25 Token Black Characters From '90s TV Shows, and What Happened to Them

And then the writers realized that all the characters couldn't be white.

Complex Original

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Monochrome casting—that is, casting people of all the same race (typically white people), has been a problem in Hollywood for decades. However, television shows, especially starting in the '90s, attempted to rectify this issue by mixing in a few minorities here and there. By minorities we typically mean African-Americans. Thus, the token black character.

In retrospect, this was a cheesy way to deal with diversity. But even today, shows continue to struggle to find a balance. Just last year, HBO’s Girls was criticized for depicting a relatively minority-free New York City and in response brought in Donald Glover to play Hannah’s new boyfriend for a brief two episodes in the second season.

A lot of the '90s TV series were successful in that they tried to stay away from stereotypes of African-Americans and even dispel some by casting blacks in roles of authority, or casting them opposite the co-star as a buddy character to implicitly level the playing field. However, many of these shows also failed because they, more often than not, dealt with race differences by simply ignoring them.

Here’s a look at some of the funny, awkward, and interesting ways all-white television shows have added some color into their casts: 25 Token Black Characters From '90s TV Shows, and What Happened to Them.

Written by Brooklyne Gipson (@Brooklyne)

Calvin

As Seen On: Freaks and Geeks
Played By: Kenny Black
Dates Active: 1999
Episodes Appeared On: 1
Watch A Clip: N/A

At the tail-end of the '90s Freaks and Geeks, a beloved sitcom about teenagers in the 1980s, came into our lives. Under the heat of criticism for the lack of diversity, the showrunners decided to add a lone black student, Calvin, to the high school population. First order of business for Calvin? Engage in a debate with Neil, who's Jewish, over whose people have been oppressed more.

Simbi Khali

As Seen On: 3rd Rock From the Sun
Played By: Nina Campbell
Dates Active: 1996-2001
Episodes Appeared On: 134
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Nina Campbell is the intelligent and attractive student that works for Mary and Dick at the fictional Pendleton University. She's very aware of her blackness and senses the aliens have no idea what this means; much of the humor is used effectively as a tool to explore delicate topics regarding race.

Elena Tyler

As Seen On: Felicity
Played By: Tangi Miller
Dates Active: 1998-2002
Episodes Appeared On: 74

Actress Tangi Miller played the role of Elena Tyler, the title character's foe-turned-friend on the series Felicity. At first they were rivals, then lab partners, then partners in crime. Her exit from the show was somewhat confusing, dying suddenly in a car accident in the fourth season, only to reappear in a fast-forward to the future at the end of the series.

Hilary/Jennifer

As Seen On: Saved by the Bell: The New Class
Played By: Gabrielle Union
Dates Active: 1995-1996
Episodes Appeared On: 2

Bianca Lawson played Megan Jones, the updated version of Lisa Turtle on the first couple seasons of Saved by the Bell: The New Class. She was later subbed out for Richard Lee Jackson who played Ryan Parker and would later pop up as a love interest and token black on Ally McBeal.

As if there were a shortage of black actors in the '90s, Saved by the Bell: The New Class also cast Gabrielle Union twice in two different one-off roles. Nobody really noticed that she played two characters on one show, not because it wasn't apparent but because not too many people were watching in the first place.

Debbie Porter

As Seen On: Knots Landing
Played By: Halle Berry
Dates Active: 1991
Episodes Appeared On: 6

The long-running popular prime-time soap opera ended its run in 1993, but not before adding a little color to it's cast. In the 13th season, then little-known actress Halle Berry played the girlfriend of widowed Frank Williams. Berry didn't stay on the series too long though. That same year she made her silver screen debut in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and later Strictly Business.

Miranda Charles

As Seen On: Suddenly Susan
Played By: Sherri Shepherd
Dates Active: 1997-2000
Episodes Appeared On: 23

Appearing in only a few minor roles prior to this one, Sherri Shepherd got her first big break on the popular sitcom Suddenly Susan. In it, she played an executive assistant at the fictional magazine The Gate. Her character was so popular that she was supposed to become a regular but the show was canceled before this could happen.

Cynthia Nichols

As Seen On: Models Inc.
Played By: Garcelle Beauvais
Dates Active: 1994-1995
Episodes Appeared On: 25

Models Inc., a spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210 centered around a Los Angeles modeling agency. Garcelle Beauvais, best known for her role as "Fancy" on The Jamie Foxx Show, was the sole black model at the agency. In the series, her character Cynthia Nichols dealt with bulimia, was a victim of rape, and killed an obsessed stalker.

Telly Radford

As Seen On: Salute Your Shorts
Played By: Venus DeMilo Thomas
Dates Active: 1991-1992
Episodes Appeared On: 20
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Telly was quick on her feet both literally and figuratively. She was athletic, obsessed with sports, and appeared to be the smartest and most level-headed of all the residents at Camp Anawanna, the fictional summer camp on Nickelodeon's Salute Your Shorts. Telly was also the only black kid.

