How did AAPI actors fare in the Critics Choice & Golden Globes?

Dev Patel in 'Lion' was nominated as a supporting actor.

HAILEE STEINFELD and Dev Patel got shut out in the Critics Choice Awards but they still have a chance for a Golden Globe Awards

It's award-show season and Asian/American actors are getting recognized, even if they don't bring home the statuettes.

Hailee Steinfeld

If the two awards shows are predictors for Oscar nominations, the Academy Awards should be more diverse than it has been the last two years when no actors of color were nominated in any of the acting category spawning the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Nevertheless, AAPI actors are considered long shots for any of the categories they were nominated in but that's better than not being recognized at all.

Filipina/American actress Steinfeld, who convincingly played a white teenager in Edge of Seventeen, lost out to Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea in the Critics Choice category of Best Young Actor/Actress and to Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins in the Critics category of Best Actress in a Comedy.

Moonlight's Mahershala Ali got the nod over Dev Patel in Lion for the Best Supporting Actor category of the Critics Choice.

The Critics also favored Kate McKinnon of Saturday Night Live over Constance Wu in Fresh Off the Boat in the Best TV Actress in a Comedy Series.

Steinfeld was also nominated for a Golden Globes Award in the category for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy where she faces some stiff competition.

Patel also received a nomination in the Globe's awards in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

In the category of Best Animated Feature, there were two AAPI-related nominees: Moana and Kubo and the Two Strings.

Moana also got a nomination for Best Original Song for "How Far I'll Go."

The HBO movie The Night Of, the story of Muslim/American young man caught in a web of sex and murder and gave us an inside look at the American criminal justice system received three nominations, in the category of Motion Picture Made for Television and actors Riz Ahmed and John Turturro will compete against each other for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series.

Riz Ahmed was praised for his performance in 'The Night of.

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"Crazy Ex- Girlfriend" star wins Golden Globe; Lea Salonga will make an appearance.

Photo: Tyler Golden/CW

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's" Filipino/American family, from left: Tess Paras as Jayma, Coryn Mabalot as Jastenity, Vincent Rodriguez III as Josh, Amy Hill as Lourdes, Rachel Bloom as Rebecca,
and Alberto Isaac as Joseph.

LETS HOPE that Rachel Bloom's Golden Globe award for Best Performance by An Actress In A Television Series (Comedy or Musical) gives a much-needed boost to the groundbreaking television show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

Her win over better known actresses in more popular shows clearly surprised Bloom and Sunday's (Jan. 10) Golden Globe audience, which combined the stars of motion pictures and television.

The show, which features a Fiilipino/American love interest (Vincent Rodriguez as Josh Chan), hasn't exactly been breaking ratings records. In fact, in some polls, it is at or near the bottom as the least watched shows on television. CW hasn't indicated if a second season is in the works.

However, CW President Mark Pedowitz told TV Guide, that his network has great faith in Crazy.

"At the moment, I wish I had more optimistic [ratings] statistics. I don't. What we do have is great faith in the show, great faith in the showrunners and the creators, Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom. We believe in the show. We stand by the show," Pedowitz said, adding that he has no plans to make a "homogenized version" of the show in hopes of attracting more viewers. "We believe there is a place on our schedule today for a show like this and we're going to give it a chance to get seen. You can't beat quality like this. ... The fact that Rachel is nominated (and won a Golden Globe) is a testament to what they've done. ... I wish the numbers were better."

Watch Bloom's teary and breathless acceptance speech below:

As Bloom explained to reporters in the press room following the Globes, having a diverse cast allows a show to organically explore a wider range of stories because of her Filipino co-star. Read her comments in an interview with Vulture right after the ceremonies:

"I have learned so much about Filipino culture. What’s insane is we are not fresh off the boat about specifically being Filipino. One of our characters happened to be Filipino, so when we realized that no one had made the effort to show a Filipino family on an American comedy, it is talking a lot about Filipino culture, mabuhay, but it has also taught me really about how important diversity is if you want to tell a new story. Anything else I do from now ... I would want to make it about people who are diverse, gay, trans, because those are stories that have not been told before, and America is a melting pot of immigrants, and I don’t think it is acknowledged half as much as it is on television. 

