Black-ish is being restored to its traditional place in ABC’s fall lineup, per The Hollywood Reporter. The show was originally set to air mid-season, but replaced Kari Lizer‘s Call Your Mother, which will now take Black-ish‘s mid-season spot. Black-ish will air in its original slot on Tuesdays at 8:30pm, starting in September.
The show was created by Kenya Harris and is meant to mirror his own life. Since the creation of Black-ish there have been two spin-offs: Mixed-ish and Grownish. Harris has also produces and stars in #blackAF, which premiered in 2020 and is similar to Black-ish with respect to its premise.
Black-ish is about Don Johnson, played by Anthony Anderson (The Departed, Kangaroo Jack), his wife Rainbow, played by Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends, Reed Between the Lines), and his children, played by Marsai Martin (Little, An American Girl Story: Melody 1963), Marcus Scribner (The Good Dinosaur, Wedding Band), and Miles Brown (Boy Genius, The Thundermans). They are a wealthy black family, yet Don worries that they have assimilated too much into American white culture. As ABC’s official description of the show reads, it is “a fun yet bold look at one man’s determination to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family.”
ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said of Black-ish‘s move to the Fall: “Black-ish has a long-standing history of shining a light on current events and honoring Black voices through the lens of the Johnson family. After speaking with Kenya [Barris] 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” (The Hollywood Reporter).
This decision comes during a time in the United States in which thousands of people are taking to the streets to protest police brutality and prejudice against black people in America in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement.