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* Subverted in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Superficially Munch and Finn appear to be this; an older, white, Jewish man in a suit and a leather-jacket clad Black cop from the streets. However, despite Finn showing occasional flashes of anger, both had fairly understated personalities and Munch was actually significantly more quirky and suspicious of the system than Finn. After Munch retired Finn was depicted as a CoolOldGuy who often balanced out younger, more gung-ho detectives.
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* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': The ''Weekend Update'' segments utilise this dynamic between Creator/ColinJost (white, middle-class background, from Long Island) and Creator/MichaelChe (Black, working class background, from the city). It actually deconstruct this by acknowledging the problematic undertones, with Colin frequently being implied to be racist and hold right-wing political views.
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* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': The ''Weekend Update'' segments utilise this dynamic between Creator/ColinJost (white, middle-class background, from Long Staten Island) and Creator/MichaelChe (Black, working class background, from the city). It actually deconstruct this by acknowledging the problematic undertones, with Colin frequently being implied to be racist and hold right-wing political views.
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* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': The ''Weekend Update'' segments utilise this dynamic between Creator/ColinJost (white, middle-class background, from Long Island) and Creator/MichaelChe (Black, working class background, from the city). It actually deconstruct this by acknowledging the problematic undertones, with Colin frequently being implied to be racist and hold right-wing political views.
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* ''Series/{{Reacher}}: {{Inverted|Trope}} with the white Reacher and the black Finlay who more or less fulfil the opposite stereotypes: the former is TheDrifter, prone to being somewhat impulsive and reckless, while being [[HeroicBuild built like an armoured vehicle]] and [[OneManArmy completely unstoppable in combat]], while the latter is a Harvard-educated, [[SharpDressedMan bespectacled and besuited]], vegetarian ByTheBookCop.
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* ''Series/{{Reacher}}: ''Series/{{Reacher}}'': {{Inverted|Trope}} with the white Reacher and the black Finlay who more or less fulfil the opposite stereotypes: the former is TheDrifter, prone to being somewhat impulsive and reckless, while being [[HeroicBuild built like an armoured vehicle]] and [[OneManArmy completely unstoppable in combat]], while the latter is a Harvard-educated, [[SharpDressedMan bespectacled and besuited]], vegetarian ByTheBookCop.
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* ''Series/{{Reacher}}: {{Inverted|Trope}} with the white Reacher and the black Finlay who more or less fulfil the opposite stereotypes: the former is TheDrifter, prone to being somewhat impulsive and reckless, while being [[HeroicBuild built like an armoured vehicle]] and [[OneManArmy completely unstoppable in combat]], while the latter is a Harvard-educated, [[SharpDressedMan bespectacled and besuited]], vegetarian ByTheBookCop.
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This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the cross-racial success of white-led blockbusters, the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The studios' takeaway from all this? "Nobody wants to pay to see an all-black cast." For the next decade, they followed this conventional wisdom by only casting black protagonists alongside white co-leads, and often relegating them to the ComedyGhetto, to boot.
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This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the cross-racial success of white-led blockbusters, the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The studios' takeaway from all this? "Nobody "[[MinorityShowGhetto Nobody wants to pay to see an all-black cast." ]]" For the next decade, they followed this conventional wisdom by only casting black protagonists alongside white co-leads, and often relegating them to the ComedyGhetto, to boot.
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* ''Film/TheManFromToronto'' plays with this one. The titular Man from Toronto is the white straight man to black Teddy Jackson's wise guy. However, in this case, it's Teddy who's playing the role of the goofy everyman to Toronto's cold-blooded ([[DefrostingIceKing at first]]) killer.
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* ''Film/DayShift'': VampireHunter Bud Jablonski (Creator/JamieFoxx), a black blue-collar worker, ends up paired with nervous, straight-laced Seth (Creator/DaveFranco) during his hunts.
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The black brotha, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's more cool, crude, casual, and culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by his {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to say ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight He may be a current or former criminal, but usually something nonviolent that'll allow him to be portrayed as a LovableRogue--ConMan is a popular choice. Exaggerations may give him a HairTriggerTemper or PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.
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The black brotha, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's more cool, crude, casual, and culturally in-touch in touch than the white bread character. He's defined by his {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to say ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight He may be a current or former criminal, but usually something nonviolent that'll allow him to be portrayed as a LovableRogue--ConMan is a popular choice. Exaggerations may give him a HairTriggerTemper or PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.
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* ''Film/BlueStreak'': The film both invokes and parodies this dynamic. Jewel thief Miles Logan (Creator/MartinLawrence) poses as undercover LAPD detective Kevin Malone and actually works with a more straight-laced legitimate detective Carson (Creator/LukeWilson). Being a thief, [=Miles/"Kevin"=] is more aware about the inner workings of criminals, which greatly impresses the more bureaucratic Carlson.
