>>90320113hmm you're right
in earlier days we had the brown sidekick though. tonto, friday, hadji
but yeah gerald was top quality black best friend material. and best of all he didn't feel like a SIDE character, they let him shine to the best extent his character justified. arnold didn't have to be the focus at all times. That's how you use diversity in shit, you don't make it a side-dish but you also don't cram the main course down everyone's throat.
I'm trying to think now if anyone else predates 1990.. technically Suzy didn't show up in Rugrats until a year or two in, and it's not as if angelica's the main character.
but speaking of tropes, how awesome are black friends' dads on tv? theyre always hard-working no-nonsense disciplinarians who are nonetheless really loving and supportive and constantly there for the family. they're also predominantly overweight and moustached. I wonder if any one example started that or if it was just something that happened organically