"In episode 18, we are so proud Lea Solanga will be guest-starring, and when Vincent, who plays Josh Chan, [saw her,] he literally fainted to the ground. We are so excited to be seen as a show that supports all different sorts of people and supports diversity because that’s what America is, and we are just showing what America really is."

I don't want to underplay the little "tease" she threw in about Lea Solanga, but I want to dwell a bit on her comment, her show and diversity.

True diversity in the media is not about tokenism: Cast an Asian guy and put him in the background. It's about reflecting the world around us and the stories emerge organically from everyday interactions. CEG is not seeking a pat on the back for casting Rodriguez because as the producers said, they grew up in Southern California and there were plenty of hot guys who were Asian. And they didn't stand on a soapbox to shout out, "Look at us! We have a Filipino family on the show. Hooray!" 

On this particular show, diversity includes having a Filipino/American writer, Rene Gube, who, incidentally, played a hip priest (80 percent of Filipinos are Roman Catholic) on the same show. Gube wrote the historic Thanksgiving show that featured an entire Filipino clan at a family celebration. Gube wasn't hired because one of the lead characters was Filipino, it's just that sometimes, the stars align. But his presence on the writing staff helps the authenticity of the scenes with Filipinos. 

RELATED: Why you should be watching 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'TV's first Filipino/American family debuts

“To have an opportunity to create a fully developed Filipino character, a male romantic lead, I’ve never seen that before, and I was super excited about that. It is a great opportunity to show a Filipino family on network television, and show how American that Filipino family truly is,” said Gube in a Vulture interview.

Lea Salonga

Back to Salonga: The singer let the cat out of the bag in her Twitter account that she'll be featured in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's finale. “I guess the news is out!!! I’ll be appearing on the season finale of @CW_CrazyXGF! And singing, too! How fun is that?!” Salonga tweeted to her followers. Presumably, she'll tape that episode when Allegiance closes its Broadway run on Feb. 14.

Congratulations to Rachel Bloom! Hopefully her award will have the same boost for Crazy as the same award gave to Jane the Virgin when its star, Gina Rodriguez, won the honor last year.

Even without the Filipino actors, its a brilliant show. How can you describe a show that has a compulsive-obsessive woman as its lead character chasing after the love of her life who she thinks is her key to happiness? Don't be put off by the musical numbers. The witty songs and production add to the story and they're not thrown in willy-nilly just to have a musical number.

Meanwhile, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend returns with its mid-season premiere on Jan. 25, 8 p.m. Eastern on the CW. Tell all your friends and relatives to tune in to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the show that gets things right on so many levels.

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Despite some progress, AAPI actors largely unrecognized by award shows

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE Awards kicked off the awards season last week with a handful of Asian/American actors winning the fans' affection.

This Sunday, the Golden Globe will be handing out accolades to the favorites as voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It should be a pretty good show considering the HFPA allows drinking during the program.

Priyanka Chopra

In the Peoples' Choice Awards, fans picked Priyanka Chopra as the Favorite Actress in a New TV series award for her role in Quantico and Dwayne "Rock" Johnson won Favorite Premium Cable TV Actor for his role in Ballers. Chopra was the first South Asian to be so recognized and The Rock, the first Samoan/American to receive that honor.

Filipino/Canadian Shay Mitchell was edged out for Favorite Cable TV Actress but won as a cast member of Pretty Little Liars, which was named Favorite Cable TV Drama.

Small victories, but we'll take them.

Even though the 2015-16 television season is one where we have seen the most shows featuring or starring Asian/Americans, as we see by the award winners and nominations, AAPI actors still represent a tiny, tiny portion of the roles on television.

RELATED: Why the Oscar's acting nominees are all white

But compared to the roles played by AAPI thespians and other actors of color in the motion picture industry, television looks like a celebration of diversity.

The 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards airs Sunday, Jan. 10  which continues the entertainment industry's awards season. The awards show will air on NBC at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

The nominees for the 2016 Golden Globe Awards include quite a few actors of color: Gina Rodriguez, Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Uzo Aduba, Regina King, Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, David Oyelowo, Will Smith, and Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek. Aziz Ansari is the only Asian/American actor to get a nomination for his role in Master of None.

RELATED: The Oscar for Best Caucasian goes to ...