Surprisingly enough, she played a substantial role in almost every episode of the iconic Nick show which, even more surprisingly, only lasted 20 episodes. (But it occupies such a big space in the cultural imagination.)

Markus Redmond

As Seen On: Doogie Howser, M.D.
Played By: Raymond Alexander
Dates Active: 1990-1993
Episodes Appeared On: 71

Markus was the big guy in scrubs that hung around the hospital halls on the show Doogie Howser, M.D. Apparently he got the job after taking Doogie hostage in a convenience store robbery. The young doctor did the Good Samaritan thing and got him the gig as an orderly shortly after he was released from prison. This may sounds a little far-fetched, but not anymore so than the idea of a 16-year-old who's a licensed, practicing surgeon.

Jackie Chiles

As Seen On: Seinfeld
Played By: Phillip Morris
Dates Active: 1995-1998
Episodes Appeared On: 5
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Seinfeld was another '90s sitcom notorious for monochrome casting. The show's producers attempted to rectify that lack of diversity by introducing Kramer's lawyer, Jackie Chiles, in the seventh season. Chiles was a parody on well-known attorney Johnnie Cochran, who famously represented O.J. Simpson when he was tried for murder. Chiles was so popular, the character lived on well past the show, appearing in Diet Dr. Pepper and Honda Odyssey commercials, and most recently in a video on Funny or Die.

Grace Wilcox

As Seen On: Party of Five
Played By: Tamara Taylor
Dates Active: 1996-1997
Episodes Appeared On: 16
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In the third season of Party of Five, eldest brother Charlie develops a relationship with Grace Wilcox, who moves in with the family after her house in the hood is destroyed. It's clear that Charlie's heart remains with the kid's former nanny Kristen, but he strings Grace along for awhile, until, in the Season 3 finale, he finds the perfect excuse to break it off with her—she doesn't like kids.

Chuck Mitchell

As Seen On: Roseanne
Played By: James Pickens Jr.
Dates Active: 1990-1996
Episodes Appeared On: 19

Although best known for his role as Dr. Richard Webber on Grey's Anatomy, James Pickens Jr. held down the recurring role of Dan's poker buddy Chuck Mitchell on Roseanne. Between 1990 and 1996, he played cards with Dan and the guys, offered up advice, cracked jokes, and played the background.

Rhonda Blair

As Seen On: Melrose Place
Played By: Vanessa A. Williams
Dates Active: 1992-1993
Episodes Appeared On: 32
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Before Heather Locklear popped up in the second season to rev the drama into overdrive, Melrose Place was a pretty normal apartment complex. Unfortunately this meant that after the first season, any character with an underdeveloped plot line got the ax—and by any character, we mean the black fitness instructor that lived on the second floor. She was written out of the script because writers reportedly didn't know how to develop her character.

Johnny Williams

As Seen On: Coach
Played By: Terrence Howard
Dates Active: 1994
Episodes Appeared On: 1
Watch A Clip: N/A

There were few black actors portraying athletes on Coach, a '90s sitcom that revolved around the life of Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles. One in particular—who actually got a speaking role—ended up becoming a Hollywood star: Terrence Howard played Johnny Williams, a star player who didn't want to continue playing D1 football. Interestingly enough, his father was played by another oft-casted token character, James Pickens Jr. (Dan's poker buddy on Roseanne).

Teddy

As Seen On: Full House
Played By: Tahj Mowry
Dates Active: 1991-1995
Episodes Appeared On: 13
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Between 1991 and 1995, Tahj Mowry appeared in 13 episodes of Full House, as Michelle Tanner's wise-cracking b est friend Teddy. That is, until his fictional family moved to Texas and his place was presumably taken over by funny girl Denise (Jurnee Smollett), who was also a part of their circle. Mowry, the younger brother of Sister, Sister's Tia and Tamera, would go on to star in his own series Smart Guy in 1997.

Olivia DuPris

As Seen On: Clarissa Explains it All
Played By: Nicole Leach
Dates Active: 1993
Episodes Appeared On: 4

On the Nickelodeon "tween" series Clarissa Explains it All, Sam was Clarissa's ladder-wielding surfer dude neighbor and best friend. However, Clarissa cliamed to have two best friends, the second being the much less remembered Olivia DuPris, played by Nicole Leach. Olivia first appeared in three episodes of the third season, and then again in one episode of Season 4. She's mostly as a stand in for Sam when Clarissa needed to talk about boys.

Leach went on to play a much more memorable token black girl, the dance-obsessed Jessica Ramsey on The Babysitter's Club television series.

Dave

As Seen On: Home Improvement
Played By: Dave Chapelle
Dates Active: 1995
Episodes Appeared On: 1
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We barely remembered this one either, but Dave Chappelle appeared opposite his future Half Baked co-star Jim Breuer on an episode of "Tool Time," Home Improvement's show within a show.

