‘Black-ish’ creator and showrunner detail series finale and show’s legacy

[This story contains spoilers for the series finale of ABC’s Black-ish.]

Johnson’s family goes in and out.

After eight seasons on ABC, black in color On Tuesday, they said goodbye to an episode that took the show’s family to new stages in their lives: Drew (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow (Tracey Ellis Ross) decide to sell their home in Sherman Oaks and move to a predominantly black, and Los Angeles’ stunning View Park. Pope (Lawrence Fishburn) and Ruby (Jennifer Lewis) visit America in a trailer, while twins Diane (Marsay Martin) and Jackie (Miles Brown) head off to college.

While the journey is bittersweet, the Johnsons also have a jazz funeral at their home, which turns into a fun party as they leave the complex.

“We wanted to say, ‘Hey, there’s a way to confront some of the buildings we started on this show,'” said host Courtney Lilly. hollywood reporter. “[Things] Like if she had to live in this neighborhood because of the schools, or because she had to live in this neighborhood because of that, really a challenge in this building and see if we could alleviate one of her anxieties that was specific. [Dre’s] A character, not for all black people or for America or anything, but for this character that we spent seven seasons with at the time. How do we give them little things and especially when we prepare to raise their last child?

I think it was Laura [Gutin, a writer and exec producer] Someone who somehow got the idea to go home, and once he does, yes, we’re going to a jazz funeral. And then we have something fun.”

The feelings shown on screen reflect the feelings of the people hosting the show (and are, in fact, the second-tier additions behind the Johnson family in the funeral scene. black in color Group members). “I think there are a hundred more episodes that I would love to do, but all the books are gone,” said Kenya Barris, the show’s creator. THR. “And I think this is a good time to do that, and we were so happy that we had to think about it. There aren’t many shows. ”

In separate interviews, Barris and Lily discussed how the final season played out. black in color United, the show’s legacy and the future From Franchise at Disney.

Was the finale that aired very close to what you were initially considering in the writers’ room?

Lily absolutely. We started talking about the direction of season seven, because we didn’t know if it was going to be the last season, about what we wanted to do with the Johnson family.

And I think for Dress, for the character, what went into the pilot was the idea that he had a lot of anxiety that forced him to imagine all of black America in his behavior, at work and even at home just because. His neighborhood.

It was as if we knew we were coming. But then, to feel what can still be a party and still be fun: what’s this story? So we used to do that all season. We knew we were. And then you sit and think, visually, how do you transition into an interesting new neighborhood, dramatic or cinematic?

Did knowing that this was the last season change the writing process?

Lily It was totally different for us because black in color It was never a very serious show. Something was going to happen, like in season two, we found out that Bowe was pregnant at the end of the season. So the third season is the pregnancy season. The fourth season is the season of the newborn. There are a few things that were worked on that gave us some arc, but that was never what we were looking for.

So we really tried to get rid of some of the things that were a prerequisite for the show at least in the pilot, designing so that Anthony and the character could make new choices. To do that, we knew we had certain targets, pipe markers, to make sure it worked.

Kenya, you haven’t been a daily show host in a long time, but were you more involved with the show’s finale?

barium I was [before] Fifth season. I think in season five I really took a risk and did what I had to do. Sixth season, I did what I had to do. I think the seventh and eighth seasons would be even deeper. By the end of this year, I was truly immersed in more than ever before. It was difficult because we were working on a pandemic and it wasn’t a real room. And that to me is Death by Comedy. But we had a lot of conversations about the final and how to get to the final.

This season still discusses some of the biggest issues. black in color It’s always self-explanatory, but it was also very personal what Drew and Bowe experienced. How did you get that balance?

barium We tried to go back to the core roots that led to the work on the series and I think we succeeded in some ways. Courtney did a great job on that.

Lily In doing the show, at least the last three seasons I’ve been running, nothing has been left on the table. There was no such thing as “we really wish we could do that”. Because we managed to cover everything. We were very able to cover everything with an awareness of what we were looking for.

And while we were really focused on Dr. to bring you to this last point, [also] Focus on family celebration and general joy. We wanted it to be a fun season.

Was Stevie Wonder’s song “As Always” the choice for the last scene about the Johnson family?

Lily We think about it a lot. And knowing you have the eighth and final season gives you the opportunity to do that. [think ahead]. Once we knew we got it, we could start thinking about what it would be like and start imagining what we want.

One of the things I love about what HBO has done is you’re watching the episode, I’m just going to name the show, you’re watching the episode. girls Or whatever. And whatever happens, they pass out and make music. If this song is doping, you can feel it. I knew then that this was exactly what we wanted to do. That’s a wonderful thing about film and television, it’s both aural and visual. So it was really important what kind of song it was going to be and we had months and months to think about it.

And this is one of the best Stevie Wonder songs that many say because he is the author and musician of Miracle Songs. And there was just one moment where I listened and thought, oh, it must be. Mercy gave us the right to use it. And that’s one of the things that made me feel good as soon as we did it.

black in color it’s over, but created Recently updated for Season 5 on Freeform with some cast changes including Marcus Scribner. black in color, and Courtney and Zakia Alexander occupy the show. Do you think this could help prolong your life?

Lily I’m excited to do this. I was in this world black in colorSo I learn as much as anyone else. I’m happy to continue working with Marcus. He is fantastic. I’m excited about the new actors we’re bringing in because. At any time created It started a few years ago, obviously, it was a story about what college life was like. And I think even in the last four years, again because of the pandemic, the perception of why you go to college, what people get out of the college experience, has changed dramatically. So we have a set of new stories that we can tell.

barium You will see. I think something really interesting is happening on this show. I think every show grows and I think TV, movies or books look like babies. As you say, my son will be the next Michael Jordan and he will become the best pianist, you know what I mean? You don’t know, you have to let the child grow up to be what he’s going to be.

and i heard Old oneWhich follows the story of Pops and Ruby, could it still be a game on Hulu?

barium You understand what I understand. [laughs] You hear the same thing I understand.

Kenya you said before this season started black in color It helped you get the idea that the story would be different from what you thought. How was this show different?

barium I think, in general, what I learned as a writer was something I heard many times from my grandmother: Prepare to exit a conversation differently than you enter. You want the show’s host to know what you want, right? As a show writer, know what you want. At the same time, sometimes someone in the room says something brilliant because there are great people in the room, so catch them. Or, at the same time, society has taken a different direction and the conversation, especially if you’re doing a show about something, the conversation has shifted in some way. And I think that was one of the things I learned on this show, is to make the most of the room.

And what I really discovered is that it’s not true… black in color He never said it’s a point, he said it’s a point, and we have a lot of different people who had a lot of different ways of thinking that all added up to what this show would do, what each episode would be about.

What do you think the series’ legacy will be? How do you want them to be remembered?

Lily Interesting because I’m not a big hereditary person. And to be honest, as a show manager, this is a Kenyan show. And he folded and brought so much and now is the right time for it. I think a lot of what we’re going to see probably in the next 10 or 15 years, there’s going to be comedy writers who grow up watching this show like I did. a different world OR Lonely life OR in bright colors OR Seinfeld. No matter how important this show was and how many times it was talked about, none of this would have happened if it wasn’t insanely funny. This is a really, really funny show. And we work really hard to make it fun.

barium I don’t want to say things that seem too weird, but I think his legacy, I hope, opened up conversations and brought the world a little bit closer.

Edited and compressed interviews.