Shades Of Funny: A Celebration Of TV Comedy's Trailblazers & Rising Stars

Humor has been a form of resistance and a coping mechanism for Black Americans fighting against racial oppression since the days of forced bondage. Or, as the late great paragon of parrhesia Dick Gregory once said, "Laughter is the best way to release tensions and fears."

To celebrate Black History Month and its people's commendable and creative capacity to stay sane through levity, TVLine is launching the 28-day content hub, Shades of Funny: How Comedy Is Essential for Black Survival. The digital package affords us the necessary space to honor the legacies and achievements of small-screen comedy greats and their ability to make us laugh and think, create a sense of community and affirm Black humanity.

Kicking off with a list of 20 trailblazers and rising stars making waves in the industry, we salute up-and-coming talent like Quinta Brunson. Her much-discussed sitcom Abbott Elementary offers adept social commentary through a jocular lens and has already made TV network history. And we can't overlook showrunner Phil Augusta Jackson, whose NBC series Grand Crew serves up refreshing wit and charm (and a deluge of quotable moments).

We also honor the work of trailblazing luminaries such as Redd Foxx, a cutting edge standup comedian-turned-sitcom star, who inspired the likes of Richard Pryor and Jamie Foxx. Whoopi Goldberg's groundbreaking career, meanwhile, spans decades and has paved the way for many of today's stars including Tiffany Haddish and Amanda Seales.

Later in the month, we'll examine several hit shows and lesser known offerings, spotlighting the actors, writers and producers whose game-changing artistry further proves that not only has the revolution been televised, it's damn funny, too. — Keisha Hatchett and Mekeisha Madden Toby

Notable Works: Sanford and Son (and its spinoff Sanford), The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family 

Trails Blazed: Though segregated clubs stymied Foxx's early stand-up career, by the 1960s, the cult-favorite status of his scathingly funny comedy albums had landed him gigs in Las Vegas and at Harlem's Apollo Theater, followed by a (sanitized) showcase on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. In 1972, Foxx was courted to headline NBC's Sanford and Son, playing a grouchy junkyard owner and father to Demond Wilson's Lamont. Based on a BBC sitcom, Sanford and Son not only grittily depicted the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and freely traded in racial barbs, but it also allowed Foxx to elevate other Black voices, including writers/up-and-comers Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney. Eddie Murphy (who would pay for Foxx's funeral at the time of his sudden passing, mid-rehearsal for The Royal Family in 1991), Bernie Mac, Chris Rock and Jamie Foxx (whose stage surname was chosen as a tribute to the icon) are among the many comedians who have regularly hailed Foxx as a major influence. As Pryor, for one, explained to Ebony magazine in 1990, "He gave me inspiration and encouragement so I could be more me." 

Notable Works: The Ms. Pat Show, Star

Star Rising: At 26, the Ms. Pat Show showrunner is making waves as one of the youngest creatives to helm a TV series. The BET+ family sitcom stars bawdy comedian and convicted felon Patricia "Ms. Pat" Williams, offering a fictionalized version of her life in Indiana. Cooper, a playwright and Pose guest star, made the switch to showrunner after impressing Lee Daniels, who saw his Off-Broadway play Ain't No Mo. Daniels, who executive-produces the familial sitcom alongside Brian Grazer, asked Cooper to read Rabbit: The Autobiography of Ms. Pat and come up with a concept for the show, and the beloved multi-cam comedy was born. Plus, Cooper sought TV legend Debbie Allen to direct the pilot, and she agreed after reading the script. "She is so brilliant," Cooper told Forbes. "She really helped us start the show off right."   

Notable Works: In addition to all three making their mark on Saturday Night Live, Morris has had roles on series such as Martin, Hunter and 2 Broke Girls. Rock hosted an eponymous talk show and headlined several HBO stand-up specials; co-created the semi-autobiographical Everybody Hates Chris; and starred in Fargo Season 4. 

