DAR TV: The Top 10 Characters From Martin
By @TrueGodImmortal
For many, the TV show Martin is one of the greatest sitcoms to ever grace the small screen. Over 5 seasons, they gave us so many hilarious episodes and moments, but the most important thing for the show was the characters. The characters that delighted us, made us laugh, and kept us engaged. Martin had a large number of them from Angry Man to Nipsey to Big Shirley and more, but who are the best characters in the history of the show? Today, we are ranking the 10 best characters from the show. Who misses the list (sorry Sean and Stan)? Who makes the top 3? Let's get into it.
10. Hustleman
-Tracy Morgan took a character that many of us could identify with and made it a classic. Hustleman was the neighborhood hustler who could get you anything for the right price. It was hilarious to watch him bring "free range chicken", tires, pizza, and everything to Martin's door, but the funniest moment came when he tried to get a record deal. Pick Up The Pieces!
9. Cole Brown
-For a man who cleaned airplanes for a living, and struggled with maintaining work through the show's duration, Cole was still a great complement to the show and the perfect character to balance out Martin and Tommy. Cole wasn't the sharpest knife in the draw, but he was hilarious, and his dating life always made for funny moments, whether with Big Shirley or Shanice. Cole also was a man who loved his momma, and their relationship was also full of hilarious moments. Cole was great comic relief and an easy target for jokes, but he sometimes drifted in the background in the later seasons in terms of comedy.
8. Jerome
-Martin took every old head player we knew from the 70's and put them into this gold tooth wearing character. A hustler, pimp, and just about everything except legit, Jerome had a horrible sense of style, a bad perm, and a catchphrase every time he stepped into the room. When you heard "I said Jerome's in the house, I said Jerome's in the house", you knew you were in for some hilarity and ridiculous quotes.
7. Sheneneh Jenkins
-You may be shocked to see Sheneneh so low, if you were a fan of "her". I'm never the biggest fan of men dressing as women on TV, but I'd be lying if I said Sheneneh wasn't funny from time to time. Martin in a pair of daisy dukes and crop top was a ridiculous sight, but it was the attitude, the recognizable sass, and the moments between Pam, Gina, and Sheneneh that kept the show full of laughter, so without Sheneneh, we miss a lot of important episodes and moments.
6. Reverend Leon Lonnie Love
-For a smaller reoccurring character, you might wonder how the "preacher" that David Alan Grier starred as made the list. I wanted to put Varnell Hill on this list, but there weren't enough appearances to justify it. Though the seasons, Reverend Leon Lonnie Love was a character that just kept popping up, and every time he was on the show, the laughs were plentiful. From his pursuit of Gina, which gave me one of my favorite phrases ever "damneded mine eyes", to the episode where he is there to help Pam and Martin fix a marriage certificate to my favorite moment with him running a church that has Martin's mother going broke, The Reverend never disappointed.
5. Bruhman
-From the fifth flo. The man who lived up on the fifth floor (with four fingers) was really responsible for some of the best moments on the show and every time he was on the screen, I'd laugh until I was in tears. My favorite moments are when Gina is watching TV (while Bruhman sneaks in to steal a sandwich) and he sings along to a commercial with her and when he and Martin look to sell T-shirts outside of a Whitney Houston concert. Through the seasons, Bruhman would have a reduced presence, but he made sure to shine every time he was on the screen.
4. Pamela James
-I've always been on the fence with Pam. She was more attractive than Gina and a great character, but she always had horrible jokes against Martin and was merely used as comedy fodder. However, without Pam, there's no Martin vs Pam rivalry, there's no Tommy and Pam saga, no Pam vs Sheneneh battles, there's no extra pizzazz that the show sorely needed throughout the seasons that Pam always provided. Pam is one of the most important characters in black sitcom history, and she's definitely top 5 from this show without question.
3. Tommy Strawn
-You might wonder why Tommy is in the top 3 over Pam, and it's simple: Got The Draws DAWG! Well, that and the fact that we know virtually nothing about Tommy on the show besides the fact that he dated Pam and various other women. Tommy had a mystique on the show, as his place of employment was unknown, and we never quite figured it out. One could argue Tommy was the most corny of all the main characters, but the reality is that worked for his character immensely. Still, aside from his "Cole, you stupid", and "Got The Draws" catchphrases, Tommy was the most balanced character, giving what Martin would call "bald headed reasoning".
2. Gina Waters
-I wasn't the biggest fan of Gina in terms of her character, but without her, there's really no show. We saw this evidenced in the final season when she made her final appearances and then left the sitcom due to personal issues with Martin. Her presence is necessarily because it gives Martin his woman to build off of, gives Pam her best friend to play off of, and allows us to see the greatest on screen couple in Martin and Gina. Gina by herself wasn't the strongest character, but in actuality, she's the 2nd most vital part to the entire show, thus her inclusion at the top of the list.
1. Martin Payne
-There was no other choice at the top spot. Martin is the vessel of the show. He was the reason the show exists, he was the main protagonist and antagonist in the same breath, Martin Payne is the entire show. Without him, there's no connection with Gina, there's nothing. There's no crazy moment with Varnell Hill, there's no radio station WZUP, there's no Word on the Street, there's nothing. Simply put, and not surprisingly, Martin Payne is the most important and the greatest character on his self titled show.
