25 Fan-Favorite Black Characters Of The Modern TV Era - Page 7
With the beloved Varnell Hill of 'Martin' fame returning for a spinoff series, it reminded us of a few other fan-favorite Black TV characters.
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Many factors contribute to making a hit television series that garners universal acclaim, but at the heart of gripping scripts and episodic drama are the characters who help bring the show to life.
Back in the 1990s, beloved Black sitcom Martin featured an ensemble of fictional faves that still to this day have maintained their own fanbases — shoutout to Team Sheneneh and the DragonFly Jones Hive!
The series proved to be so successful when it comes to character development that it now appears the infamous Varnell Hill will be getting his own spinoff series this fall on Paramount+.
RELATED: 10 Black Characters That Deserve Their Own Spinoff
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Aptly titled The Varnell Hill Show — still trying to one-up Martin, we see! — the upcoming series will see veteran comedian Tommy Davidson returning to a role that he first introduced back in 1993 with the Season 2 two-parter, “Hollywood Swinging Parts 1 & 2.” Formerly one of Martin’s biggest adversaries next to Pretty Ricky, Varnell is now seeing his perfect media empire come to a humbling stall.
More details on the series below, via Variety:
“‘The Varnell Hill Show’ is set behind the scenes of Hill’s fictional late-night talk show and, per the series logline, ‘follows Varnell as he fights to stay relevant in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. Between network executives eager to modernize the show, a chaotic writers’ room, celebrity guests, family drama and his own outsized ego, Varnell quickly discovers that keeping a television empire together may be harder than building one in the first place.’
Kym Whitley, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Nick Cafero, Emmanuel Hudson and Chris Williams also star alongside Davidson. Guest stars include Ms. Pat, Deon Cole, Damon Wayans, Mike Epps, Omarion and Martin Lawrence, the show’s executive producer.”
We’ll be seated to see how things play out in the eight-episode debut season beginning on September 1, especially to see Martin and Varnell go toe-to-toe again after three decades. It also got us thinking about other Black characters we’ve all come to love in recent television history, each irreplaceable fixtures of their respective shows.
Take a look below for a list of Black characters in modern TV history who many of us would agree are fan-favorite standouts:
Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring, Better Call Saul (2015 – 2022)
Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Fear the Walking Dead (2015 – 2023)
Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair, Stranger Things (2016 – 2025)
Issa Rae as Issa Dee, Insecure (2016 – 2021)
LaKeith Stanfield as Darius, Atlanta (2016 – 2022)
Thandiwe Newton as Maeve Millay, Westworld (2016 – 2022)
Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson, This Is Us (2016 – 2022)
Isaiah John as Leon Simmons, Snowfall (2017 – 2023)
Samira Wiley as Moira, The Handmaid’s Tale (2017 – 2025)
Kofi Siriboe as Ralph Angel Bordelon, Queen Sugar (2017 – 2022)
Tati Gabrielle as Marienne Bellamy, You (2018 – 2025)
Jacob Latimore as Emmett, The Chi (2018 – 2026)
Forest Whitaker as Bumpy Johnson, Godfather Of Harlem (2019 – 2026)
Colman Domingo as Ali Muhammad, Euphoria (2019 – 2026)
Nicco Annan as Uncle Clifford, P-Valley (2020 – Present)
Woody McClain as Cane, Power Book II: Ghost (2020 – 2024)
London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Power Book III: Raising Kanan (2021 – 2026)
Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary (2021 – Present)
Tami Roman as Denise Ford, The Ms. Pat Show (2021 – Present)
Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, House of the Dragon (2022 – Present)
Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely, Found (2023 – 2025)
Diarra Kilpatrick as Diarra Brickland, Diarra from Detroit (2024 – Present)
Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards, Forever (2025 – Present)
Yahya Adbul-Mateen II as John Creasy, Man on Fire (2026 – Present)
Chase Infiniti as Agnes MacKenzie, The Testaments (2026 – Present)
25 Fan-Favorite Black Characters Of The Modern TV Era - Page 7 was originally published on blackamericaweb.com