Trails Blazed: Upon SNL's launch in 1975, Morris stood out not only as the lone Black cast member, but also for his variety of contributions — whether bellowing "News for the Hard of Hearing" or stepping up to the plate as baseball not-so-great Chico Escuela. Upon Morris' exit in 1980, Murphy claimed the lone Black cast member spot and quickly made himself known for characters such as Gumby (dammit!), the Mister Rogers-spoofing Mr. Robinson, a grown-up Buckwheat and the ho'-pimping Velvet Jones. (As Rolling Stone would note, Murphy's incandescence was "the only reason SNL survived" its five-year stretch without Lorne Michaels at the helm.) By juggling SNL with two stand-up specials, 48 HRS., Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, Murphy demonstrated how SNL could be a launching pad for Black comedians as well as the likes of Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. Rock's 1990-93 Nat X-punctuated SNL run was less eventful but served as a springboard to Murphy's rom-com Boomerang, one season of the Fox rival In Living Color (where he got to be more edgy) and HBO's The Chris Rock Show. As creator and EP for the Emmy-winning talker, Rock helped launch the careers of writers/producers/performers Wanda Sykes and Ali LeRoi. Rock, an executive producer on FX's two-seasoned Totally Biased, also opened doors for host and Emmy-winning comedian W. Kamau Bell.

Notable Works: Ziwe, The Rundown With Robin Thede and Desus & Mero 

Star Rising: One of TV's most promising personalities, the boundary-pushing comedian got her start as an intern for Comedy Central before joining The Rundown with Robin Thede in 2017 as a writer. That same year, she created the YouTube series Baited with Ziwe, in which she asked her comedian friends uncomfortable questions about race such as, "On a scale of Malcolm [X] to Martin [Luther King Jr.], how much do you hate white people?" In June 2020, after serving as a writer on Desus & Mero for two seasons, Ziwe moved Baited to Instagram Live and gained massive popularity from viral interviews with infamous scammer Caroline Calloway, embattled celebrity chef Alison Roman, Slave Play's Jeremy O. Harris and actresses Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan. Ziwe brought her astute commentary on race, gender and pop culture to a self-titled variety series for Showtime in 2021, delivering quotable interviews with the likes of SNL's Bowen Yang, Fran Lebowitz, Phoebe Bridgers and Real Housewives of New York's Eboni K. Williams alongside biting comedic sketches and whimsical musical numbers. With her star continuing to rise — she also appeared in Season 3 of Succession and served as a story editor on Dickinson's third and final season — Ziwe is easily one of the most exciting rising stars to watch. 

Notable Works: black-ish, grown-ish, mixed-ish, #BlackAF   

Trails Blazed: In 2014, Barris' new ABC sitcom black-ish came at its subject matter in a way not often seen on network TV: Rather than depict a family that just happened to be Black, "we wanted to do a show about a family that was absolutely Black, and that something about the specificity of that story, hopefully, would speak to the universe," he said in 2015. It did. The show soon became one of ABC's most popular series and spawned spinoffs grown-ish and mixed-ish. A similarly themed Latino family comedy is also in the works, with Eva Longoria as a collaborator. In recent years, Barris left ABC; carved out jobs for Black showrunners Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry and Courtney Lilly; created two Netflix series including #blackAF, a comedy based on a heightened version of his own family; and signed with ViacomCBS, where he's a major part of BET Studios. As such, his plan is to create a home for underrepresented voices — and then sell their work to the highest bidders.   

Notable Works: Last Comic Standing (Season 7), TBS' Sullivan & Son and The Daily Show   

Star Rising: The veteran radio personality/stand-up comic has parlayed his burgeoning profile on The Daily Show — where he has served as a correspondent since 2015 — into three Comedy Central specials and a weekly podcast. He is also rapidly joining the ranks of TV's most ubiquitous guest stars, with stints on Better Call Saul, The Last O.G., Space Force and, most recently, Hulu's breakout hit Only Murders in the Building. Meanwhile, Wood is expanding his résumé behind the camera as an exec producer; he's currently developing a comedy about a Black woman doctor for NBC as well as a National Guard-themed workplace sitcom for Fox. "I enjoy threading the needle of pain and laughter," he recently told UPROXX. "I don't think that any single joke or any single TV show is going to fix all of this stuff. But if it helps someone... get through it, then I think it accomplishes its goal." 