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* ''Film/BlueStreak'': The film both invokes and parodies this dynamic. Jewel thief Miles Logan (Creator/MartinLawrence) poses as undercover LAPD detective Kevin Malone and actually works with a more straight-laced legitimate detective Carson (Creator/LukeWilson). Being a thief, [=Miles/"Kevin"=] Miles/"Kevin" is more aware about of the inner workings of criminals, which greatly impresses the more bureaucratic Carlson.
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* Zig-zagged in ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight''. Mitch Hennessy (Samuel L. Jackson) is an unscrupulous low rent PI and Samantha Cain (Creator/GeenaDavis) is nice teacher in a small town. Then amnesiac Samantha remembers her old life as an assassin and if anything their positions are reversed.
-->'''Mitch Hennessy:''' Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
-->'''Mitch Hennessy:''' Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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* Zig-zagged in ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight''. Mitch Hennessy (Samuel L. Jackson) is an unscrupulous low rent low-rent PI and Samantha Cain (Creator/GeenaDavis) is a nice teacher in a small town. Then amnesiac Samantha remembers her old life as an assassin and if anything their positions are reversed.
-->'''Mitch Hennessy:''' Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, tenminute minutes later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
-->'''Mitch Hennessy:''' Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten
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* ''Film/OsmosisJones'': Parodied with CowboyCop white blood cell Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones (played by Creator/ChrisRock), who's paired with ByTheBookCop cold pill Drixenol "Drix" Koldreliff (Creator/DavidHydePierce). Once the two adjust to each other's drastically different approaches to fighting infection, they became a good team.
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* ''Film/OsmosisJones'': Parodied with CowboyCop white blood cell Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones (played by Creator/ChrisRock), who's paired with ByTheBookCop cold pill Drixenol "Drix" Koldreliff (Creator/DavidHydePierce). Once the two adjust to each other's drastically different approaches to fighting infection, they became become a good team.
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* Inverted in ''Series/TheWire'' with Herc and Carver. While many of the Baltimore cops are {{dirty|Cop}} and [[PoliceBrutality brutalize suspects]] from time to time, Herc is worse than most; he also goes undercover with WhiteGangbangers in a working class Polish neighborhood. Meanwhile, the black Carver increasingly becomes a ByTheBookCop over the course of the series.
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* Inverted in ''Series/TheWire'' with Herc and Carver. While many of the Baltimore cops are {{dirty|Cop}} and [[PoliceBrutality brutalize suspects]] from time to time, Herc is worse than most; he also goes undercover with WhiteGangbangers in a working class working-class Polish neighborhood. Meanwhile, the black Carver increasingly becomes a ByTheBookCop over the course of the series.
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* Inverted in the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' films, with the black Roger Murtaugh being a by-the-book FamilyMan and the white Martin Riggs being a near-suicidal loose cannon with nothing to lose. As the series goes on, the two's policing styles grow more similar, with Riggs becoming an honorary part of Murtaugh's family and Murtaugh becoming more willing to go outside his comfort zone.
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* Inverted in the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' films, with the black Roger Murtaugh being a by-the-book FamilyMan and the white Martin Riggs being a near-suicidal [[DeathSeeker near-suicidal]] loose cannon with nothing to lose. As the series goes on, the two's policing styles grow more similar, with Riggs becoming [[HonoraryUncle an honorary part of Murtaugh's family family]] and Murtaugh becoming more willing to go outside his comfort zone.
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* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Samuel L. Jackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the arms dealers who killed his partner.
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* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Samuel L. Jackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the arms dealers {{arms dealer}}s who killed his partner.
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* Inverted in ''Series/CapeTown'' with white DefectiveDetective Mat Joubert and black ByTheBookCop Sanctus Snook. Joubert is a self-destructive alcoholic, while Snook, coming from an elite investigation unit called the Hawks, is there to keep an eye on him.
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* Inverted in ''Series/CapeTown'' with white DefectiveDetective Mat Joubert and black ByTheBookCop Sanctus Snook. Joubert is a self-destructive alcoholic, [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]], while Snook, coming from an elite investigation unit called the Hawks, is there to keep an eye on him.
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* Inverted in ''Series/CapeTown'' with white DefectiveDetective Mat Joubert and black ByTheBookCop Sanctus Snook. Joubert is a self-destructive alcoholic, while Snook, coming from an elite investigation unit called the Hawks, is there to keep an eye on him.
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-->'''Mitch Hennessy''': Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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-->'''Mitch Hennessy''': Hennessy:''' Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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--> '''Hoppy''': All right, let's crack!
--> '''Smitty''': You mean "split".
--> '''Hoppy''': Uh, right, split!
--> '''Smitty''': You mean "split".
--> '''Hoppy''': Uh, right, split!
