This Series Needed to Be Dusted Off

As for Longoria's burning desire to tell the stories of housekeepers (not to mention, make a fortune, if the show were successful), "Devious Maids" wasn't exactly a documentary. This was going to be a weekly television show played for laughs with sexy Latinas who would probably spend much of their time trying to avoid the advances of their male bosses. This sort of mind candy might keep viewers amused and entertained. But how does it help explore the "complexity" of being a maid? It doesn't.

Defenders of the proposed series were quick to compare it to the acclaimed film "The Help," which told the compelling stories of African-American women working as maids in Mississippi at the start of the civil rights movement.

There is a big difference between the two projects. By the time that audiences were exposed to "The Help," they had already seen, over the years, African-Americans on screen cast in roles ranging from police detectives to university professors to federal judges. So viewers knew that being a housekeeper wasn't the extent of the experience of African-American women.

Unfortunately, you can't say that about Latinas at this point. Longoria said it herself. In her view, anyone who casts Latinas as maids is just being "realistic."

We can do better. Latinos represent 16 percent of the U.S. population, on their way to an estimated 25 percent by 2040. Yet, according to data obtained by the Screen Actors Guild, Latinos only get about 4 percent of television roles. And this includes guest appearances where a character has only one line. It's pathetic.

But then, you'll have to excuse the television studios. They're hampered by geography. They're based in Los Angeles, and where would you find Latinos there? Oh yeah. At half the population of the city, just about all over town.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.