Black-ish

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 an anesthesiologist who was raised by hippies. Her alma mater is Brown University.
• Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson (starring seasons 1–3; recurring seasons 4–present), Dre and Rainbow's 18-year-old daughter. She is the attractive, popular, stylish, and socially active member of the Johnson family. She is generally just as shallow as her father, though to a different angle. She left the main cast at the end of season 3 to star in her own spin-off series Grown-ish.
• Marcus Scribner as Andre "Junior" Johnson Jr., Dre and Rainbow's 17-year-old son. He is a so-called "nerd" who is confused by the world around him. Junior typically lacks teenage savvy and is often viewed disdainfully by his more shallow and self-aggrandizing father and siblings.
• Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Dre and Rainbow's upbeat 11-year-old son, fraternal twin of Diane, who idolizes his father.
• Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, Dre and Rainbow's 11-year-old daughter, fraternal twin of Jack, who considers herself smarter and more mature than her twin brother.
• Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy, Dre's eccentric co-worker and adulthood best friend. Also a part of the main cast of Grown-ish alongside Yara Shahidi (recurring seasons 1–3; starring season 4–present)
• Jenifer Lewis as Ruby Johnson (recurring season 1; starring season 2–present), Dre's mother.^[8]
• Jeff Meacham as Josh Oppenhol (recurring season 1, 3–present; starring season 2), Dre's co-worker.
• Peter Mackenzie as Leslie Stevens (recurring seasons 1–2; starring season 3–present), Dre's boss and co-owner of Stevens & Lido.

Recurring cast

• Laurence Fishburne as Earl "Pops" Johnson, Dre's father.^[9][10][11]
• Raven-Symoné as Rhonda Johnson, Dre's lesbian sister
• Faizon Love as Sha, Dre's male best friend since childhood
• Tyra Banks as Gigi Franklin, Dre's female best friend since childhood.
• Nicole Sullivan as Janine, the Johnsons' culturally clueless neighbor.
• 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.
• Regina Hall as Vivian, Andre and Rainbow's nanny.
• Daveed Diggs as Johan Jones, Rainbow's brother.
• Nelson Franklin as Connor Stevens, Leslie Stevens' son.
• Diane Farr as Rachel, Stevens & Lido's HR rep.
• Rashida Jones as Santamonica Johnson, Rainbow's sister.
• Marla Gibbs as Grandma Johnson, Dre's grandmother.
• Trevor Jackson as Aaron, Zoey's college friend.
• Anna Deavere Smith as Alicia, Rainbow, Santamonica and Johan's mother
• Beau Bridges as Paul Johnson, Rainbow, Santamonica and Johan’s father. He dies offscreen in the season 4 finale.
• Issac Ryan Brown as Young Dre.
• Annelise Grace as Megan, Junior's girlfriend.

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.^[13] On January 16, 2014, ABC greenlit the pilot episode.^[14] Two weeks later, Larry Wilmore joined the show as showrunner.^[15] In mid-February, Laurence Fishburne was cast as the father of Anderson's character, and Tracee Ellis Ross signed on as the female lead.^[16][17][18]

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.^[19]

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

On March 3, 2016, ABC renewed the series for a third season.^[20]

On May 10, 2017, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season.^[21]

On May 11, 2018, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season.

Spin-off

The 23rd episode of the third season, "Liberal Arts", functioned as a backdoor pilot for a proposed spin-off of the same title, starring Yara Shahidi as her character, Zoey Johnson, goes to college away from the family. Other cast members in the pilot and proposed series were Chris Parnell, Mallory Sparks, Matt Walsh, and Trevor Jackson.^[22][23][24]

In early May 2017, ABC passed on the pilot, but its cable sister channel Freeform was in negotiations to move the project there.^[25] On May 19, 2017, Freeform officially ordered 13 episodes of the spin-off, now under the tentative title College-ish.^[26] In August 2017, the series changed its title to Grown-ish, and added Francia Raisa, Jordan Buhat and Chloe x Halle as cast members.^[27] The series's pilot premiered on January 3, 2018. Parnell and Jackson reprised their roles from the backdoor pilot, while Emily Arlook was also added as Nomi, replacing the character Miriam played by Mallory Sparks.^[28] The series has been renewed for a second season.^[29]

Nielsen ratings

Critical response

Black-ish has been met with generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives season 1 an approval 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."^[42] Metacritic gave season 1 a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[43] 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.

On Rotten Tomatoes, season 4 holds an approval rating of 100% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.67/10. The site's consensus states, "black-ish continues to push boundaries, but with a much more celebratory tone that seeks to educate as readily as it entertains."^[44]

Anthony Anderson's performance was met with critical acclaim, earning him multiple nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Accolades

Racism

Black-ish addresses not only the racism that the Johnsons face as an upper-middle class African-American family, but also includes the racism African Americans from a variety of backgrounds face in America. The "Pilot" episode starts off the series by introducing Dre's fear that his children are too assimilated to their primarily white surroundings and are losing their black culture. The episode also addresses the racism African Americans face in the workplace when Dre gets excited for a promotion at his advertising agency, which turns out to be for Senior Vice President of the Urban Division. In response, Dre questions, "Did they just put me in charge of black stuff?" This episode raises the question of where the line is drawn so that you are not defined by your race but your culture still remains relevant.^[71]

LGBT

In the 22nd episode, "Please Don't Ask, Please Don't Tell". Dre's younger sister, Rhonda (Raven-Symoné), is introduced. Rhonda is a lesbian but never officially came out to her family. Family members just gradually figured it out because of Rhonda's live-in girlfriend, however, no one ever acknowledges it. Andre admits that homosexuality is a topic that most African Americans prefer to avoid, due to homophobia, which is why he never discusses it with his sister. This leads to Rhonda not inviting any of her family members to her wedding and Andre finally talking to Rhonda about her sexuality.^[73]

Police brutality

In the 40th episode, "Hope", the show tackles police brutality and Black Lives Matter as the family watches the news reporting about an unarmed young, black man's fatal run-in with police. Although the case was fictional, many real names, such as Freddie Gray and Sandra Bland, were included in the family's discussion. The debate format of the episode was able to address both sides of the situation and not completely villainize the police force. The format also allowed for perspectives from different generations (except for the youngest twins), backgrounds, and ideologies. The end of the episode revolved around a message of hope and the importance of protests, discussion, and attitudes when people are faced with tragedies from police brutality, assassinations, etc.^[74]

Election of Donald Trump

In January 2017, the 60th episode, "Lemons", the show tackles the issue of the 2016 presidential election. It features conversations with the Johnson family and at Dre's work about the election of Donald Trump as president. The episode originally aired a few weeks prior to Trump's inauguration.^[75]