Black-ish Season 8 Updates: It’s hard to imagine Kenya Barris’ sitcom Black-ish has been on the air for more than seven years: it’s been nominated for a plethora of Emmys and Golden Globes, and Tracee Ellis Ross has won a Golden Globe and a TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.
Not only have critics applauded the show; it has consistently ranked high among ABC shows in terms of seasonal ratings, and it is among the top ten in the country in terms of estimated audience size. However, all good things must come to an end, and the network announced in May that the next eighth season will be the final one.
ABC has launched a beautiful new billboard depicting the Johnson family dressed in kaleidoscopic neons in a lovely, hilarious, and vibrant tribute to the show’s first season.
Throughout their eight years on television, the family has grown in front of their fans, as evidenced by the new artwork.
Black-ish Season 8 Character Poster
Indeed, the show has always had one hand on the country’s cultural pulse. In one episode, “Please, Baby Please,” which was notably rejected by the network, Dre, the character played to special acclaim by Anthony Anderson, made some inflammatory words about then-President Trump.
In the episode, dad writes up a bedtime story for his little kid to attempt to calm him down after a terrifying rainstorm, but it gradually turns into a platform for all of the country’s horrors, including the Charlottesville white supremacist march and NFL players kneeling. (The episode has since been made public.)
Barris, who created the show, left ABC in 2018. He’s since landed a deal with MGM to write, direct, and produce a biopic about comic Richard Pryor, which he’ll co-produce with the comedian’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.
In a statement, Barris stated, “The strength and effect of Pryor’s work was the way he performed what he did — with truth and detail that was simultaneously self-aware and self-deprecating, and expressed with an unrivaled amount of vulnerability.” We won’t be able to wait much longer.
