Meadows was hired as a cast member in 1990 (along with Chris Farley and Chris Rock). At the time, it was the first time two African-American males (Meadows and Rock) were hired. Despite being overshadowed by Chris Rock and almost being let go after the infamous Season 20 (due to Lorne Michaels being forced to revamp his cast and show), Meadows ended up staying on since Ellen Cleghorne left and Lorne wanted the show to have some racial diversity. Being the most seasoned member of the almost entirely new cast gave him the opportunity to take on more starring roles in sketches and finally break out. With this, Meadows became the first black cast member to stay on the show longer than five seasons and one of the show's longest-running cast members at a literal decade (1990-2000).
Some of Meadows's impressions included Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg, and O.J. Simpson. Among his original characters were early morning talk show host Lionel Osbourne and Leon Phelps aka "The Ladies Man", whose sketch was adapted into a 2001 film.
He was married to Michelle Taylor and they have two children.
Film Roles
- Coneheads as Athletic Cone
- Wayne's World 2 as Sammy Davis Jr.
- It's Pat! as KVIB-FM Station Manager
- The Ladies Man as Leon Phelps (also writer)
- Wasabi Tuna as Dave
- Mean Girls as Ron Duvall
- The Cookout as Cousin Leroy
- The Benchwarmers as Wayne
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story as Sam McPherson
- Semi-Pro as Cornelius Banks
- Aliens in the Attic as Doug Armstrong
- Grown Ups as Malcolm
- Grown Ups 2 as Malcolm
- Jack and Jill as Ted
- Trainwreck as Tim
- Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping as Harry Duggins
- Hubie Halloween
Television Roles
- Saturday Night Live as various (1991-2000, also writer)
- The Chris Rock Show as Rev. Barnett Reed (1 episode, Uncredited Role)
- Strangers with Candy as Percy Kittens (1 episode)
- Olive, the Other Reindeer as Richard Stands (TV Movie)
- The Michael Richards Show as Kevin Blakeley
- Third Watch as Leroy Watkins (1 episode)
- The Even Stevens Movie as Miles McDermott (TV Movie)
- Leap Of Faith as Lucas (6 episodes)
- One on One as Leroy Ballard (1 episode)
- Living With Fran as Greg Peters (3 episodes)
- The Office (US) as Christian (1 episode)
- Everybody Hates Chris as Soul Train Teacher (1 episode)
- Reba as Steve Norris (1 episode)
- The Colbert Report as P.K. Winsome (recurring)
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as P.K. Winsome (1 episode)
- Help Me Help You as Dr. Pete 'Petey' Spiller (3 episodes)
- According to Jim as Dennis (1 episode)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm as Hal (1 episode)
- Lil' Bush as Lil' Barack
- The Bill Engvall Show as Paul DuFrayne
- Easy To Assemble as Tim (5 episodes)
- The New Adventures of Old Christine as Dr. Volk (2 episodes)
- Suburgatory as Edmond (3 episodes)
- Mr Box Office as Principal Theodore Martin
- Bob's Burgers as Mike the Mailman (recurring)
- 30 Rock as Martin Lutherking (1 episode)
- The Venture Bros. as Wind Song (1 episode)
- Comedy Bang! Bang! as J. Milo Beauregard (1 episode)
- The Goldbergs as Jonathan 'Andre' Glascott (recurring)
- Schooled as Principal Jonathan 'Andre' Glascott
- Marry Me (2014) as Kevin 1
- Inside Amy Schumer as Ted (1 episode)
- Ask The Storybots as Reindeer (1 episode)
- Son of Zorn as Craig
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Caleb John Gosche (recurring)
- No Activity as Det. Judd Tolbeck
- Man with a Plan as Rudy (recurring)
- Great News as Lawyer (1 episode)
- Miracle Workers as two different characters in two episodes
- BoJack Horseman as Jameson's Dad (1 episode)
- Mapleworth Murders as Andy Hapsburg (recurring)
- Poker Face (1 episode)
- Digman!
Podcast Roles
- Batman: The Audio Adventures: Dr. Jeremiah Arkham (recurring)
Tropes
- The Comically Serious: He was one of SNL's best performers in "straight man" roles, like the exasperated Subverted Kids' Show host trying to prevent his show's cast from spelling out an F-bomb in "Jingleheimer Junction".
- Mr. Fanservice: Pretty much any time SNL needed a hunky guy, Tim was it.