-True
For many, the TV show Martin is one of the greatest sitcoms to ever grace the small screen. Over 5 seasons, they gave us so many hilarious episodes and moments, but the most important thing for the show was the characters. The characters that delighted us, made us laugh, and kept us engaged. Martin had a large number of them from Angry Man to Nipsey to Big Shirley and more, but who are the best characters in the history of the show? Today, we are ranking the 10 best characters from the show. Who misses the list (sorry Sean and Stan)? Who makes the top 3? Let's get into it.
10. Hustleman
-Tracy Morgan took a character that many of us could identify with and made it a classic. Hustleman was the neighborhood hustler who could get you anything for the right price. It was hilarious to watch him bring "free range chicken", tires, pizza, and everything to Martin's door, but the funniest moment came when he tried to get a record deal. Pick Up The Pieces!
9. Cole Brown
-For a man who cleaned airplanes for a living, and struggled with maintaining work through the show's duration, Cole was still a great complement to the show and the perfect character to balance out Martin and Tommy. Cole wasn't the sharpest knife in the draw, but he was hilarious, and his dating life always made for funny moments, whether with Big Shirley or Shanice. Cole also was a man who loved his momma, and their relationship was also full of hilarious moments. Cole was great comic relief and an easy target for jokes, but he sometimes drifted in the background in the later seasons in terms of comedy.
8. Jerome
-Martin took every old head player we knew from the 70's and put them into this gold tooth wearing character. A hustler, pimp, and just about everything except legit, Jerome had a horrible sense of style, a bad perm, and a catchphrase every time he stepped into the room. When you heard "I said Jerome's in the house, I said Jerome's in the house", you knew you were in for some hilarity and ridiculous quotes.
7. Sheneneh Jenkins
-You may be shocked to see Sheneneh so low, if you were a fan of "her". I'm never the biggest fan of men dressing as women on TV, but I'd be lying if I said Sheneneh wasn't funny from time to time. Martin in a pair of daisy dukes and crop top was a ridiculous sight, but it was the attitude, the recognizable sass, and the moments between Pam, Gina, and Sheneneh that kept the show full of laughter, so without Sheneneh, we miss a lot of important episodes and moments.
6. Reverend Leon Lonnie Love
-For a smaller reoccurring character, you might wonder how the "preacher" that David Alan Grier starred as made the list. I wanted to put Varnell Hill on this list, but there weren't enough appearances to justify it. Though the seasons, Reverend Leon Lonnie Love was a character that just kept popping up, and every time he was on the show, the laughs were plentiful. From his pursuit of Gina, which gave me one of my favorite phrases ever "damneded mine eyes", to the episode where he is there to help Pam and Martin fix a marriage certificate to my favorite moment with him running a church that has Martin's mother going broke, The Reverend never disappointed.
5. Bruhman
-From the fifth flo. The man who lived up on the fifth floor (with four fingers) was really responsible for some of the best moments on the show and every time he was on the screen, I'd laugh until I was in tears. My favorite moments are when Gina is watching TV (while Bruhman sneaks in to steal a sandwich) and he sings along to a commercial with her and when he and Martin look to sell T-shirts outside of a Whitney Houston concert. Through the seasons, Bruhman would have a reduced presence, but he made sure to shine every time he was on the screen.
4. Pamela James
-I've always been on the fence with Pam. She was more attractive than Gina and a great character, but she always had horrible jokes against Martin and was merely used as comedy fodder. However, without Pam, there's no Martin vs Pam rivalry, there's no Tommy and Pam saga, no Pam vs Sheneneh battles, there's no extra pizzazz that the show sorely needed throughout the seasons that Pam always provided. Pam is one of the most important characters in black sitcom history, and she's definitely top 5 from this show without question.
3. Tommy Strawn
-You might wonder why Tommy is in the top 3 over Pam, and it's simple: Got The Draws DAWG! Well, that and the fact that we know virtually nothing about Tommy on the show besides the fact that he dated Pam and various other women. Tommy had a mystique on the show, as his place of employment was unknown, and we never quite figured it out. One could argue Tommy was the most corny of all the main characters, but the reality is that worked for his character immensely. Still, aside from his "Cole, you stupid", and "Got The Draws" catchphrases, Tommy was the most balanced character, giving what Martin would call "bald headed reasoning".
2. Gina Waters
-I wasn't the biggest fan of Gina in terms of her character, but without her, there's really no show. We saw this evidenced in the final season when she made her final appearances and then left the sitcom due to personal issues with Martin. Her presence is necessarily because it gives Martin his woman to build off of, gives Pam her best friend to play off of, and allows us to see the greatest on screen couple in Martin and Gina. Gina by herself wasn't the strongest character, but in actuality, she's the 2nd most vital part to the entire show, thus her inclusion at the top of the list.
1. Martin Payne
-There was no other choice at the top spot. Martin is the vessel of the show. He was the reason the show exists, he was the main protagonist and antagonist in the same breath, Martin Payne is the entire show. Without him, there's no connection with Gina, there's nothing. There's no crazy moment with Varnell Hill, there's no radio station WZUP, there's no Word on the Street, there's nothing. Simply put, and not surprisingly, Martin Payne is the most important and the greatest character on his self titled show.
-True
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