As it did with season one, ABC’s “Black-ish” is wrapping up season two with a bang. During the finale, a rundown Dre (Anthony Anderson) falls asleep during a marathon of the popular’ 70s sitcom, “Good Times.” He then enters a dream where the Johnson family turns into the Evans clan, reports Variety.
Although paying homage to the classic Norman Lear comedy was not without its challenges, creator Kenya Barris (a huge fan of Lear) tells Variety the experience was a positive thing for the cast and crew. “Because we knew we were going to try to go out big, it added a little bit of energy when we were sort of dragging,” Barris said. “There’s a little bit of fun happening. It’s almost like a wrap party.”
Given that the popular series is shot single-cam, the writers, crew and cast had to adjust. “It was not only multi-cam jokes, it was multi-cam jokes from the ‘70s, so we had to sort of match that, but make sure they played for today,” said Barris.
While the Johnsons portray a wealthy family, one message Barris was adamant about getting across, was the long lost image of families that aren’t well-to-do. “You don’t see the working class” on TV, Barris said. “Where is the blue-collar family? What happened to ‘Roseanne,’ where is ‘All in the Family’?”
Barris promised the tribute will offer a view that connects both families, despite their drastically different walks of life. “[‘Black-ish’] is about family, and ultimately that’s what ‘Good Times’ was about,” Barris continued. “No matter what they were going through, they always fell back to depending on the love of their family, and that’s the connection between those two shows.”
The last time we wrote about “Black-ish,” Ross and the crew paid tribute to “The Cosby Show.” During the episode, Dre, revealed he’s always admired the Huxtables. “There’s something to seeing a Black doctor and Black lawyer living in a loving marriage, raising happy and stable children with no one questioning it.”
Known for tackling controversial topics like police brutality and cultural assimilation, the series recent tribute segments are a breath of fresh air. “Black-ish” airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. EST on ABC. Will you be watching? Sound off in the comment section below.
