FEATURE:
black-ish at Ten
Music Featured in the Acclaimed U.S. Series
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ON 24th September, 2014…
one of the greatest comedies of modern times premiered on ABC. Created by Kenya Barris, the single-camera comedy focused on an upper-middle-class African-American family. The incredible black-ish ended in 2022. It is one of my favourite comedies ever. So sharp, ambitious and important. Some incredibly powerful episodes. The Johnson family were led by Andre/‘Dre’ (Anthony Anderson), a successful advertising executive. His wife Rainbow, an anaesthesiologist, was played by Tracee Ellis Ross. Trying to keep their Black identities in a prominently white neighbourhood in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, many episodes revolved around socio-political issues. The Johnson children consisted of Zoey (Yara Shahidi), Andre Jr., a.k.a. ‘Junior’ (Marcus Scribner) and twins Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane (Marsai Martin). A well-rounded, connected and hugely talented cast made this show a huge success. Across its eight seasons, black-ish covered so much ground. So many highlights. My favourite episodes include Hair Day and Purple Rain. The latter concerns the Johnson family discussing Prince and what he means to them. Jack and Diane had not heard of Prince, so it was down to the rest of the family – including grandparents Earl (Laurence Fishburne) and Ruby (Jenifer Lewis) – to argue the case and explore his incredible impact and legacy. With each character stepping into a particular Prince song to tell the story, it is an emotional, funny and stylish episode that does justice to the late, great Prince.
I am sure that there will be a few features and celebrations of black-ish on its tenth anniversary. Even though the series ended a couple of years ago, it is important to recognise its legacy and place in comedy history. You can read more about the series here. I would recommend that you check out features such as this and this. Let’s hope that there is a reunion in the future. This feature that discussed the shows legacy highlighted how it took big swings to make big points. Huge and often relatively under-discussed subjects brought to the fore. A comedy that managed to mix its amazing humour with heart and social/political discussion, I would urge people to watch it. As this is a music blog, I will focus on the music. To mark ten years since black-ish was first aired, I have compiled a playlist of songs that featured in the series. There are a couple of Prince songs in the mix! I really miss black-ish. It is so easy to become attached to the characters and escape into that world. Some of the episodes genuinely moved me. Its 175 are among the best in comedy history. I know that there will be celebration on the official black-ish Twitter and Instagram. I wanted to provide a music salute to…
A much-missed and extraordinary comedy.