Another corner of the
Black-ish world might soon come to life on the small screen. Building off of successful spinoffs
Grown-ish and
Mixed-ish, ABC is now interested in potentially ordering up a fourth instalment in the franchise,
Old-ish.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC is in development on the potential series, which would be a Pops and Ruby-centric show starring Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis. On
Black-ish, the pair play the separated parents of Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson). If the series moves forward then it would follow Pops and Ruby trying to give their love story a second chance. To do that they’ll move to a gentrifying neighbourhood in Los Angeles, where they meet a slew of new characters designed to represent the new and old faces of the community.Kenya Barris, the man behind
Black-ish, would be a writer and executive producer on the series. That would be a big deal for fans of the creative, since he left his overall deal with ABC Studios in 2018 in order to create shows for Netflix (like the recently renewed
#BlackAF). His severed ties with ABC also came on the heels of reported behind-the-scenes strife over creative decisions, something that became public when ABC refused to air the political episode of
Black-ish, “Please, Baby, Please.” The fully shot episode only just made its U.S. debut on Hulu this past August.“We were one year post-election and coming to the end of a year that left us, like many Americans, grappling with the state of our country and anxious about its future. Those feelings poured onto the page, becoming 22 minutes of television that I was, and still am, incredibly proud of,”
Barris said in a statement at the time. “'Please, Baby, Please' didn’t make it to air that season and, while much has been speculated about its contents, the episode has never been seen publicly… until now.”If
Old-ish goes ahead, Lewis will also produce and Fishburne—who is an executive producer on
Black-ish—will executive produce. Fishburne has been a recurring character on the Emmy-nominated series from the beginning, and has appeared in more than 60 episodes. Lewis, meanwhile, was promoted to series regular in the second season when the character moved in with Dre and his wife Rainbow “Bow” (Tracee Ellis Ross). There, her interactions with Bow and the rest of the family lead to lots of comedic situations and different viewpoints, which is something that the original would definitely miss were she to move out of the family home.Family comedy
Black-ish debuted in 2014 and has been nominated for several Emmys since. Both Ellis Ross and Anderson are up for best Actress and Actor in a Comedy at the 2020 ceremony. Ellis Ross won that trophy at the 2017 Golden Globes, the series itself also won a Peabody Award in 2016, and both the series and the actors have won several Image Awards over the years.
Black-ish’s first spinoff,
Grown-ish, revolves around the eldest Johnson child Zoey (Yara Shahidi) as she heads off to college. It debuted on ABC’s youth-based network Freeform. Then
Mixed-ish, the recently-renewed sitcom revolving around Bow’s younger days growing up in a mixed family, made its debut on ABC in 2019.[video_embed id='1999240']RELATED: Yara Shahidi signs major deal & launches production company[/video_embed]The network also renewed
Black-ish for a seventh season, which was originally supposed to return to ABC’s schedule in Winter 2021. Then
ABC decided, in conversation with Barris, that it was “important to tell these stories” about Black America on broadcast television “during this moment in time.” And so it moved up the show’s return to this fall.Over its run,
Black-ish has tackled topics like Juneteenth, police brutality, postpartum depression, the n-word, and present-day politics. “
Black-ish has a long-standing history of shining a light on current events and honouring Black voices through the lens of the Johnson family,” ABC boss Karey Burke said in a statement in June. “After speaking with Kenya and our creative partners, we decided it was important to tell these meaningful stories during this moment in time, so we are adjusting our premiere schedule and are committed to doing whatever it takes to bring this series back as soon as we possibly can. Following recent monumental events, it’s imperative that the dialogue continues and empowers viewers to raise their voices, and there is no other show that does that like
Black-ish.”[video_embed id='2031334']Before you go: Ellen DeGeneres to address backstage drama[/video_embed]
