Gary Owen To Be First White Man To Be A Lead On A BET Show

Comedian Gary Owen’s reality show, Gary Owen Family, will air on the Black Entertainment Television network. The move made history, as the TV network cast its first white lead in one of their shows in its 36 year history. They have not announced a release date for the program.

The series will keep tabs on Owen’s family’s hijinks. They are a culturally mixed bunch. His wife, Kenya Duke, is black and their children, Emilio, Austin and Kennedy Owen, are all interracial. “This is the new face of the American family,” Owen told people at the network’s upfront, before joking, “I feel like Ben Carson at the GOP debate.”

Diversity in entertainment has been a major issue in the past year. Stacey Dash was among those to call out the inconsistency. “I think it’s ludicrous,” she said on Fox & Friends. “We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration. If we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the [NAACP] Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black.”

She was met with a lot of backlash, including some from BET itself. The network quickly reminded her that she has “appeared on episodes of The Game, a series originally aired on the CW, but moved to BET at the start of its fourth season,” according to People.

PHOTO: ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 10: Actor/comedian Gary Owen performs onstage during the HCE Live presents Shaquille O’Neal All Star Comedy Jam at Cobb Energy Center on October 10, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for HCE LIve)