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+.
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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)