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-->'''Mitch Hennessy'': Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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-->'''Mitch Hennessy'': Hennessy''': Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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* Zig-zagged in ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight''. Mitch Hennessy (Samuel L. Jackson) is an unscrupulous low rent PI and Samantha Cain (Creator/GeenaDavis) is nice teacher in a small town. Then amnesiac Samantha remembers her old life as an assassin and if anything their positions are reversed.
-->'''Mitch Hennessy'': Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
-->'''Mitch Hennessy'': Back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins". Now, you go into a bar, ten minute later, sailors come runnin' out. What's up with that?
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* PlayedWith in the ''Film/RushHour'' films, with Creator/JackieChan's Inspector Lee taking the place of the white bread, acting polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Creator/ChrisTucker's Detective Carter is the black brotha, being a wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his supervisors for his recklessness.
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* PlayedWith in the ''Film/RushHour'' films, with Creator/JackieChan's Inspector Lee taking the place of the white bread, acting polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Creator/ChrisTucker's Detective Carter is the black brotha, being a wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his supervisors superiors for his recklessness.
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[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]
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* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they pull off a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.
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* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Philadelphia commodities broker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) (Creator/EddieMurphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Brothers, Winthorpe's bosses. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they pull off a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers Dukes bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.
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A subtrope of OddCouple. Compare WunzaPlot, StraightManAndWiseGuy, SnobsVersusSlobs, IrishmanAndAJew, MinorityPoliceOfficer, TokenBlackFriend, and RedOniBlueOni.
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A subtrope of OddCouple. Compare WunzaPlot, StraightManAndWiseGuy, SnobsVersusSlobs, IrishmanAndAJew, MinorityPoliceOfficer, TokenBlackFriend, and RedOniBlueOni.
RedOniBlueOni. Not to be confused with WhiteDudeBlackDude, though they often cover the same subject matter--i.e., differences between white and black subcultures being PlayedForLaughs.
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(Indices: AlwaysMale, BlackIndex, ComedicReliefCharacters, CopsAndDetectives, DeadHorseTrope, DuoTropes, TheEighties, {{Foil}}, RaceTropes, WhiteIndex)
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!NOTE:
[[AC:This is the potential replacement trope for SaltAndPepper, per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16920049710.92570000 this TRS thread]].]]
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[[AC:This is the potential replacement trope for SaltAndPepper, per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16920049710.92570000 this TRS thread]].]]
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Created from YKTTW
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!NOTE:
[[AC:This is the potential replacement trope for SaltAndPepper, per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16920049710.92570000 this TRS thread]].]]
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[[quoteright:300:[[Film/TheMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_film.jpg]]]]
->''"She was six feet of black dynamite!''
->''He was a short Hasidic Jew.''
->''She fought a savage battle to stay alive in the ghetto!''
->''He studied the Talmud at night."''
-->-- '''The trailer to''' '''''Cleopatra Schwartz''''', ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie''
A variation on the OddCouple, especially popular in {{Buddy Picture}}s of TheSeventies and TheEighties, where the contrast between the leads is black-and-white in more ways than one.
The white bread is the StraightMan of the duo. He's from a respectable middle-class or white-collar background, a stickler for rules, and has no real history of troublemaking. He's likely a FamilyMan, too. He takes his work seriously, possibly to the point of being TheStoic or TheKilljoy when on the job, and doesn't take it well when someone tries to upend his precise routine. Exaggerations may make him awkward, nerdy, neurotic, or [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy way less hip than he thinks he is]].
The black brotha, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's more cool, crude, casual, and culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by his {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to say ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight He may be a current or former criminal, but usually something nonviolent that'll allow him to be portrayed as a LovableRogue--ConMan is a popular choice. Exaggerations may give him a HairTriggerTemper or PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.
Normally, these two people would never work alongside one another, but circumstances force them together. In a {{Buddy Cop|Show}} scenario, the white bread is the ByTheBookCop and the black brotha is the CowboyCop or a ReformedCriminal. As they begrudgingly work together, debate whether ToBeLawfulOrGood, and learn to navigate each others' worlds, they succeed thanks to their combined skills, and possibly grow to become HeterosexualLifePartners too. They often learn AnAesop by the end, with the white bread learning the necessity of bending the rules sometimes, and the black brotha gaining some respect for authority.
This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the cross-racial success of white-led blockbusters, the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The studios' takeaway from all this? "Nobody wants to pay to see an all-black cast." For the next decade, they followed this conventional wisdom by only casting black protagonists alongside white co-leads, and often relegating them to the ComedyGhetto, to boot.
Its lifespan as a trend was relatively short, falling well into {{Dead Horse|Trope}} territory by the mid-1990s. This was thanks to the success of stars like Creator/EddieMurphy proving that black-led films were still economically viable, which removed the main incentive for studios to push this trope. In the 21st century, it's far more likely to appear as a subversion, inversion, or parody rather than be played straight--most commonly, the black partner is BlackAndNerdy while the white partner is the RecklessSidekick.
