TV Review: ABC's Blackish

What does it mean to be black in America in the second decade of the 21^st century? ABC’s Blackish explores that with wit and lucidity in a way that no show on television does today. It is nothing, if not fresh with cultural and societal relevance of today’s modern America.

“It’s a far cry from where it all began. That’s why I promised my parents I would get an education, graduate and get myself outta there.” Andre Johnson, played by Anthony Anderson, opens the episode as he rises early to get a jumpstart on his day, narrating where he began, and where he is today. As Andre speaks, we see his large home, his impossibly grand shoe closet, his nice clothes, and we learn that he and his family of six are rare commodities in his mostly white neighborhood.

The pilot serves as a social commentary on how black people, in an effort to achieve the American dream, have left a bit of their culture behind, and along the way, the rest of the world has embraced it, calling it “urban.” He discusses a world where “Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke are R&B Gods. Kim Kardashian is the symbol for big butts, and Asian guys are just unholdable on the dance floor.” As a white woman steals his parking spot, she gets out of the car, gives him the finger and Andre discusses how not that he misses that time, but being the big scary black guy “did have its advantages.”

Executive Producer Laurence Fishburne plays old school father to Anderson’s modern day Dad.  Fishburn’s “Pops” serves as the symbol of the struggle, the roots of son Andre’s life of success, wealth, and privilege. Throughout the episode, Pops makes consistent points, acknowledging how bewildered he is with the way his son runs his family in comparison to the way he ran his own household. Although it is clear that he loves them deeply, it is also clear that he does not understand his grandchildren and their thought processes and ambitions. As a black female in America, I find Fishburne’s character most endearing as some of the things he says in this episode are things my own father has said to me before, cuing how big the generational gap really is.

Andre spins out of control and into a crazed effort to remind his family of their “blackness” after he is named SVP of Urban…yes Urban Development at the ad agency he has worked so hard at, essentially making him in charge of “black stuff.” At dinner,  while Andre rants to his family about his disappointment in the title and what that title really means, he learns how out of touch his kids are with black history. Obama is not the first black president to them – he is the only president they have ever known. This makes light of how “color” has far less meaning to kids today than it did 15 or 20 years ago because of how far African Americans have come as a race, in living the American Dream.  This idea is  made clear again when Andre’s two smallest kids are discussing a little girl in their class, who happens to be the only other black child in the class. They do not identify her as “the black girl,” but as the unfortunate, non-color descript nickname everyone in the class uses to describe her.

As the show takes on these social and political issues, it also, with great success, comically takes on black stereotypes. At dinner, Pops is disgruntled at the un-fried, fried chicken he must consume. When Andre’s oldest son, Andre Jr., (hilariously acted by Marcus Scribner), comes home from field hockey practice, his white friend searches their refrigerator for grape soda because his parents do not buy it.

Every year, new sit-coms come and go, most of them never getting picked up for a second season.  If this were roulette, I would bet on Blackish. It is truthfully written, honestly acted and it sticks. It has heart. I enjoyed my second watch even better than the first. If you’re looking for a new comedy to add to your DVR line up this fall, Blackish is it.