Tracee Ellis Ross: Her 8 Best Television Roles, Ranked

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Two significant career breaks happened for Tracee Ellis Ross in February 2000. The comedic actress made her debut both on MTV's sketch series The Lyricist Lounge and the UPN sitcom Girlfriends, mere days apart.

Although the comedy from Mara Brock Akil lasted much longer than the short-lived skit offering (and eventually called The CW home), both shows helped to establish Ross as the expressive and quick-witted Golden Globe and NAACP Image Award-winning performer we love and appreciate today. That's in large part because Ross keeps right on working and honing her craft in big and small television roles alike. And in the latest installment of our recurring TVLine feature, we've even managed to rank Ross' TV work by spotlighting her 8 best performances.

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But please don't scroll down just yet until we've explained the ground rules. Our choices focused on her series regular and recurring roles, though we did include notable one-off guest star appearances. Additionally, we limited her voice work to just one entry. And while it crushed our very list-making souls to do so, we ultimately decided to keep TV-movies out of the running.

That said, you shouldn't miss any opportunity to catch the Los Angeles native in a small-but-meaty turn in HBO's 2007 HIV-survivor film Life Support, where she makes an appearance as the cold-hearted older sister of Evan Ross' character. If the last name didn't tip you off, the two are siblings in real life and are the talented offspring of music legend Diana Ross. Life Support is now streaming on Hulu, HBO Max and Amazon Prime.

Scroll down to review the Ross roles we loved the most. And when you're done, hit the comments to tell us your favorites, as well as what other actors you'd want to see have their TV roles ranked!

Who needs an actual name when you have a glorious pink muumuu coat and eye makeup beat for the gods? Known simply as "Professional in Getting Her Picture Taken," Ross' wigged and witty character attempted to teach quirky versions of stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein how to take better photo-booth pictures for a small fee. And it seemed like her lesson worked ... until it didn't. But, of course, this made the whole undertaking that much more subversive and silly. (Watch on Netflix.)

Broad City stars and creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer switched their usual New York shoot to Los Angeles to accommodate Ross' schedule. And she delivered comedy guest-star gold in return for the Comedy Central show's Season 3 finale. Appearing as a hypervigilant flight attendant named Winona, Ross brought the funny and beautifully bounced off comedic actress Tymberlee Hill, who played her equally cautious coworker Mona. Together, the pair dropped snappy one liners and spastic reactions after mistakingly thinking that Abbi's comments about "an explosion" were in reference to a bomb — and not her menstruation.

Ross' Rainbow is easily one of TV's best moms because of the way she unconditionally loves her kids and imparts non-judgmental wisdom. An installment in Season 1 of grown-ish titled "Cashin' Out" was no exception when it allowed Rainbow to pop up and visit Zoey (Yara Shahidi) during her freshman year of college. Not only did Rainbow find out her eldest was in love but that she'd lost her virginity to her first real boyfriend. But Zoey's mom didn't yell or chastise. Instead, Rainbow asked if she had used protection and when she learned that Zoey had, she simply said, "Nicely done, honey."

It wouldn't be unfair to describe Reed Between the Lines as a forgettable sitcom. But, the BET comedy did serve its purpose in that it gave Ross the whole first season she needed to prove she could convincingly play a working wife and mom. A layover of sorts after Girlfriends (but before black-ish), the show had Ross starring as a successful psychologist who somehow juggles her career, marriage to Dr. Alex Reed (played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner) and mothering teenage twins.

Before you whip out your calculator, we already did the math. Ross is only 11 years younger than Laurence Fishburne. So, it actually makes more sense that she would play his ex-wife on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation than his daughter-in-law on black-ish. But that's Hollywood for you! As Dr. Raymond Langston's (Fishburne) former significant other, Ross appeared in Season 11 of the long-running CBS procedural in a recurring capacity. And by the season finale (watch on Hulu), Ray had to rescue Gloria from the vengeful grasp of a serial murderer named the Dick and Jane Killer, who had tortured and kidnapped her. Written as little more than a damsel Ray had to save, Ross deserves credit for bringing texture and likability to the role.

On paper, it might seem like mixed-ish was simply a vehicle to empower Ross and keep her happy. After all, the show gives her the executive producer title she couldn't secure on black-ish. But there is so much more to the heartwarming spinoff than that, and best of all it sitcom explores some of the challenges biracial kids had to face in the 1980s when interracial families were less common. Ross' voiceover narration lends an added layer of warmth and compassion to the series, which is now in its second season. And Arica Himmel, who stars as a young Rainbow, is ridiculously winsome. She and Ross couldn't look more alike if they were actually mother and daughter.

For eight tight-knit seasons, Ross was so believable as Joan, the meddlesome but nurturing caretaker within her four-woman friendship circle, that fans sometimes had a hard time separating her from her character. But what is most memorable about the fictitious lawyer is the way Ross helped her evolve into a more sympathetic woman and chosen sister to her girls over time. Joan's romantic struggles also tugged at our hearts, and when her boo Aaron (played by Richard T. Jones) proposed, we all cried tears of joy.

You know an actor is impactful when three iterations of their character appear within in the same ranking. But that's how truly impressive Ross is as Rainbow Johnson, which is arguably the best role of her career to date. It's a turn that has earned her four Emmy nods, a Golden Globe win and six NAACP Image Awards. Over the course of seven seasons, Ross has deftly infused Bow with humanity, grace and goofiness as the character tackles life as a mother of five, a wife and as a doctor. Her large and express eyes say so much even when she doesn't utter a word. Ross especially flexed her performing prowess in Season 4 — why didn't she win a Emmy that season? — when Bow and Dre (played by Anthony Anderson) hit a rough patch in their otherwise happy marriage, and came out stronger on the other side.