Black-ish

Black-ish
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Kenya Barris
Starring	Anthony Anderson Tracee Ellis Ross Yara Shahidi Marcus Scribner Miles Brown Marsai Martin Jeff Meacham Jenifer Lewis Peter Mackenzie
Narrated by	Anthony Anderson
Theme music composer	Transcenders
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	56 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Anthony Anderson Brian Dobbins Helen Sugland Jonathan Groff Kenya Barris Larry Wilmore Paul Young Laurence Fishburne Peter Principato Tom Russo
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	ABC Studios Khalabo Ink Society Cinema Gypsy Productions Principato-Young Entertainment
Distributor	Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	1080p (16:9 HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1 with Descriptive Video Service on SAP channel
Original release	September 24, 2014 (2014-09-24) – present
External links
Official website

Black-ish (stylized as blackish) is an American sitcom starring Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross that debuted on ABC.^[1][2] The single-camera comedy centers on an upper-middle-class African-American family.^[3] The series premiered on September 24, 2014.^[4][5][6] On March 3, 2016, the show was renewed for a third season, which premiered on September 21, 2016.^[7] Since the second season premiere, the show has received positive reviews, receiving many awards and nominations including an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series and a TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Anthony Anderson as Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr., an advertising executive who tries to pass on some of his urban culture to his seemingly uninterested children. His alma mater is Howard University.
• Tracee Ellis Ross as Dr. Rainbow "Bow" Johnson, who is Dre's wife. She is a mixed-race surgeon who was raised by hippies. Her alma mater is Brown University.
• Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Dre and Rainbow's 17-year-old daughter. She is the attractive, popular, entitled, stylish, and socially active member of the Johnson family. She is typically apathetic to any dealings with her family and is always treated as the world's most perfect teenager.
• Marcus Scribner as Andre ("Junior") Johnson Jr., Dre and Rainbow's 16-year-old son. He is a so-called "nerd" who is confused by the world around him.
• Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Dre and Rainbow's upbeat 8-year-old son, fraternal twin of Diane, who idolizes his father.
• Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, Dre and Rainbow's 8-year-old daughter, fraternal twin of Jack, who considers herself smarter and more mature than her twin brother.
• Jenifer Lewis as Ruby Johnson (recurring season 1, season 2-present), Dre's mother.^[8]
• Jeff Meacham as Josh Oppenhol (recurring seasons 1-2, season 3-present), Dre's co-worker.
• Peter Mackenzie as Leslie Stevens (recurring seasons 1-2; season 3), Dre's boss and co-owner of Stevens & Lido

Recurring cast

• Laurence Fishburne as Earl "Pops" Johnson, Dre's father^[9][10][11]
• Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy, Dre's co-worker
• Raven-Symoné as Rhonda Johnson, Dre's sister who is a lesbian but is not yet comfortable discussing her sexuality
• Catherine Reitman as Lucy, Dre's co-worker.
• Wanda Sykes as Daphne Lido, ex-wife of Phillip Lido and new co-owner of Stevens & Lido
• Allen Maldonado as Curtis Miller Jr., Dre's co-worker.
• Elle Young as Sharon Duckworth, Rhonda's fiancée.
• Daveed Diggs as Johan, Rainbow's brother.

Episodes

Production

Development and casting

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.^[12] On January 16, 2014, ABC greenlit the pilot episode.^[13] Two weeks later, Larry Wilmore joined the show as showrunner.^[14] In mid-February, Laurence Fishburne was cast as the father of Anderson's character, and Tracee Ellis Ross signed on as the female lead.^[15][16][17]

Filming

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.^[18]

On May 7, 2015, ABC renewed the series for a second season.

On March 3, 2016, ABC renewed the series for a third season.

Reception

Nielsen ratings

Critical response

Black-ish has been met with generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives season 1 a rating of 86% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's consensus states, "Although it seems uncertain of its target audience, Black-ish ingratiates with a diverse cast and engaging cultural issues."^[26] Metacritic gave season 1 a score of 77 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[27] Rolling Stone's December 4, 2014 issue called it "one of the only new network comedies worth watching," praising in particular Laurence Fishburne's performance. Anthony Anderson's performance was also met with critical acclaim, earning him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Awards and nominations

Season 1

Season 2

References

External links

• Official website
• Black-ish at the Internet Movie Database
• Black-ish at TV.com