list. Seven of the ten titles heralded on the list have been canceled or were limited series. Hulu's Reasonable Doubt was been renewed for a second season after Season 1 aired in 2022. The Hollywood strikes did lead to significant production delays across the entire industry last year, but Hulu has not provided an updated status for the show. Issa Rae's Rap Sh!t on Max is waiting on a renewal decision since Season 2 ended in December 2023. Meanwhile, Now and Then on Apple TV+ remains in renewal limbo.

Most Inclusive Producers

The list also looked at the executive producers of these series and calculated a list of 20 Hollywood executives based on the number of inclusive series they helmed during the evaluation period.

"Each of the producers on The Inclusion List were responsible for 2 or more series with more than 750 episodes combined of content over the time period evaluated," according to the Annenberg press release.

The list is as follows: Greg Berlanti (10 series), Sarah Schecter (10 series), Howard Klein (6 series), Ravi Nandan (5 series), Ava DuVernay (4 series), Paul Garnes (4 series), Mindy Kaling (4 series), Carolyn Strauss (4 series), Aaron Kaplan (4 series), Josh Schwartz (4 series), Stephanie Savage (4 series), Dave Becky (3 series), David Madden (3 series), Lauren Levy Neustadter (3 series), Reese Witherspoon (3 series), Gloria Calderón Kellett (3 series), Fred Armisen (3 series), Jonathan Groff (3 series), Tony Hernandez (3 series), and Charles D. King (2 series).

It's no shocker to see Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schecter at the top of the list because the partners produce more television than any single producers in Hollywood. Ava DuVernay (and her producing partner Paul Garnes) and Gloria Calderón Kellett are also expected names in the list, producing Queen Sugar and With Love, respectively among their other titles. Lauren Levy Neustadter, who heads up Hello Sunshine's producing arm, is also there with her boss Reese Witherspoon.

The Takeaway

The Inclusion List is an important addition to Hollywood's annual inclusion reports, including the GLAAD Where We Are on TV report and the Geena Davis Institute research on gender representation in media. And while the shows on this list should be lauded for breaking boundaries and representing the world as it truly exists, it's disheartening to see that so many of the shows awarded here have already been canceled or ended just a year after the research was compiled. The report can be read as part of a larger narrative that Hollywood is pivoting away from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that stepped up amid the George Floyd protests in 2020. The cancellation of these shows can be interpreted as part of a trend that also includes the exits of multiple DEI executives from major Hollywood companies last summer, as if studio leaders are deciding inclusion isn't profitable enough.

But it's a fallacy to say that these shows don't have audiences. There are enough winners on the list to disprove that narrative — Queen Sugar ran for seven seasons — and we know that people want to watch people who look like them on TV. Studios need to take a deeper look at how these shows are developed, funded, and marketed to actually find the audiences where they are.

The inaugural list is a great start, but in year two we'd love to see shows on the list that are still on air and available to watch to make the ranking.