2016 Fall TV Lineup: Indian American Stars Will Continue to Impress

Over the past several months, networks have been announcing which TV shows were good enough to return for another season, and which ones were canceled, one show at a time.

While India-West readers already know ABC has renewed the FBI drama “Quantico,” starring Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, for the second season; Hulu recently greenlighted season 5 of the romantic comedy television series, “The Mindy Project,” which Indian American actor Mindy Kaling, produces, writes and stars in; and Indian American actor Kal Penn is set to return as the host of Fox’s unscripted competition series, “Superhuman,” which tests the abilities of ordinary people with extraordinary physical or mental abilities. “Bunk’d,” a spin-off of the hit comedy series “Jessie” starring actor Karan Brar, is also heading into season 2.

This week, more news came in about TV’s prime time lineup giving fans enough reasons to either celebrate a renewal or be upset about their favorite show being axed, as network honchos unveiled their fall schedules during upfront presentations in New York City.

The big news: Other than Fox’s “Grandfathered” featuring Ravi Patel, none of the shows starring Indian American actors have been scrapped.

The medical drama “Code Black,” in which Indian American actress Melanie Chandra has a meaty role as Dr. Malaya Pineda, has been renewed for a second season. Deadline reports that the show, which has been a consistent rating performer, never falling under 1.1 ratings among adults 18-49 in Live+same day, is expected to undergo some changes for season 2, with new characters added.

Fans of CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” also have another season to look forward to. The unstoppable comedy show starring Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, and Johnny Galecki, has been renewed for a 10th season.

Along with “Quantico,” ABC has also renewed “black-ish” for a third season. Vijal Patel is the writer and co-executive producer of the critically-acclaimed family comedy starring Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne and Tracee Ellis Ross.

M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi series “Wayward Pines” returns with more drama and twists for a second season May 25 on Fox. The season two of the series, based on the “Wayward Pines” novels by Blake Crouch, will feature new cast members, including Indian actress Nimrat Kaur as Rebecca, a mysterious architect.

This story was originally posted on India West.