Long-awaited diversity hits 'Sex and the City'

By Lynn Elber
Associated Press

Miranda's new squeeze in "Sex and the City" is handsome, successful and charming. He's also black — notable for a show that has been almost uniformly white in its casting.

The series about four single New Yorkers is finally allowing the city's ethnic diversity a central role.

Blair Underwood, introduced in Sunday's episode, plays Dr. Robert Leeds, the New York Knicks team physician.

The series about four New Yorkers, starring Sarah Jessica Parker (who's also an executive producer), Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, is in its final season.

It's a divided year: 12 episodes are airing through Sept. 14, then the series is to return in January 2004 with eight concluding episodes. Underwood is appearing through the end of the first batch.

"We all of us, and no one more than Sarah Jessica, had lobbied for this for a long, long time," said Nixon, who plays Miranda. "I'm a huge fan of the show, but if we had area in which we really could use improvement, it's certainly this one."

The comedy only has lightly brushed up against New York's diversity.

Cattrall's character, bed-hopper Samantha, had a handful of flings with minorities and a romance with a Hispanic lesbian (Sonia Braga).

But the inner circle of friends and serious boyfriends remained steadfastly white. Like "Friends," another New York-set series, "Sex and the City" came under scrutiny for painting the town one color.

Last season on "Friends," a black love interest (Aisha Tyler) was introduced in a story line that, like the "Sex and the City" plot featuring Underwood, ran for four episodes.

Miranda, a single mother and lawyer who's been moping about lost chances with Steve, her child's father, meets Leeds when he moves into her building. She's on the co-op board that vets potential buyers.

Here's Nixon's take on the encounter: "There's a sense Miranda is trying to push him because, A, he's a great candidate, he's a doctor, he earns a lot of money, he's very personable; B, a little diversity would be nice; and C, she's trying to hide the third thing that she thinks he's utterly adorable and would love to have him in the building.

"She's masking her attraction to him in political correctness, which I think is funny."

Underwood has been a television groundbreaker. In 2000, he starred in the CBS drama "City of Angels," a TV rarity with its predominantly black cast. The series, which he said was unable to find its creative footing quickly enough, was canceled because of low ratings.

"There was a lot of responsibility weighing on that show. At least we did two seasons," said Underwood, whose upcoming projects include the film "How Did It Feel?" and the animated Nick at Nite series "Fatherhood," based on Bill Cosby's book. The actor just signed to star in the film adaptation of the novel "My Soul to Keep."

He found out he was being offered the "Sex and the City" role in the usual way, through a call from his agent, although the conversation started with a less-than-usual query.

"The first thing I remember hearing was, 'Do you have any problem with nudity?' " Underwood said. "My answer was, 'Hey, I'm not ashamed.' "