LOS ANGELES -- The glee club members twirl their wheelchairs to Proud Mary in joyful solidarity with Artie, the character who must use his chair even when the music stops.
The scene in Wednesday's episode of the hit Fox series Glee, which regularly celebrates diversity and the underdog, is yet another uplifting moment -- except to those in the entertainment industry with disabilities and their advocates.
For them, the casting of a non-disabled actor to play Artie, a paraplegic high school student, is another blown chance to hire a performer who truly fits the role.
"I think there's a fear of litigation, that a person with disabilities might slow a production down, fear that viewers might be uncomfortable," said Robert David Hall, longtime cast member of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
All of that is nonsense, said Hall, who plays Dr. Albert Robbins on the CBS show: "I've made my living as an actor for 30 years, and I walk on two artificial legs."
Hall, 61, chair of a multi-union committee for performers with disabilities, is part of a small band of such steadily working actors on TV that includes Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, star of Fox's Brothers; teenager RJ Mitte of AMC's Breaking Bad; and ABC's Private Practice newcomer Michael Patrick Thornton.
Veteran actress Geri Jewell, who has cerebral palsy, appeared on HBO's now-departed Deadwood.
Mitchell, 44, whose credits included Veronica's Closet and the film Galaxy Quest before he was injured in a motorcycle accident and Ed after he began using a wheelchair, is also a producer on the Sunday sitcom that's in need of higher ratings if it is to survive.
For Mitchell, Brothers represents more than just another show: He calls it "a movement" that deserves support from the wider disabled community as well as the industry.
"This is what my life is. This is what I want the world to see," he said. "I want to hold the networks accountable. If I can come out and do what I'm doing, they can come to the table."
Glee executive producer Brad Falchuk said he understood the concern and frustration expressed by the disabled community. But Kevin McHale, 21, the Plano native who plays Artie, excels as an actor and singer, and "it's hard to say no to someone that talented," Falchuk said.
About one-fifth of Americans ages 5 to 64 have a physical or mental disability -- more than 50 million, according to census figures. But fewer than 2 percent of the characters on TV reflect that reality, according to a 2005 study of Screen Actors Guild members conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
And it's not a small playing field: There are 600 characters or more on the scripted comedies and dramas airing on the five major networks in a typical season.
More than a third of performers with disabilities reported facing discrimination in the workplace, either being refused an audition or not being cast for a role because of their disability, the study found. Many performers fear being candid about their health or needs to avoid pity or being seen as incapable of doing a job.
There can be added production expenses, said veteran casting director Sheila Manning, such as hiring a translator for a performer who is deaf.
"It costs a little more, but look at the positive reaction [the networks are] getting. I think that more than offsets the cost," Manning said, adding that it's the morally right thing to do.
And producers simply can't complain of a shallow pool of choices.
"There are very talented performers with disabilities. ... We just don't know what producers are thinking," said Gloria Castaneda, program director of the Media Access Office, a California state program that promotes hiring of the disabled in the entertainment industry. It also gives annual awards for positive portrayals.
In the 1980s, actors with disabilities could be seen regularly in a variety of shows.
"Then it kind of faded away," Manning said. "It was a cause, and then it wasn't."
But she sounded a note of optimism, saying, "It's in the public consciousness again, so it's in the production consciousness."
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