In the wake of the 2025 Emmys, USC Annenberg has released its annual Inclusion List, looking back at the most diverse television series, creators and networks in 2024. This is the fourth year of the project, which has evaluated nearly 1,000 shows since it began in 2021.
By this list, 2024’s top 10 series for inclusivity were “Land of Women,” “Unprisoned,” “Sunny,” “Queenie,” “Bob Hearts Abishola,” “House of Payne,” “Clipped,” “Assisted Living,” “Griselda,” and “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.”
Assembled by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the Inclusion List uses to evaluate television series through quantitative data to establish which shows, networks and creators support inclusion and promote the most diversity. These subjects are judged on 15 different scoring indicators, looking at diversity in front of and behind the camera for representation across gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age and ability.
“The Inclusion List was designed to use data to recognize the stories and storytellers whose work reflects a variety of voices and perspectives,” said Smith, who founded the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “In this update to The Inclusion List, the results demonstrate that, indeed, there are series and creators who are embracing casts and characters that reflect the audience. We are eager to celebrate those shows and storytellers.”
A total of 257 shows were evaluated, with the series spanning broadcast, cable and streaming networks. These series join a list of 992 seasons of television examined by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative since 2021. This meant looking at 2,096 series regulars and 56,942 behind-the-camera talents made up of directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, editors, composers, costume designers, production designers, casting directors and first ADs. While those on-camera were evaluated with gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability and age criteria, behind-the-scenes individuals were only evaluated for gender and race/ethnicity.
While 2025’s big Emmys contenders didn’t crack the top 10, there were several shows in contention that appeared elsewhere in the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s study. “Nobody Wants This” cracked the gender list for being among the shows with the highest amount of representation among girls and women in front of and behind the camera. Representation of the LBGTQ+ community on-screen was well recognized at the Primetime Emmys, as “Baby Reindeer,” “Hacks,” “Somebody Somewhere” and “What We Do in the Shadows” were on Annenberg’s list. “Slow Horses” and “Virgin River” were both recognized for their inclusion of people with disabilities on-screen, while “Only Murders in the Building” made the list for representing individuals 65 years of age and older.
The individual series aren’t the only things represented on the list. Tyler Perry, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Tim Minear, Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead were recognized as the top inclusive creators of 2024. Additionally, Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and HBO Max were ranked (in that order) as the top as the top five originators that scored highest on the Inclusion List across the last five years, with Netflix taking the top spot.
“The newest version of the Inclusion List highlights two ways that creatives have achieved inclusion,” Smith said. “The first is by assembling a cast and crew that reflects multiple identities. The second is by focusing on a particular underrepresented group– whether it is people age 65 and older or people with disabilities– and putting a spotlight on those characters. Importantly, these series are not only popular with viewers, they are some of the critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated series of the year. In other words, telling inclusive stories is good for business.”
You can see the Annenberg Inclusion List now at inclusionlist.org/series.
