Popular ABC sitcom Black-ish, which follows the lives of the Johnson family as they face a variety of racial, political and societal issues, has already received two successful spinoffs. The first, Grown-ish, which debuted in 2017, starred Yara Shahidi (The Sun is Also a Star, Smallfoot) as the Johnson’s oldest daughter, Zoey, as she entered college. The second, 2019’s Mixed-ish, is a prequel exploring the childhood of Dr. Rainbow “Bow” Johnson (portrayed by industry newcomer Arica Himmel as a childhood and Girlfriends’ and The High Note’s Tracee Ellis Ross as an adult) and the triumphs and struggles of growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s. Now, ABC has officially announced that a third spinoff is on the way according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Titled Old-ish, this third spinoff will be helmed by film and theater superstar Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix and John Wick franchises) as Earl “Pops” Johnson, the aging patriarch of the Johnson family. Jenifer Lewis (Five, The Princess and the Frog) will co-star as Earl’s wife Ruby. The show will center around the elderly couple moving to a gentrified Los Angeles neighborhood as they try to rekindle their romance in the process.
Kenya Barris, the original creator of Black-ish, will write for the show and serve alongside Fishburne as co-executive producer. This announcement came as a surprise to fans, as Harris had previously left ABC due to creative disagreements. Barris has recently worked primarily with Netflix, creating and starring (as himself) in the comedy series #BlackAF. The series creator’s return hopefully signals a reconciliation between Barris and ABC.
No official release date for Old-ish has currently been announced. While the series is known to be in development, it is not clear whether filming will have to be delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as has been the case for a number of films and TV productions.