Notable Works: A Different World, The Cosby Show, Suddenly Susan and Twenties  

Trails Blazed: Fales-Hill parlayed her success as a writer on The Cosby Show into a position on that show's spinoff, A Different World, which celebrated previously-ignored-by-mainstream-TV student life at a fictional historically Black college. Fales-Hill eventually ascended to executive producer of A Different World, approaching topics like classicism and rape with finesse. "It's scary sometimes to tackle things that are hot-button issues, whatever they may be — colorism, sexuality, whatever — but if I know my intent is true and I'm trying to honor different sides of a question, then let the letters and the angry tweets come in," the Twenties showrunner told Harpers Bazaar. In addition to being an integral part of A Different World, on whose shoulders series like grown-ish stand, one of Fales-Hill's hires on the college sitcom was Yvette Lee Bowser, who would go on to create the wildly popular Living Single. And Fales-Hill gave Cloak & Dagger EP Gina Prince-Bythewood her first writer's job, also on A Different World.  

Notable Works: Grand Crew, Insecure and Key & Peele 

Star Rising: Like a fine wine, Jackson just keeps getting better with age. After learning the comedy ropes as a writer on Key & Peele, Survivor's Remorse and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jackson served as a co-executive producer on Insecure's final two seasons before getting the chance to create his own series. NBC's Grand Crew, centering on a tight-knit group of Black friends who hang out together at a wine bar, has quickly become one of TV's most quotable shows, with Jackson serving as creator and EP. It's no surprise, then, that the up-and-comer just signed an overall deal with Grand Crew producers Universal Television.  

Notable Works: The View, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway  

Trails Blazed: There is a full-circle moment whenever Goldberg references Richard Pryor as one of her comedy heroes. His influence is felt in the character Fontaine from her groundbreaking one-woman HBO special in 1985, Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway. Plus, whenever rising stars such as 2 Dope Queens' Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson cite the two-time Emmy winner as one of their comedy heroes, they mention said one-woman show. Goldberg, who also idolizes Black comedy pioneer Moms Mabley (and executive-produced a documentary about the Chitlin' Circuit legend in 2013), broke new ground throughout her decades-long career. She is the first Black woman to host the Grammys and the Oscars, the first Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Comedy Album and the first Black person to win an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). The trailblazer, née Caryn Elaine Johnson (yes, she was born a Karen), has no plans to slow down. In September, she signed a four-year deal to remain as the moderator of the Emmy-winning daytime talk show The View through Season 28.  

Notable Works: Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Ted Lasso, The Amber Ruffin Show and Bad Monkey

Star Rising: This Second City vet has had a hand in some of the most critically acclaimed series of the last five years, beginning with her turn as a writer and correspondent on the late-night series Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. She took home the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 2017 for Full Frontal's Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner special. Black departed the TBS program in 2019 to join forces with Robin Thede as a writer and performer on HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show, which in 2020 became the first Black women-led sketch series to receive an Emmy nod for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. The following year, she served as a writer and producer on Season 2 of Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso and competed against herself in the Emmy race for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series due to her work on both A Black Lady Sketch Show and Peacock's Amber Ruffin Show. Black will re-team with Lasso EP Bill Lawrence as a writer/producer on the new Apple drama Bad Monkey, which stars Vince Vaughn, as part of her overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. 

