“Zoey’s” takes on racism in the tech industry

(NBC) “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” was the only show on broadcast television to grab a Golden Globe nomination last week, and tonight’s episode of the show advances a story line that’s sparking buzz in the tech industry.

John Clarence Stewart’s character, Simon, has been elevated to P.R. chief at the tech company where he and Zoey work, but when Simon is forced to publicly defend the firm’s faulty new gizmo, he goes off script.

“Chirp couldn’t see black and brown faces because there are no Black and brown people in positions of power at the company,” Simon admits.

The aftermath of calling out that systemic racism sets the stage for tonight’s followup.

The show’s writers began developing the story line during last summer’s social unrest, with input from Stewart.

“When it comes to systemic racism or racism in general, it always brings up stuff. It brought up stuff for me. It brought up pain for me,” he says.

Stewart expressed that pain in part with the help of choreographers Mandy Moore and Luther Brown.

“A lot of the situations and scenarios in the episode I actually lived at, so it hit me a little different, you know?,” Brown says.

One hour of TV won’t solve racism, but it hopes to advance the discussion.

It’s imperative to tell the truth, and we did that, and we got something really nice,” Stewart says.

All of the music in tonight’s episode was originally performed by Black artists, including Smokey Robinson, Mary J. Blige and Janelle Monae.

“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” airs tonight at 7pm locally on WNKY NBC 40.

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