Emmy Round Table: Comedy: Actors discuss diversity, inclusion and the baby in the bar
Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”), Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and others talk minorities in TV, progress and the lack thereof.
Television has made much progress in the way it tackles social issues, sometimes more than the country itself. From “Soap’s” first gay character in the 1970s to “Transparent,” the new show about a transgender woman and the effect on her family, TV is tackling formerly taboo subjects in a big way these days.
At The Envelope’s annual Emmy Comedy Roundtable, Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”), Billy Crystal (“The Comedians”), Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”), Anna Faris (“Mom”) and Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) talk about the changes they’ve seen in comedy programming over the years.
The actors agreed that the new openness includes a broadening diversity of players even as some in the industry argue it has gone too far. An “insulting” notion, Anderson says. “It just goes to show you how far we need to go still.”
And then there’s DeVito’s story about the baby, the bar and the shoe polish.
Take a look at the video above and come back for other Emmy conversations.
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