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Black-ish

Black-ish (stylized as black·ish) is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons with 176 episodes.[1][2] Black-ish follows an upper class black family headed by Andre "Dre" Johnson, a successful advertising executive (Anthony Anderson), and his wife Rainbow, an anaesthesiologist (Tracee Ellis Ross). The show revolves around the Johnson family as they juggle personal, familial and sociopolitical issues, particularly in trying to reconcile their desire to stay true to their black identities with their choice to live in a wealthy, suburban white neighborhood.[3]

Black-ish

Sitcom

Kenya Barris

Anthony Anderson

Transcenders

United States

English

8

176 (list of episodes)

Single-camera

22 minutes

ABC

September 24, 2014 (2014-09-24) –
April 19, 2022 (2022-04-19)

The show also features confident oldest child Zoey (Yara Shahidi), nerdy elder son Andre Jr., aka Junior (Marcus Scribner), and twins Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane (Marsai Martin).[3] In later seasons, additional characters including Dre's mother Ruby Johnson (Jenifer Lewis), his co-workers Josh Oppenhol (Jeff Meacham) and Charlie Telphy (Deon Cole), his boss Leslie Stevens (Peter Mackenzie), his and Bow's youngest child Devante Johnson (August and Berlin Gross), and Junior's girlfriend Olivia Lockhart (Katlyn Nichol) are promoted to series regulars, while Dre's father (and Ruby's ex-husband that she remarried), Earl Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), is a recurring character throughout the series.[4][5]


Throughout its run, Black-ish received positive reviews. The show received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and a TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, while Tracee Ellis Ross received individual praise, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Bow.[6]


In May 2020, ABC renewed the series for a seventh season,[7] which premiered on October 21, 2020.[8] Ahead of its seventh season premiere, an hour-long Election-themed special was aired on October 4, 2020.[9] In May 2021, ABC renewed the series for an eighth and final season,[10] which premiered on January 4, 2022, and consists of 13 episodes.[11] The series finale aired on April 19, 2022.


The show's success prompted a spin-off titled Grown-ish, which stars Shahidi, and subsequently Scribner, as their respective characters Zoey and Junior as they leave home to attend college.[12] In May 2019, ABC ordered a short-lived prequel series, Mixed-ish, which centers on a young Bow and her biracial family in the 1980s.[13]

as Andre "Dre" Johnson: a wealthy advertising executive at Stevens & Lido, who wishes to ensure a balance of black culture is intertwined with his family's upper middle class, ultra-suburban upbringing. He is Rainbow's husband. Dre cares about his reputation, his favorite child is Zoey, and he is infamous for his shopping problem, particularly with shoes. He has trouble bonding with Junior. He is often bullied for his race at work. Andre has a strong bond with his mother.

Anthony Anderson

as Dr. Rainbow "Bow" Johnson: an anesthesiologist and Dre's wife, who wishes to retain a place in her children's lives. She comes from a bi-racial family where her father is white and her mother is black. She typically has the strongest bond with Junior. She often finds Dre's ideas to be absurd.

Tracee Ellis Ross

as Zoey Johnson (starring seasons 1–3; recurring seasons 4–8): Dre and Rainbow's oldest child, as well as Dre's favorite child. She is a stereotypical teenage girl, caring mostly about looks and boys. However, she is also responsible. Shahidi left the main cast at the end of season 3 to star in her own spin-off series Grown-ish.

Yara Shahidi

as Andre "Junior" Johnson Jr.: Dre and Rainbow's self-proclaimed "nerdy" second oldest child. He typically lacks teenage savvy, but is very smart and is taught these things, albeit with a hint of disdain, by his relatively shallow and self-aggrandizing father and siblings. He has a strong bond with his mother. He dates Megan from seasons 3–4 and Olivia from seasons 6–8.

Marcus Scribner

as Jackson "Jack" Johnson: Dre and Rainbow's third oldest child and fraternal twin of Diane. He is 13-years-old and typically aloof, but also idolizes his father, and is Diane's younger twin brother. He relies on his cuteness despite his lack of intelligence in the earlier seasons.

Miles Brown

as Diane Johnson: Dre and Rainbow's youngest daughter and fraternal twin of Jack, who considers herself smarter and more mature than him. She is often considered evil by her family and friends, bullying everyone she knows, particularly Charlie.

Marsai Martin

as Ruby Johnson (starring seasons 2–8; recurring season 1): Dre's mother, who does not get along with Rainbow. She is heavily religious and pro-black on several issues. She shares many traits with Diane, and has a strong bond with Dre.

Jenifer Lewis

as Josh Oppenhol (starring seasons 2 and 6–8; recurring seasons 1 & 3–5): Dre's co-worker, who is often disrespected and undervalued by his peers, and is often racist.

Jeff Meacham

as Leslie Stevens (starring seasons 3–8; recurring seasons 1–2): Dre's boss and co-owner of Stevens & Lido, who engages in hipster racism and provides implicit bias in regards to social issues.

Peter Mackenzie

as Charlie Telphy (starring seasons 4–8; recurring seasons 1–3): Dre's eccentric co-worker and adulthood best friend. Cole also features as part of the main cast of Grown-ish. Charlie is very mysterious, such as having two families, and his character has many inconsistencies. He often forgets about his son, Eustace. He is divorced.

Deon Cole

August and Berlin Gross as DeVante Johnson (starring seasons 4–8; guest season 3, mentioned season 2): Dre and Rainbow's youngest child who appears from season 3 onwards. Rainbow found out she was pregnant with him in "Daddy Dre-Care". He is born in the episode "Sprinkles".

Katlyn Nichol as Olivia Lockhart (starring seasons 7–8; guest season 6): Junior's girlfriend. They had a close to serious relationship for about 2 years, until Olivia broke up with Junior towards the end of the series.

Production[edit]

Development and casting[edit]

Black-ish first appeared on the development slate at ABC in October 2013, when it was reported that the project, which would star Anthony Anderson, had received a script commitment.[14] On January 16, 2014, ABC greenlit the pilot episode.[15] Two weeks later, Larry Wilmore joined the show as showrunner.[16] In mid-February, Laurence Fishburne was cast as the father of Anderson's character, and Tracee Ellis Ross signed on as the female lead.[17][18][19]

Filming[edit]

On May 8, 2014, ABC picked up the pilot to the series for the 2014–15 television season.[1][2] A few days later, Anderson announced that Larry Wilmore would be stepping down as showrunner early in the show's run due to his forthcoming late night show, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.[20]


On May 7, 2015, ABC renewed the series for a second season. On March 3, 2016, ABC renewed the series for a third season.[21] On May 10, 2017, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season.[22] On May 11, 2018, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season.[23] On December 14, 2018, ABC picked up 2 additional episodes for the fifth season bringing the season total to 24 episodes. On May 2, 2019, ABC renewed the series for a sixth season.[24] On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a seventh season.[7] On October 23, 2020, ABC picked up 6 additional episodes for the seventh season bringing the season total to 21 episodes.[25] On May 14, 2021, ABC renewed the series for an eighth and final season.[10]

Official website

at IMDb

Black-ish