Kenya Barris created Black-ish, a sitcom on ABC about a black family trying to forge a new life in a white upper-class neighborhood.
Father, Dre Johnson is worried his family will lose their cultural identity and struggles to hold onto their heritage. However, with kids in school and a baby on the way, he learns that is harder than expected.
Black-ish is also a show that has no problem touching on racism and social issues in America, and it does so regardless of what others might think, as it proved when Barris fought to maintain an important episode titled Please, Baby, Please, which Disney tried to bury.
After a seventh season that almost didn’t make the 2020 fall schedule, ABC has renewed Black-ish for one last season.
Here is everything we know so far about Black-ish Season 8.
- Updated on November 9, 2021: Release date added with a first-look trailer.
This article provides everything that is known about Black-ish Season 8 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s dig down into what is known so far.
Is there going to be a Season 8 of Black-ish?
The Hollywood Reporter revealed in May that ABC agreed to renew Black-ish for an eighth and final season.
Kenya Barris revealed the news on his Instagram account with a video, as well.
“In this day and age it is rare to get to decide when your show should come to an end, and we are grateful along with ABC to be able to make this final season exactly what we’d hoped for — and to do it with the entire and AMAZINGLY STELLAR cast coming back to close this chapter out with us the right way!” Barris wrote on Instagram.
Release date latest: When does Black-ish Season 8 come out?
There is no word on when Black-ish will return for its seventh season.
In 2020-21, ABC originally left it off the fall schedule and only planned for 15 episodes. Thanks to lobbying by the cast and creative team, ABC changed its mind and increased the total to 21 episodes, starting on October 21, 2020.
In four of the show’s seasons, it premiered at the end of September, while it showed up in October in the other three. Expect the final eighth season to show up sometime between the end of September and the middle of October this year.
Barris spoke about how much Black-ish changed his life.
“This show has changed my life in so many ways and I am so proud of the conversations we’ve started along the way,” Barris wrote. “None of this would have been possible without our audience and supporters, who have championed the show every step of the journey; allowing us to change not just the narrative of Black Families, but of Family, Culture, and the World in general.
“All the while allowing us to talk about things that people were not supposed to talk about, period, and especially on a network television comedy.”
The final season of black-ish will premiere on January 4, 2022.
Here is a look at the final season of black-ish, with a discussion by the cast:
Black-ish Season 8 cast updates
The entire cast should be back for the final season.
This includes Anthony Anderson as Dre Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Marcus Scribner as Andre Johnson Jr., Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, and Laurence Fishburne as Pops.
Also returning is Jenifer Lewis as Ruby, Peter Mackenzie as Mr. Stevens, Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy, and Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy.
Black-ish Season 8 spoilers
Black-ish has been a massive success for ABC. The series has not only been a top 10 comedy for every season, but it also spawned spin-off series in Mixed-ish and Grown-ish, and a third possible entry in Old-ish might be coming soon.
The comedy has never shied away from sensitive subjects. In the seventh season alone, it addressed the pandemic, voting, systemic racism, and the movement for social justice and equality.
This also led to Kenya Barris cutting his ties with Disney and ABC.
In 2018, the Black-ish episode Please, Baby, Please was not released on ABC as part of the show’s season. The episode had Dre (Anthony Anderson) telling his infant son Devante a bedtime story about his first year on Earth.
The episode offered political allegory (an animated fairy tale about a character named The Shady King) and actuality (news footage of Donald Trump, the Charlottesville attacks, and the NFL kneeling protests).
“When you’re putting a baby to sleep, you’re trying to soothe whatever anxieties they’re having,” Barris said. “So, this was about me trying to pat the butt of the country and soothe people.”
Spike Lee did the voice over.
ABC refused to air the episode, which angered not only Barris but also star Anthony Anderson, who said ABC approved the script and paid for everything before shelving it.
“I don’t know what those conversations were, but we entered into this partnership with the understanding that we would be able to tell the stories that we wanted to tell,” Edward said.
After a long debate, Disney finally released the episode on Hulu.
However, Barris was angry and he negotiated an early exit from ABD and signed a new deal with Netflix, where he created the series Black AF.
However, Barris kept in contact with Disney and he will get one last season of Black-ish on ABC.
ABC has yet to announce when Black-ish Season 8 will premiere.