BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) KELLY COFFIELD
I’ve seen her pop up in things lately. She was in an episode of 30 Rock recently. She was the “token white girl” for pretty much the entire run of the show. She was really solid. Like David Alan Greer, she was an awesome utility player. She could be a straight-man, an over the top character, or pretty much anything. I don’t recall any big characters out of her, but I can imagine her in any sketch the show put on. She was a fixture of the show and I think the most underrated cast member the show had.
(THREE) JAMES CARREY
James Carrey would go on to do well for himself under the name “Jim Carrey”. He made some great movies and is arguably one of the best comedic actors alive. He’s stuck in a weird funk of weird roles, but he’s still awesome. He’s always been awesome. On In Living Color, his career REALLY took off. It’s because of how great he was. When he popped up on the show you were almost guaranteed to be laughing almost immediately. He had some great characters in Fire Marshal Jim, the steroid bodybuilding woman Vera de Milo, and lot of other memorable stuff.
(TWO) DAMON WAYANS
Of all the Wayans, Damon was obviously the tops. Kim, Marlon, and Shawn all had roles. Keenon Ivory Wayans was almost on this list. He was hilarious in his own right, but Damon had “Homie D. Clown”, Anton Jackson the homeless guy, Head Detective, Handi Man, Men On…, and like forty seven more great characters. He was only on for the first three seasons of the show. If he had stayed on, I wonder if the show would have survived longer.
(ONE) DAVID ALAN GRIER
He had “Chocolate News” recently, but I think most of us want to forget about that. David Alan Grier was the MVP of In Living Color. He didn’t always have the most popular character’s, but he was really the glue that held the show together. I’d compare him to the Dan Ackroyd of the original SNL cast or a Phil Hartman of the 90s or a Bill Hader of now. He’s just a solid hand. He could play the over the top character, the straight man, or even the straight woman. I don’t understand how he didn’t end up with his own sitcom at one point or at least a recurring character.
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