A subtrope of OddCouple. Compare WunzaPlot, StraightManAndWiseGuy, SnobsVersusSlobs, IrishmanAndAJew, MinorityPoliceOfficer, TokenBlackFriend, and RedOniBlueOni.
'''Note:''' The difference in social or economic background is key to this trope. Do not simply list any biracial duo with a personality difference.
(Indices: AlwaysMale, BlackIndex, ComedicReliefCharacters, CopsAndDetectives, DeadHorseTrope, DuoTropes, TheEighties, {{Foil}}, RaceTropes, WhiteIndex)
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertising]]
* One 2006 commercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQa0kIWBQ0 Twinings tea]] features Creator/StephenFry (the face of the brand at the time) running a tea shop with a younger black American named Tyrone, chastising him for writing a slogan that Twinings' Earl Grey makes you "feel the zing in your ding-a-ling."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'': Inverted; Eric (who's black) is the straight-laced, middle-class serious hero, while his white partner Woody is the irreverent street-smart punk. Despite barely being able to stand each other, they're forced to work together to [[ClearMyName clear their names]] after being falsely accused of murder, and then to work together as superheroes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]
* ''Film/FortyEightHrs'': The TropeCodifier, spurring the rise of this trope's popularity in {{Buddy Cop|Show}} films, as well as the buddy cop genre as a whole. Inspector Jack Cates (Creator/NickNolte) decides to [[RecruitingTheCriminal Recruit The Criminal]] Reggie Hammond (Creator/EddieMurphy) to help track down and stop Reggie's old criminal partner. Something of an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} case, though, as Jack is a hard-boiled CowboyCop, and the differences between him and Reggie are rarely PlayedForLaughs.
* Inverted in ''Film/AmosAndAndrew'': Andrew (Creator/SamuelLJackson) is a straight-laced playwright and academic; Amos (Creator/NicolasCage) is a petty criminal. They're forced to work together when a corrupt police chief tries to stage a hostage crisis with Andrew as the victim and make Amos take the fall.
* ''Film/BlueStreak'': The film both invokes and parodies this dynamic. Jewel thief Miles Logan (Creator/MartinLawrence) poses as undercover LAPD detective Kevin Malone and actually works with a more straight-laced legitimate detective Carson (Creator/LukeWilson). Being a thief, [=Miles/"Kevin"=] is more aware about the inner workings of criminals, which greatly impresses the more bureaucratic Carlson.
* ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'': Subverted with Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) and John [=McClane=] (Creator/BruceWillis). While Zeus is originally from the hood and has shades of MalcolmXerox, he's a civilian and far more of a normal person compared to John [=McClane=] and his CowboyCop behavior.
* PlayedWith in ''Film/GetHard'': The wealthy but meek and cowardly James (Creator/WillFerrell) turns to the struggling, working-class Darnell (Creator/KevinHart) to give him lessons on acting tough in prison after the former gets sentenced to spend time there. Darnell, however, has never been to prison before and is more the StraightMan of the duo, so after getting some tips from a cousin who actually went to jail, he pretends to be an intimidating street gangster to teach James how to toughen up.
* ''Film/GhostsOfMars'': In the second half of the film, straightlaced blonde cop Melanie (Creator/NatashaHenstridge) teams up with wisecracking black criminal Desolation Williams (Music/IceCube) to kick ass and fight Martian zombies.
* ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'': Conrad "Duke" Hauser (Creator/ChanningTatum) is the straight-laced white protagonist and Wallace "Ripcord" Weems (Creator/MarlonWayans) is his wise-cracking BlackBestFriend. Duke has a personal issue with pre-Cobra Mars Industries, [[spoiler:whose members include his ex-girlfriend the Baroness and her brother the Doctor, both [[NotQuiteDead believed to be dead]]]]; while Ripcord spends most of his time trying to impress Scarlett.
* ''Film/ISpy'': The 2002 remake is a WunzaPlot where Creator/OwenWilson plays a relatively straightlaced CIA agent, while Creator/EddieMurphy plays an outsider boxing champion who gets dragged into the spy plot.
* ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'': Parodied in the [[RealTrailerFakeMovie fake trailer]] for "Cleopatra Schwarz," where an overly violent and sexual {{blaxploitation}} ActionGirl (a parody of Film/CleopatraJones) is married to a NiceJewishBoy who's clearly not cut out for violence at all--until it shows him helping her subdue bad guys and fire machine guns at gangbangers.
* Inverted in the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' films, with the black Roger Murtaugh being a by-the-book FamilyMan and the white Martin Riggs being a near-suicidal loose cannon with nothing to lose. As the series goes on, the two's policing styles grow more similar, with Riggs becoming an honorary part of Murtaugh's family and Murtaugh becoming more willing to go outside his comfort zone.
* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Samuel L. Jackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the arms dealers who killed his partner.
