There are not many shows on American national television networks with African-American women in the lead. Not many at all. In fact, it’s been 30-years since a Black person has been in a lead role on primetime television (think back to The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford & Son – all debuted and had successful runs in the 1970s).

Sure, there are shows with African-American women in supporting roles. The best friend, the back-up cop, the hardly seen judge, the once-per-episode-and-only-for-a-few-seconds staff Sargent, but rarely in the leading role.

But in the 2012-13 television season, two shows emerged – Scandal and Deception.

Admittedly, I watch neither show. I tend not to watch television shows until they reach their third complete season because I don’t want to go through what I did with Arrested Development and The Firm. It seems like all the television shows I think are smart, witty and so-dang-good get cancelled after their first season.

Back to Sandal and Deception.

• Both feature African-American women in the lead role and in prime time (Kerry Washington in Scandal, Meagan Good in Deception).
• Both are backed by awesome supporting actors.
• Both are just completing their first seasons.
• Both are produced and written by women who have a few good shows under their belt (the producer of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, also produced Grey’s Antomony and Private Practice; Liz Heldens, the producer of Deception, also produced and wrote for Friday Night Lights).

Despite their similarities, Deception has been cancelled after its first season due to low ratings (3-million on its last episode compared to 8.1-million for Scandal). And I can tell you why the same will not happen to Scandal…

Deception was trying to copy the Scandal formula. And whenever you copy, you will always fail.

NBC, the network that green-lighted Deception, wanted to piggy-back on Scandal‘s success. Scandal is one of the few shows whose primary viewership is African-American women between 18-49 years old. Plus, according to its viewers, Scandal is pretty good.

But instead of drawing parallels to Scandal, critics compared Deception to an ABC hit drama called Revenge. So, as you can see, Deception was already having an identity crisis.

Learn from Deception…

Copying someone else’s formula is a recipe for disaster. You come across as fake and your audience can read through it. You begin to live a lie as you masquerade as one person through your online brand, then act like yourself when you’re in the company of family and friends.

I’ve learned in my short life that it’s truly exhausting to try to be something I’m not. I experienced this early in my business. I found a guru I admired and tried to follow her process. I even tried to design my story so it modelled hers.

But I was unhappy. And confused. And so too were my early clients. When clients are confused, they’ll easily say “No” to any future offerings.

Deception lost its groove because the network wanted it to be one thing (like Scandal), but critics compared it to something else (Revenge). Even though the acting was top-notch, it was difficult for Deception to find an audience because it wasn’t sure what it wanted to be and to whom (debut episode had 5.6-million viewers then steadily declined).

So, what makes Scandal so good?

I don’t watch much television, but every Thursday, my Facebook News Feed blows up with the play-by-play of what’s happening on Scandal. I’ve seen people get angry because Scandal didn’t air or if it’s a repeat episode.

So, what makes the show sooooooooooooooo good?

• Is it because the producer, a Black woman, already has the advantage because she can write about the complexities of her lead character, Olivia Pope?
• Or, is it because the character played by actress Kerry Washington is modelled after a real-life person?
• Or, is it because race is not so blatant on the show? That Olivia Pope can just be the smart and brilliant women she is without an obsession about her skin colour?
• Or is it because Olivia Pope is desirable to men of all races? That attraction is colour-blind?
• Or, is it because the acting and writing is just so damn good?

Help me understand this obsession with Scandal. Despite what you write below, I still won’t watch the show. At least not yet. Even through CBS just ordered 22 episodes for Season 2, I’ll wait until the show reaches Season 3.5 before I start to watch it.