Television has come a long way from its inception in the 1950s. Back in the day, it was only common to see one type of face on the small screen, with any others that were non-white being marginalized or subjected to harmful stereotypes.
Thank goodness for the 21st century; now things are vastly different. Television has seen a dramatic change, and not only are there more options for the average viewer, but there is also better representation of people of color in roles. Here are 10 shows released within the last 20 years that exemplify positive representation of people of color.
10 Filmore! (2002 - 2004)
The first Disney animated series to star a black protagonist, Filmore! plays like a standard cop procedural, except remixed into a school setting where the figures of authority are represented by a group of safety patrols.
Filmore himself is a cool customer. A calm and collected character played by That’s So Raven co-star Orlando Brown, Filmore maintains order with his equally stoic partner Ingrid, played by the talented Tara Strong. The great thing about Filmore! is that it places the main character in a position of authority in order to uphold the peace, which spits in the face of the harmful stereotype of black people being at odds with the law.
9 Black-ish (2014 - )
One of ABCs crowning sitcom achievements of the 2010s, Black-ish follows the life and times of an upper-middle-class African-American family navigating the political minefield that is existing as a black person in a post-Obama world, where racism is supposed to be “allegedly dead”.
In a Trump-run America, Blackish really came into its own, highlighting its place as essential viewing with such watercooler episodes as “Lemons”. The show also touches on heated topics such as Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter in tasteful ways that open up thoughtful dialogue. The show was popular enough to warrant a spinoff titled Grown-ish in 2018.
8 Superstore (2015 - )
Another ABC ratings darling and a middle-America retail version of The Office, Superstore covers the lives of a quirky diverse group of characters, all from different cultural and societal backgrounds. The lead is played by America Ferrera, a well-known Latin American actress that starred in Ugly Betty and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
There is also Nico Santos, the Filipino-American actor who got his big film debut in Crazy Rich Asians, and Colton Dunn, who was a recurring character in the hit sketch comedy Key & Peele. The show is hilarious and has been nominated for several awards, with Ferrera winning a Gracie in 2017.
7 The Proud Family (2001 - 2005)
One of the first animated series about an African-American family—and initially turned down by Nickelodeon —animator Bruce W. Smith’s The Proud Family debuted as part of the Disney Channel lineup in 2001.
The show focuses mainly on Penny Proud as she navigates the complexities of school life, friendship, bullies, and being a black female in the modern, millennial world. The Proud Family is set to return to the Disney+ streaming service with brand-new episodes in the near future, if co-stars Jo Marie Payton and Tommy Davidson are to be believed.
6 Hey Monie! (2003)
A more obscure, early 2000 entry to the list, and not to be confused with the similarly titled nicktoon Hey Arnold!, Hey Monie! was a short-lived show on BET that explored the friendship of two women, Monie and Yvette, as the titular character strived to survive the corporate world as a black woman.
Touching on sensitive topics as hair and systematic racism, Hey Monie! was a show ahead of its time and only lasted 3 seasons, but it deserves a second life on a streaming service like Netflix. That said, many episodes in their entirety can be found on Youtube.
5 Craig of the Creek (2018 - )
Created by two of the minds behind Steven Universe, Matt Burnett and Ben Levin, Craig of the Creek is a slice-of-life show in the vein of Hey Arnold! on Cartoon Network about the exploits of Craig Williams and friends protecting their turf on the eponymous creek . As well as having a black protagonist, the show also has some prevalent celebrities of color, including Phil LaMarr (Static Shock) and Terry Crews (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2).
In 2019, Craig of the Creek was nominated for an Annie for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production. The show has recently been renewed for a third season.
4 Champions (2018)
Mindy Kaling was executive producer on this one, so it’s a shame this sitcom only lasted one season. NBC’s Champions held enough modern-era wokeness to knock Rip Van Winkle out of a coma. The show featured Anders Holm and Andy Favreau as brothers Vince and Matthew Cook, who co-parent a previously unknown son of the former.
The true breakout star of the series was J. J. Totah, who played Michael, the estranged effeminate biracial son. Totah, who is of Lebanese and Palestinian descent, would later come out as transgender in 2018 and change her name to Josie.
3 Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir (2015 - )
The CGI Sailor Moon-inspired series about a young girl fighting crime with a thirsty male sidekick clad in black leather, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir is also unique in that it features a young biracial Asian girl who’s half Chinese and half French.
Her best friend, Alya, is a prominent supporting character, and is also a well-represented person of color with roots from Martinique, a French colony located in the Caribbean. Alya even gets to prove her mettle as a competent sidekick to Marinette when she uses the Fox Miraculous to assume the role of Rena Rouge.
2 Silicon Valley (2014 - 2019)
While HBOs comedy hit Silicon Valley is primarily about Richard Hendrix and his rise and fall as the CEO of Pied Piper, it can’t be ignored thanks to the impact of Kumail Nanjani’s performance as Dinesh. Nanjani plays a brilliant programmer who is funny without relying on the cheap Peter Sellers’ Party-esque antics of standard Indian stereotypes. In fact, throughout the show, he has to remind his ignorant coworkers that he is in fact, Pakistani.
Nanjani is the star of Amazon Prime sleeper hit The Big Sleep and has spoken against Hollywood’s narrow-minded perception that people who live in India and other parts of South Asia should affect an “Apu” accent to have a better chance of landing work.
1 Master of None (2015 - 2017)
Prior to the unfortunate scandal that befell the show’s star a la an anonymous open letter published by Babe.net in 2018, Master of None was on the trajectory to becoming one of Netflix’s most successful shows.
This was thanks, in no small part, to the comedic stylings of standup comic Aziz Ansari. He first showed his acting chops in Parks and Recreation, later co-starring in the 2011 film 30 Minutes or Less, before he eventually dove into the social complexities of life and romance as an Indian man in Master of None. Hopefully Netflix gives the series another chance in the near future.
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