* ''Film/MenInBlack'': Agent K (Creator/TommyLeeJones) is a cynical veteran of the Men in Black who recruits Agent J (Creator/WillSmith), a gung-ho New York cop, precisely because of his subversive attitude and outside-the-box mentality.
* ''Film/OsmosisJones'': Parodied with CowboyCop white blood cell Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones (played by Creator/ChrisRock), who's paired with ByTheBookCop cold pill Drixenol "Drix" Koldreliff (Creator/DavidHydePierce). Once the two adjust to each other's drastically different approaches to fighting infection, they became a good team.
* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', where Creator/CaryElwes' traditionally refined Robin Hood is accompanied by Creator/DaveChappelle's Ahchoo, a [[AnachronismStew snapback cap and Jordans-wearing]] black man who speaks in modern slang and [[MalcolmXerox quotes Malcolm X]].
* PlayedWith in the ''Film/RushHour'' films, with Creator/JackieChan's Inspector Lee taking the place of the white bread, acting polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Creator/ChrisTucker's Detective Carter is the black brotha, being a wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his supervisors for his recklessness.
* ''Film/TowerHeist'': In order to get revenge on a millionaire who defrauded him and his employees, apartment building manager Josh Kovaks (Creator/BenStiller) tracks down Slide (Eddie Murphy), a childhood friend who's since become a petty thief and carjacker, to plan a heist and steal the employees' money back.
* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they pull off a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.
* ''Film/TrainingDay'': Subverted. The rookie LAPD officer Jake Hoyt (Creator/EthanHawke) is partnered for evaluation with Detective Alonzo Harris (Creator/DenzelWashington), a corrupt and murderous DirtyCop who patrols and terrorizes LA's hood. Alonzo forces Jake to participate in his crimes as BetrayalInsurance and tries to have Jake killed by a gang at the end of the night. However, Jake survives, and Alonzo ends up dead at the hands of the Russian mob.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and Friday are probably the UrExample. It should be noted that Friday was a native Carib[[note]]the island is near the mouth of the Orinoco river, in modern-day Venezuela[[/note]] in the original novel, but so many adaptations over the centuries have {{racelift}}ed him as black that most people [[AdaptationDisplacement now think of him as such]]. Crusoe and Friday also share the traditional characteristics of this trope as a straight-laced, rather stodgy white man and his more flamboyant, exotic, and "ethnic" sidekick.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': {{Implied|Trope}} to be the plot of one of Tracy's [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe movies]]. One poster in Tracy's room is for a movie called ''Black Cop White Cop'', featuring him ActingForTwo as both a black cop and a [[WhiteLikeMe white cop]]. The film's tagline is "One does the duty, the other gets the booty".
* ''Series/AngieTribeca'': In "Tribeca's Day Off," the straight-edge white Geils gets partnered up with the streetwise and [[ScaryBlackMan intimidating]] Tanner. {{Lampshaded}} by Atkins, who says that a white man and black man figuring out how to be partners has [[SarcasmMode never happened in the history of police work]].
* Inverted in ''Series/CagneyAndLacey'' with Marcus Petrie and Victor Isbecki. The black Petrie is the firmly middle-class buttoned by-the-book cop, while the white Isbecki is the streetwise rebel.
* The short-lived sitcom ''Listen Up'' starred Creator/JasonAlexander as an uptight white sports broadcaster alongside Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner as his younger and hipper cohost, a former NFL player turned commentator. It was loosely based on ''Series/PardonTheInterruption'', a real Creator/{{ESPN}} commentary show.
* ''Series/MiamiVice'': Sonny Crockett (Creator/DonJohnson) is a white GoodOlBoy and ByTheBookCop, while Rico Tubbs (Creator/PhilipMichaelThomas) is a black CowboyCop from New York who comes to Miami on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Inverted and parodied in the dynamic between private detectives Shawn and Gus. Shawn is white, BrilliantButLazy, and leads an elaborate con to convince the police that he's a psychic investigator. Gus is his BlackAndNerdy partner who reluctantly participates in Sean's scheme and cautions against many of his ideas.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': Rimmer and Lister serve as {{foil}}s for one another. Rimmer is white, from an upper-class background, and an obsessive stickler for rules, while Lister is half-black, a lazy slob, and proud of his working-class roots. Despite this, the two are solidly HeterosexualLifePartners.
* ''Series/RushHour'': Similar to the original film series, John Lee (Creator/JonFoo) is a ByTheBookCop from Hong Kong, while James Carter (Creator/JustinHires) is a smack-talking hothead with a criminal past before he became a cop.
* Played with in ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' where TokenWhite Officer Hoppy, in spite of using a lot of police jargon to sound like he's pretty smart, also seems desperate to appear cool by throwing what he thinks is hip-speak. But he always flubs it and gets corrected by his partner, Officer Smitty, who is black. Once, when they're leaving the Sanford home, Hoppy says:
--> '''Hoppy''': All right, let's crack!
--> '''Smitty''': You mean "split".