Notable Works: First Wives Club, Harlem, The Neighbors and Survivor's Remorse 

Trails Blazed: A formidable force in the TV realm, Tracy Oliver honed her craft early on as a writer, producer and co-star on Issa Rae's viral web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. "When Issa and I were doing it, there just weren't any Black women on-screen in comedy," she told Essence. Oliver steadily rose through the TV ranks, penning several episodes of the ABC sitcom The Neighbors before graduating to executive story editor on the Starz dramedy Survivor's Remorse. In 2017, she wrote the big-screen comedy Girls Trip and made history as the first Black woman to pen a film that grossed more than $100 million. Parlaying that success into BET's First Wives Club series, which has been renewed for a third season, the burgeoning TV boss debuted her second series, Harlem, on Prime Video in 2021. She also created opportunities for Black women writers/producers such as Aundrea Posey (First Wives Club). With multiple successes under her belt, it's no surprise that Oliver clutched an eight-figure, multi-year deal with Apple. 

Notable Works: Saturday Night Live, Brockmire and Love Life

Star Rising: After getting her start with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Nwodim was cast as a featured player on SNL in 2018 and quickly proved to be an indispensable asset. Now as a cast member on the long-running variety series, Nwodim has developed a myriad of breakout characters, including R&B legend-turned-Twitter phenom Dionne Warwick — an impression so universally beloved that the real Ms. Warwick appeared opposite her impersonator in a buzzed-about sketch last fall — and freshly vaxxed boomer Edith Puthie. (It's no wonder she made TVLine's 2021 Dream Emmy list for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy.) Outside of SNL, the scene-stealer made an indelible impression as William Jackson Harper's playwright girlfriend Ola in Season 2 of the HBO Max anthology Love Life. 

Notable Works: Insecure and A Black Lady Sketch Show  

Trails Blazed: Through Insecure's phenomenally successful five-season run on HBO, Rae boosted the careers of dozens of Black artists (most notably costars Yvonne Orji and Natasha Rothwell, showrunner Prentice Penny, and director Melina Matsoukas). She also altered the perception of South Los Angeles (good luck finding a decent-sized house under $1 million in trendy Inglewood) and launched an entire subgenre of prestige television offering authentic, nuanced portrayals of smart, ambitious and complicated Black women (see also: I May Destroy You, Twenties, Run the World, etc.). As Naeemah Clark, professor of cinema and television arts at Elon University, recently explained to CNN, Rae "changed the playing field" with Insecure by showing "content creators that there isn't one way to be." And as evidenced by the recent five-year, $40 million overall deal Rae inked last year with HBO's parent company WarnerMedia (via her production company Hoorae), the erstwhile Awkward Black Girl is only getting started. 

Notable Works: Insecure, 2 Dope Queens, The Michael J. Fox Show and Silicon Valley

Star Rising: Though Aniobi is best known as an Insecure scribe, director and EP, it's confidence that characterizes the way the former Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl writer is navigating showbiz. Issa Rae's longtime collaborator has parlayed her breakthrough with the beloved dramedy into a just-renewed deal with HBO/HBO Max that's kept her busy writing limited series The Dolls with Rae and developing the Attachment comedy series with Reese Witherspoon. In addition, Aniobi's working on three features and exec-producing Enjoy Your Meal, HBO Max's upcoming workplace comedy inspired by allegations of institutional racism at Bon Appetít magazine. On top of all that, she's using her production company's talent and writers' incubator, Tribe, to ensure that as the next generation of talent enters the fray, it is anything but insecure. 

Notable Works: The Flip Wilson Show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and Charlie & Co. 

Trails Blazed: One of TV's first Black comedians to cross over to white audiences, Wilson won over viewers with his goofy, enthusiastic personality and oddball characters. He started out as a stand-up comic, earning regular spots on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. After a stint on the counterculture sketch hit Laugh-In, Wilson landed his own self-titled NBC variety series. The Flip Wilson Show quickly rocketed to the top of the TV ratings, with Wilson's female character Geraldine becoming a national sensation. But Wilson, who died in 1998 at the age of 64, not only made people laugh, he broke new ground, earning Emmys and Golden Globes and paving the way for the likes of Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry and Wayne Brady.   