On the episode, Tim the Toolman Taylor gave Dave and his friend some advice on women. Though minor, the appearance was so popular it garnered the duo a spinoff show called Buddies, which we also forgot about but not without reason. Buddies lasted a measly 13 episodes in 1996.

Jordan Tate

As Seen On: Baywatch
Played By: Traci Bingham
Dates Active: 1996-1998
Episodes Appeared On: 44
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Albeit a late addition, Traci Bingham was one of the few standout Baywatch babes to actually survive the meatgrinder casting. Perhaps it was her body, maybe it was her acting, but more than likely it was because her looks stood out most against the backdrop of blonde bombshells. Whatever it was, we're just glad it happened.

Kendra Young

As Seen On: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Played By: Bianca Lawson
Dates Active: 1997-1998
Episodes Appeared On: 3
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When Buffy was temporarily killed in the first season, she was replaced by Kendra Young, a stoic, strictly-by-the-book slayer best remembered for her half impressive/half ridiculous island accent.

Fortunately, Buffy was resurrected shortly after Kendra's reign began and remained the primary slayer after Kendra was killed by Drusilla.

Officer Michaels

As Seen On: 7th Heaven
Played By: Christopher Michaels
Dates Active: 1996-2007
Episodes Appeared On: 43
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There was never more wholesome a show than the family drama 7th Heaven. So, of course when it came to acknowledging race they used the kid gloves, casting Christopher Michael as Police Chief Michaels. The friendly, non-threatening neighborhood cop appeared on 45 out of 243 episodes of the show, ensuring safety in the Camdens' community.

Principal Green and Nikki Green

As Seen On: Dawson's Creek
Played By: Obba Babatunde/Bianca Lawson
Dates Active: 1999-2000
Episodes Appeared On: 8
Watch A Clip

Dawson initially meets Nikki Green (played by Bianca Lawson) at a film festival he's participating in. Turns out she's the daughter of Capeside High School's Principal Green, and the quality of her film production rivals Dawson's. The competition ends when Dawson quits film class and Nikki and her father are forced to leave Capetown unceremoniously in the only two episodes that ever address their race and racism. Principal Green is fired after choosing to expel a wealthy white student for defacing Joey's mural. Their are obvious underlying racial tensions there but Green pridefully refuses to acknowledge them.

Dr. Mary Thomas

As Seen On: Frasier
Played By: Kim Cole
Dates Active: 1999
Episodes Appeared On: 2
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In what might be the funniest episode of Frasier, Frasier Crane hires a black woman named Mary (Kim Coles) to fill in for Roz while she's away on vacation. Only problem is, the woman is a stereotypical loud mouth who keeps butting in on him with her uncomfortably colloquial and totally unprofessional advice. Frasier remains silent about the issue out of fear of offending her. Instead he does what he does best—freaks out and implodes in conversations with Niles and his dad at home, at one point imitating "Dr." Mary in an attempt to show them how attitudinal and unreasonable she'd probably be if he attempted to call her out.

Angela Moore

As Seen On: Boy Meets World
Played By: Trina McGee
Dates Active: 1997-2000
Episodes Appeared On: 60
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Long time player Shawn Hunter finally got snagged by a mystery woman whom he fell in love with via the contents of her lost pocketbook. Turns out the bag belonged to his ex-boo Angela Moore, and getting back with her required him to break his self-enforced two week rule—he can't date anyone longer than 14 days.

Their on-again, off-again relationship endured through the college years of Boy Meets World and the rest of the series, culminating in an aborted marriage proposal on the series finale. Along the way, there were plenty of cringe-worthy race jokes. Angela poked fun at herself several times, delivering lines like, "I gotta get more black friends." These attempts at humor always came off as the writers of the show's awkward way of acknowledging Angela's ethnicity on an otherwise whitewashed program.

Toni

As Seen On: Blossom
Played By: Tisha Campbell-Martin
Dates Active: 1991
Episodes Appeared On: 2
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Tisha Campbell-Martin guested as Toni on two episodes of Blossom in 1991, as an AA buddy of Tony (Blossom's formerly drug addicted brother). Although another black actress, Samaria Graham, appeared a little more regularly on the show (a whopping 23 episodes) as the girlfriend and later fiance of Tony, few remember that there was another brown face before her. Campbell-Martin didn't do much more than answer the door in one episode and then encourage Tony to lie on a job application about his history of drug abuse on another. No wonder her character was axed.

Sherice Ashe

As Seen On: Beverly Hills, 90210
Played By: Vivica A. Fox
Dates Active: 1991
Episodes Appeared On: 1
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The original Beverly Hills, 90210 has been criticized countless times for its lack of diversity. However, there was that one time the black family moved next door to the Walshes. Fans of the show will remember Sherice Ashe, the new girl next door (played by Vivica A. Fox), whom Brandon fell for after crashing into her car. Of course, the black family was only introduced to provide a heart warming message of tolerance, so as soon as Brandon stepped down off his soapbox about racial profiling and police brutality that friends of the Ashes experienced in the neighborhood, they were never seen or heard from again.