--> '''Hoppy''': Uh, right, split!
* ''Series/TenspeedAndBrownShoe'': Lionel Whitney (Creator/JeffGoldblum), a stockbroker who's obsessed with detective books, goes into the private investigation business alongside E.L. Turner (Creator/BenVereen), a former con artist who keeps coming up with get-rich-quick schemes. The former's almost naïve idealism and the latter's skill for subterfuge both help and hurt them throughout the series.
* Inverted in ''Series/TheWire'' with Herc and Carver. While many of the Baltimore cops are {{dirty|Cop}} and [[PoliceBrutality brutalize suspects]] from time to time, Herc is worse than most; he also goes undercover with WhiteGangbangers in a working class Polish neighborhood. Meanwhile, the black Carver increasingly becomes a ByTheBookCop over the course of the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomic]]
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' with a [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20070724 fake advertisement]] for a movie titled ''The Black Guy'', starring Creator/ChrisTucker as CowboyCop Tom Black and Creator/BruceWillis as hardened ex-federal agent Alex White. "So when they're teamed up, the results are surely hilarious! And ''not racist'' at all!"
[[/folder]]
----
[[AC:This is the potential replacement trope for SaltAndPepper, per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16920049710.92570000 this TRS thread]].]]
----
[[quoteright:300:[[Film/TheMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_film.jpg]]]]
->''"She was six feet of black dynamite!''
->''He was a short Hasidic Jew.''
->''She fought a savage battle to stay alive in the ghetto!''
->''He studied the Talmud at night."''
-->-- '''The trailer to''' '''''Cleopatra Schwartz''''', ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie''
A variation on the OddCouple, especially popular in {{Buddy Picture}}s of TheSeventies and TheEighties, where the contrast between the leads is black-and-white in more ways than one.
The white bread is the StraightMan of the duo. He's from a respectable middle-class or white-collar background, a stickler for rules, and has no real history of troublemaking. He's likely a FamilyMan, too. He takes his work seriously, possibly to the point of being TheStoic or TheKilljoy when on the job, and doesn't take it well when someone tries to upend his precise routine. Exaggerations may make him awkward, nerdy, neurotic, or [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy way less hip than he thinks he is]].
The black brotha, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's more cool, crude, casual, and culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by his {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to say ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight He may be a current or former criminal, but usually something nonviolent that'll allow him to be portrayed as a LovableRogue--ConMan is a popular choice. Exaggerations may give him a HairTriggerTemper or PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.
Normally, these two people would never work alongside one another, but circumstances force them together. In a {{Buddy Cop|Show}} scenario, the white bread is the ByTheBookCop and the black brotha is the CowboyCop or a ReformedCriminal. As they begrudgingly work together, debate whether ToBeLawfulOrGood, and learn to navigate each others' worlds, they succeed thanks to their combined skills, and possibly grow to become HeterosexualLifePartners too. They often learn AnAesop by the end, with the white bread learning the necessity of bending the rules sometimes, and the black brotha gaining some respect for authority.
This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the cross-racial success of white-led blockbusters, the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The studios' takeaway from all this? "Nobody wants to pay to see an all-black cast." For the next decade, they followed this conventional wisdom by only casting black protagonists alongside white co-leads, and often relegating them to the ComedyGhetto, to boot.
Its lifespan as a trend was relatively short, falling well into {{Dead Horse|Trope}} territory by the mid-1990s. This was thanks to the success of stars like Creator/EddieMurphy proving that black-led films were still economically viable, which removed the main incentive for studios to push this trope. In the 21st century, it's far more likely to appear as a subversion, inversion, or parody rather than be played straight--most commonly, the black partner is BlackAndNerdy while the white partner is the RecklessSidekick.
A subtrope of OddCouple. Compare WunzaPlot, StraightManAndWiseGuy, SnobsVersusSlobs, IrishmanAndAJew, MinorityPoliceOfficer, TokenBlackFriend, and RedOniBlueOni.
'''Note:''' The difference in social or economic background is key to this trope. Do not simply list any biracial duo with a personality difference.
(Indices: AlwaysMale, BlackIndex, ComedicReliefCharacters, CopsAndDetectives, DeadHorseTrope, DuoTropes, TheEighties, {{Foil}}, RaceTropes, WhiteIndex)
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Advertising]]
* One 2006 commercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQa0kIWBQ0 Twinings tea]] features Creator/StephenFry (the face of the brand at the time) running a tea shop with a younger black American named Tyrone, chastising him for writing a slogan that Twinings' Earl Grey makes you "feel the zing in your ding-a-ling."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'': Inverted; Eric (who's black) is the straight-laced, middle-class serious hero, while his white partner Woody is the irreverent street-smart punk. Despite barely being able to stand each other, they're forced to work together to [[ClearMyName clear their names]] after being falsely accused of murder, and then to work together as superheroes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]
* ''Film/FortyEightHrs'': The TropeCodifier, spurring the rise of this trope's popularity in {{Buddy Cop|Show}} films, as well as the buddy cop genre as a whole. Inspector Jack Cates (Creator/NickNolte) decides to [[RecruitingTheCriminal Recruit The Criminal]] Reggie Hammond (Creator/EddieMurphy) to help track down and stop Reggie's old criminal partner. Something of an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} case, though, as Jack is a hard-boiled CowboyCop, and the differences between him and Reggie are rarely PlayedForLaughs.