Notable Works: A Black Lady Sketch Show and Abbott Elementary  

Star Rising: The Philadelphia-born comedian began to make a name for herself as the creator and star of the web series Broke on YouTube Red, for which she won a Streamy Award for Best Acting in a Comedy, and Quinta vs. Everything on Facebook Watch. Brunson then continued to hone her talents as a performer and writer on Season 1 of HBO's critically lauded A Black Lady Sketch Show, where she both wrote and co-starred in skits alongside creator Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis and Ashley Nicole Black. This year, Brunson truly became a formidable multi-hyphenate with a clever voice as the creator, executive producer, writer and star of ABC's well-received comedy Abbott Elementary (which made history as the network's first show to quadruple its ratings in delayed viewing). As a force in front of and behind the camera, Brunson is one to watch.   

Notable Works: Townsend's credits include Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime and The Parent 'Hood, while Keenen Ivory Wayans created In Living Color, which starred Damon and Kim Wayans. Damon Wayans co-created and starred in My Wife and Kids, and The Wayans Bros. came from its stars Marlon and Shawn Wayans. 

Trails Blazed: There is virtually no way to overstate the impact of the one-two punch that Townsend and Hollywood Shuffle co-writer Keenen Ivory Wayans delivered to the comedy game. While breaking down closed doors with their free-wheeling '90s sketch work, they not only left viewers laughing, they paved the way for countless funny persons of color to follow — among them, Wayans' siblings and In Living Color stars Damon and Kim, as well as Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. In Townsend and Wayans' wake stand legacies that are almost unmatched, including the Scary Movie franchise (developed by Kenan, Shawn and Marlon) and three beloved sitcoms: The Parent 'Hood, My Wife and Kids and The Wayans Bros. No wonder they're revered as gods. Funny-as-hell gods.

Notable Works: South Side, Sherman's Showcase, The Last O.G. and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon  

Star Rising: After attending Harvard University together, Riddle and Salahuddin — who earned one of their first comedy paychecks from late legend and fellow Chicago native Bernie Mac — have collaborated on a long string of creative projects. In addition to co-creating both the IFC/AMC comedy series Sherman's Showcase (which is awaiting a Season 2 premiere date) and the HBO Max sitcom South Side (which dropped its second season last November), the Emmy-nominated duo inked a multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. TV in September 2020. Though the first project put into development under that deal scored a put pilot commitment at CBS in November 2020, Riddle and Salahuddin have also expressed interest in bringing their unique voices to "daring streaming content," as well as potential DC Universe fare. 

Notable Works: House of Payne, Meet the Browns, The Haves and the Have Nots, If Loving You Is Wrong, The Oval, Sistas and Assisted Living

Trails Blazed: Bringing Madea to life on stage and screen made Perry a household name, but the admittedly iconic character is probably the least of Perry's incredible achievements. Not only is Perry the first Black person to own a studio outright, but his famed 330-acre (and growing!) Atlanta complex — whose 12 soundstages are named after Black trailblazers, from his mentor Oprah Winfrey to the late Sidney Poitier — is reportedly larger than Paramount, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney's Burbank studios combined. The media mogul has created tens of thousands of jobs, contributed billions of dollars to Georgia's economy and launched the careers of China Anne McClain, Lance Gross and dozens of other Black actors telling entertaining stories for an underrepresented audience. And when the COVID-19 pandemic turned Hollywood upside down, Perry was credited as one of the first producers to implement a comprehensive plan to keep cameras rolling, solidifying himself as someone the industry looks to when setting new standards. 

Notable Works: The Wonder Years, The Last O.G. and Psych 

Star Rising: Patterson's career was flourishing long before he signed an overall deal with 20th Television in 2019. Having cut his teeth on classic comedies such as Frasier and The Bernie Mac Show, the producer also lent his skills to The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Psych before stepping up as showrunner for TBS' The Last O.G. He also holds writing credits on all of those aforementioned series, proving he's a man of many talents. As creator, EP and showrunner for ABC's Wonder Years reboot — following a young Black boy growing up in 1960s Alabama and featuring Don Cheadle as narrator — there's no stopping Patterson anytime soon.