The most prestigious award show, though, is the Oscar awards for the motion picture industry. There is a fear that there could very well be a repeat of last year's Oscar show where all the Oscar nominations were European Americans. It generated a backlash and earned a hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

The widespread discussion about the lack of diversity in the entertainment industry, produced loads of stories and commentaries not only in the trade media but also within the minority communities, who feel that their stories are not being told even though they represent a huge part of the audience. 

RELATED: Hollywood stumbles when it comes to race

In a way, #OscarsSoWhite may have been one of the factors because 2016 was such a racially charged year spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, the debate over immigration, the hateful statements and fear-mongering coming from some of the candidates for President and the acts of violence (including the Oregon standoff) that have racial overtones.

Producers and entertainment executives are people too (although that might be open for debate) and I assume that they are affected by the social atmosphere of the past year. Movies take so long to produce, it may be a year or two before we see if the debate on race that is happening on Main Street has had any impact on Hollywood. Television was the first to react with the plethora of shows of and by minority actors/producers that resulted in shows like Dr. Ken, Master of None, Quantico and Into the Badlands. 

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I have another theory. Madison Avenue, the hurricane's eye of advertising, has a better sense on America's pulse. Advertisers feature mixed-race couples, families of color, LBGTQ couples, racially-mixed groups of friends and families to sell their products. Yes, good ol' capitalists sense the changing demographic of our country and are adjusting their strategies to sell their goods, whether it be insurance, cars, cereals or skin-care products. 

It doesn't matter that the reason for the advertising trend is not as altruistic as we would like, the images created by these seemingly innocuous ads that we see as we flip through  the magazines, flash on television, billboards and on the Internet are subconsciously seared into the public's/customer's brain. (Who can forget Coke's "America the Beautiful commercial for the Superbowl of 2014? See below.) 

Advertisers seek television programs that reflect the socially progressive values of contemporary America, despite the Tea Party's delusion that they represent America. That may be why television is quicker to react to the social shifts of America; TV shows depend on commercials and the denizens of Madison Ave. are battling in the marketplace. Their data analysts actually look at the Census statistics that show the changing the face of this country.

"Advertisers for many years always took the safe route, which was to try to ruffle no feathers and in doing so became less and less authentic and real," said Allen Adamson, managing director of the branding firm Landor Associates. "To succeed today, big brands ... need to be in touch with what's authentic and true about American families."

According to Census data, those families include married couples of different races and ethnicities who grew by 28 percent in the decade between 2000 and 2010, from 7 percent to 10 percent.

"The traditional approach depicting the old `Leave it to Beaver' family, while offending no one, is not very realistic," Adamson said.

(I must add that my view on this is based on commercials shown in California, a very diverse marketplace and as we know, the Golden State doesn't represent the rest of the country. But as a national trendsetter, California's impact can't be ignored.)

Motion pictures executives, unfortunately, are slower to adjust to reality and tend to depend on their "gut" feelings or whatever worked in the past. Motion pictures are so expensive to make, studios are reluctant to take risks. Once in a while we'll get a  Joy Luck Club, Selma or 12 Years A Slave, but those examples are still few and far between.

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Idris Elba has a chance to be nominated for
Best Actor for his role in "Beast of No Nation." 

The Motion Picture Academy doesn't want to have a repeat of #OscarsSoWhite but its members are still mostly old school and may be resistant to being more open-minded.  Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 14.

The Academy has been trying to diversify the nomination process so that the voters - the actors, producers, camera operators, directors and technicians - are more diverse themselves. We see that ever-so-slowly happening but more importantly, we see people of influence move into the decision-making positions. African/American producers like Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry are chipping away at the old boys' club but there is no Asian/American equivalent to Rhimes and Perry yet. However, AAPI directors, producers and writers such as Justin Lin, Dean Devlin, Ang Lee and Gary Fukunaga are inching into positions of influence and artists Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Aziz Ansari (Masters of None), Dwayne Johnson (Ballers), Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken) and Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands) creating their own products. 

For an industry that has been so exclusive for so long, it may take a Sisyphus-like effort for the entertainment industry to move  from a black and white world view to one with full color. 

• GOLDEN GLOBES: Jan. 10, 8 p.m., EST on NBC
• SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS: Jan. 30, 8 p.m. EST on TNT and TBS
• 88TH ACADEMY AWARDS: Feb. 28, 5:30 p.m. EST on ABC

For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.