* Inverted in ''Film/AmosAndAndrew'': Andrew (Creator/SamuelLJackson) is a straight-laced playwright and academic; Amos (Creator/NicolasCage) is a petty criminal. They're forced to work together when a corrupt police chief tries to stage a hostage crisis with Andrew as the victim and make Amos take the fall.
* ''Film/BlueStreak'': The film both invokes and parodies this dynamic. Jewel thief Miles Logan (Creator/MartinLawrence) poses as undercover LAPD detective Kevin Malone and actually works with a more straight-laced legitimate detective Carson (Creator/LukeWilson). Being a thief, [=Miles/"Kevin"=] is more aware about the inner workings of criminals, which greatly impresses the more bureaucratic Carlson.
* ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'': Subverted with Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) and John [=McClane=] (Creator/BruceWillis). While Zeus is originally from the hood and has shades of MalcolmXerox, he's a civilian and far more of a normal person compared to John [=McClane=] and his CowboyCop behavior.
* PlayedWith in ''Film/GetHard'': The wealthy but meek and cowardly James (Creator/WillFerrell) turns to the struggling, working-class Darnell (Creator/KevinHart) to give him lessons on acting tough in prison after the former gets sentenced to spend time there. Darnell, however, has never been to prison before and is more the StraightMan of the duo, so after getting some tips from a cousin who actually went to jail, he pretends to be an intimidating street gangster to teach James how to toughen up.
* ''Film/GhostsOfMars'': In the second half of the film, straightlaced blonde cop Melanie (Creator/NatashaHenstridge) teams up with wisecracking black criminal Desolation Williams (Music/IceCube) to kick ass and fight Martian zombies.
* ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'': Conrad "Duke" Hauser (Creator/ChanningTatum) is the straight-laced white protagonist and Wallace "Ripcord" Weems (Creator/MarlonWayans) is his wise-cracking BlackBestFriend. Duke has a personal issue with pre-Cobra Mars Industries, [[spoiler:whose members include his ex-girlfriend the Baroness and her brother the Doctor, both [[NotQuiteDead believed to be dead]]]]; while Ripcord spends most of his time trying to impress Scarlett.
* ''Film/ISpy'': The 2002 remake is a WunzaPlot where Creator/OwenWilson plays a relatively straightlaced CIA agent, while Creator/EddieMurphy plays an outsider boxing champion who gets dragged into the spy plot.
* ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'': Parodied in the [[RealTrailerFakeMovie fake trailer]] for "Cleopatra Schwarz," where an overly violent and sexual {{blaxploitation}} ActionGirl (a parody of Film/CleopatraJones) is married to a NiceJewishBoy who's clearly not cut out for violence at all--until it shows him helping her subdue bad guys and fire machine guns at gangbangers.
* Inverted in the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' films, with the black Roger Murtaugh being a by-the-book FamilyMan and the white Martin Riggs being a near-suicidal loose cannon with nothing to lose. As the series goes on, the two's policing styles grow more similar, with Riggs becoming an honorary part of Murtaugh's family and Murtaugh becoming more willing to go outside his comfort zone.
* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Samuel L. Jackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the arms dealers who killed his partner.
* ''Film/MenInBlack'': Agent K (Creator/TommyLeeJones) is a cynical veteran of the Men in Black who recruits Agent J (Creator/WillSmith), a gung-ho New York cop, precisely because of his subversive attitude and outside-the-box mentality.
* ''Film/OsmosisJones'': Parodied with CowboyCop white blood cell Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones (played by Creator/ChrisRock), who's paired with ByTheBookCop cold pill Drixenol "Drix" Koldreliff (Creator/DavidHydePierce). Once the two adjust to each other's drastically different approaches to fighting infection, they became a good team.
* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', where Creator/CaryElwes' traditionally refined Robin Hood is accompanied by Creator/DaveChappelle's Ahchoo, a [[AnachronismStew snapback cap and Jordans-wearing]] black man who speaks in modern slang and [[MalcolmXerox quotes Malcolm X]].
* PlayedWith in the ''Film/RushHour'' films, with Creator/JackieChan's Inspector Lee taking the place of the white bread, acting polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Creator/ChrisTucker's Detective Carter is the black brotha, being a wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his supervisors for his recklessness.
