2009 Black History Month: Favorite Black TV Characters (#18)

By: Luke Florence

My Favorite Black TV Characters

#18 - February 11th - Tracy Morgan - "30 Rock" , "SNL"

This is the first - and only - time that I award a spot to someone on this list based off of two performances. Had Tracy Morgan JUST been in 30 Rock, or JUST been on SNL, he would not have made the cut. However, since I enjoyed watching him on both shows, he lands here at #18.

We will start with 30 Rock, because this is where Morgan truly shines. He plays Tracy Jordan, who in large part, acts just like Morgan does. It's not his acting that I love so much, but his one-liners (CHECK THEM OUT HERE) and the way he plays the stereotypical black man. Some call this "the token black guy." No matter what you call it, I usually end up rolling on the floor in laughter whenever Morgan is involved on 30 Rock.

But, Morgan was also on Saturday Night Live for an entire decade, beginning in 1996. While I do not remember too many of his characters, two performances sticks out. The first involved Britney Spears, and the skit is still remembered fondly by my brother Josh and myself. Tracy plays a guy who lives in the sewer, who Britney falls madly in love with (could this explain the entire K-Fed situation?). Britney follows Tracy down to his sewer/house, to allow Tracy to sing her a song he wrote. Please enjoy.

The other memorable character of Tracy's was his portrayal of Brian Fellows. The animal planet host. It's easy to see how Fellows is connected to his 30 Rock character, Tracy Jordan, as they seem quite familiar. Then again, no one ever said Morgan was an incredible actor with a broad range, but he does make me laugh, especially on these two shows of mention.

Tracy Morgan gets a bad rap at times, mainly because he has been in some movies/television shows that have flopped ... badly. The Tracy Morgan Show lasted a mere five episodes, and shouldn't have made it that far before getting canceled. Anyone remember Totally Awesome? I hope not. What this tells us is that Morgan is best served in the supporting role. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact, it was good enough for him to make this list, so he must be doing something right.

Okay, enough from me. Please do yourself a favor and check out Barnes' blog (over on my sidebar) to read his thoughts on my pick.

Hint for #17: This character is almost synonymous with Tom Jones.

Until tomorrow, "read it, roll it, hole it."