More importantly, these characters opened important discussions about Black masculinity and representation in pop culture - a crucial eye-opener for audiences facing increasingly complex shows and movies in the streaming age. Winston and Coach - New Girl's Black male leads - may not be perfect, but they did push white sitcoms in a better direction. Zafimehy also points out how New Girl season 1 passed the Racial Bechdel Test - a version of the Bechdel Test for female representation in movies, but calibrated towards studying diversity and racial representation instead. In Black masculinity and White-cast Sitcoms: Unraveling stereotypes in New Girl - the Master's thesis of Linköping University student Marie Zafimehy - it's noted how Winston and Coach's New Girl scenes actually broke down a boundary in sitcom casting, even though both characters would fall back into Black stereotypes several times throughout the series. In fleshing out the respective story arcs of Winston and Coach, New Girl featured two Black male leads coexisting in a white sitcom - a slyly groundbreaking move that has led to the show becoming a case study for Black masculinity in popular culture. The show never left anyone behind, even characters who left New Girl's loft apartment like Coach did, and that’s a big part of the charm of the series and its characters. And while Coach was not as present as Winston was in the series, he was always present in the hearts and minds of his friends. He went through a lot of ups and downs in his personal life, but eventually settled down with Aly. Winston, on the other hand, stayed for the rest of the series. While Coach was gone once again, he wasn't about to disappear completely like he had before, with Wayans returning to New Girl as a special guest star in the comedy's final two seasons. Why wasn't Winston in episode 1 of New Girl? Mainly because the scheduling issues hadn't kicked in yet. Wayans continued to play Coach for two seasons before leaving at the end of New Girl season 4 after the character decided to move in with his new girlfriend, May. ![]() After the first Winston and Coach New Girl swap, Coach returned to the hit comedy series at the beginning of season 3 in 2013, which began airing a few months after ABC officially canceled Happy Endings after three seasons. However, Happy Endings was renewed for season 2 and he had to leave New Girl after just one episode. As he was expecting it to be canceled at the time, Wayans joined the cast of New Girl. What happened to Coach in New Girl? The reason behind Wayans' departure from New Girl was the fact that he was also part of the cast of the comedy series Happy Endings at the same time. Related: Every New Girl Actor In Brooklyn 99 (Besides The Crossover) So why was Winston not in the first episode of New Girl, and was it good for the show? Coach's New Girl exit was explained later on (he moved in with his then-girlfriend, Malia). Coach left the loft between episodes 1 and 2, and Winston took his place for the rest of the series. Coach made quite an impression in the first episode of New Girl as a cocky yet awkward former athlete who now worked as a personal trainer but was a bit too intense with his clients. ![]() Jess' presence turned the dynamics in the loft upside down, but they all eventually became very close and helped each other whenever they needed it, including Coach, who viewers didn’t get to see much for a while after his appearance in the pilot episode. ![]() Later, Winston (Lamorne Morris) joined the group in the second episode of New Girl. Jess’ new roommates were Nick (Jake Johnson), New Girl icon Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.).
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