* ''Film/TowerHeist'': In order to get revenge on a millionaire who defrauded him and his employees, apartment building manager Josh Kovaks (Creator/BenStiller) tracks down Slide (Eddie Murphy), a childhood friend who's since become a petty thief and carjacker, to plan a heist and steal the employees' money back.
* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they pull off a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.
* ''Film/TrainingDay'': Subverted. The rookie LAPD officer Jake Hoyt (Creator/EthanHawke) is partnered for evaluation with Detective Alonzo Harris (Creator/DenzelWashington), a corrupt and murderous DirtyCop who patrols and terrorizes LA's hood. Alonzo forces Jake to participate in his crimes as BetrayalInsurance and tries to have Jake killed by a gang at the end of the night. However, Jake survives, and Alonzo ends up dead at the hands of the Russian mob.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and Friday are probably the UrExample. It should be noted that Friday was a native Carib[[note]]the island is near the mouth of the Orinoco river, in modern-day Venezuela[[/note]] in the original novel, but so many adaptations over the centuries have {{racelift}}ed him as black that most people [[AdaptationDisplacement now think of him as such]]. Crusoe and Friday also share the traditional characteristics of this trope as a straight-laced, rather stodgy white man and his more flamboyant, exotic, and "ethnic" sidekick.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': {{Implied|Trope}} to be the plot of one of Tracy's [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe movies]]. One poster in Tracy's room is for a movie called ''Black Cop White Cop'', featuring him ActingForTwo as both a black cop and a [[WhiteLikeMe white cop]]. The film's tagline is "One does the duty, the other gets the booty".
* ''Series/AngieTribeca'': In "Tribeca's Day Off," the straight-edge white Geils gets partnered up with the streetwise and [[ScaryBlackMan intimidating]] Tanner. {{Lampshaded}} by Atkins, who says that a white man and black man figuring out how to be partners has [[SarcasmMode never happened in the history of police work]].
* Inverted in ''Series/CagneyAndLacey'' with Marcus Petrie and Victor Isbecki. The black Petrie is the firmly middle-class buttoned by-the-book cop, while the white Isbecki is the streetwise rebel.
* The short-lived sitcom ''Listen Up'' starred Creator/JasonAlexander as an uptight white sports broadcaster alongside Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner as his younger and hipper cohost, a former NFL player turned commentator. It was loosely based on ''Series/PardonTheInterruption'', a real Creator/{{ESPN}} commentary show.
* ''Series/MiamiVice'': Sonny Crockett (Creator/DonJohnson) is a white GoodOlBoy and ByTheBookCop, while Rico Tubbs (Creator/PhilipMichaelThomas) is a black CowboyCop from New York who comes to Miami on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Inverted and parodied in the dynamic between private detectives Shawn and Gus. Shawn is white, BrilliantButLazy, and leads an elaborate con to convince the police that he's a psychic investigator. Gus is his BlackAndNerdy partner who reluctantly participates in Sean's scheme and cautions against many of his ideas.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': Rimmer and Lister serve as {{foil}}s for one another. Rimmer is white, from an upper-class background, and an obsessive stickler for rules, while Lister is half-black, a lazy slob, and proud of his working-class roots. Despite this, the two are solidly HeterosexualLifePartners.
* ''Series/RushHour'': Similar to the original film series, John Lee (Creator/JonFoo) is a ByTheBookCop from Hong Kong, while James Carter (Creator/JustinHires) is a smack-talking hothead with a criminal past before he became a cop.
* Played with in ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' where TokenWhite Officer Hoppy, in spite of using a lot of police jargon to sound like he's pretty smart, also seems desperate to appear cool by throwing what he thinks is hip-speak. But he always flubs it and gets corrected by his partner, Officer Smitty, who is black. Once, when they're leaving the Sanford home, Hoppy says:
--> '''Hoppy''': All right, let's crack!
--> '''Smitty''': You mean "split".
--> '''Hoppy''': Uh, right, split!
* ''Series/TenspeedAndBrownShoe'': Lionel Whitney (Creator/JeffGoldblum), a stockbroker who's obsessed with detective books, goes into the private investigation business alongside E.L. Turner (Creator/BenVereen), a former con artist who keeps coming up with get-rich-quick schemes. The former's almost naïve idealism and the latter's skill for subterfuge both help and hurt them throughout the series.
* Inverted in ''Series/TheWire'' with Herc and Carver. While many of the Baltimore cops are {{dirty|Cop}} and [[PoliceBrutality brutalize suspects]] from time to time, Herc is worse than most; he also goes undercover with WhiteGangbangers in a working class Polish neighborhood. Meanwhile, the black Carver increasingly becomes a ByTheBookCop over the course of the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomic]]
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' with a [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20070724 fake advertisement]] for a movie titled ''The Black Guy'', starring Creator/ChrisTucker as CowboyCop Tom Black and Creator/BruceWillis as hardened ex-federal agent Alex White. "So when they're teamed up, the results are surely hilarious! And ''not racist'' at all!"
[[/folder]]
----
