One of the Greatest Sitcoms of the 21st Century Is Quietly Surging on Netflix Charts

Netflix has often been the platform where long-running series, particularly Friends and Suits, find a new lease on life. Black-ish is the latest series to receive this treatment, surging into the streamer's Top 10 list in its first week on Netflix. That's an impressive feat, but it's also unsurprising given Black-ish's history. During its nearly decade-long run on ABC, it garnered near-universal critical acclaim and helped build a television empire for series creator Kenya Barris​​​​​​. This success underscores that Black-ish is one of the few sitcoms that have made an impact in television's modern age.

Part of Black-ish's success lies in its premise, which follows advertising executive Andre "Dre" Johnson (Anthony Anderson) and his familyas they move into a predominantly white neighborhood​​​​. True to its title, the series often focuses on how Drew, his wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) — or "Bow" for short — and their family navigate issues of race and social status​​​. Tackling those issues while maintaining the standard sitcom humor would be a tricky balance for any series. Black-ish more than succeeds on both fronts, thanks to the approach Barris took to the material.

'Black-ish' Knew How To Balance Humor and Serious Issues

Black-ish pulls off its balance of humor and social commentary thanks to the dynamics among its cast. While Dre and Bow attempt to instill certain values in their children, Dre also butts heads with his father, Earl (Laurence Fishburne, who also served as an executive producer on Black-ish), and his mother, Ruby (Jenifer Lewis), whose parenting approach differs from his. There's also the fact that Dre's co-workers are mostly white, so he often ends up explaining certain things to his boss, Leslie Stevens (Peter Mackenzie), and Josh Oppenhol (Jeff Meachum). Unsurprisingly, Leslie and Josh either miss the point completely or try to play devil's advocate, which only makes things worse for Dre.

Although Black-ish gathered praise for its willingness to tackle thorny issues, it also found itself at the center of controversy with one episode. The Season 4 episode "Please Baby Please", which features Dre reading a bedtime story to his newborn son Devante, was apparently pulled from ABC's schedule for being "too political" due to the fact that Dre's story is a cleverly constructed takedown of Donald Trump. Kenya Barris would later chalk up the disruption to apparent "creative differences" between himself and ABC.

"Given our creative differences, neither ABC nor I were happy with the direction of the episode and mutually agreed not to air it...Black-ish is a show that has spoken to all different types of people and brought them closer as a community and I’m so proud of the series."

"Please Baby Please" eventually became available to stream on Hulu, but by then, Barris had left ABC for a lucrative deal with Netflix. Prior to this, he'd help develop two spinoff series that would cement Black-ish's status in the sitcom world.

The Success of 'Black-ish' Led to a Successful Spinoff

The penultimate episode of Black-ish Season 3, "Liberal Arts", sees Dre's oldest child Zoey (Yara Shahidi) take center stage as she starts attending college. "Liberal Arts" is essentially a backdoor pilot for the spinoff series Grown-ish, which took the Black-ish approach to life in college. While elements of Black-ish remain throughout the series (including the narration, which is performed by Zoey instead of Dre), it takes a unique approach as Zoey grows up in a different time than her father or grandparents. Grown-ish would even undergo its own major shift in its final two seasons, as it shifted focus to Dre's second-oldest Junior (Marcus Scribner).

Less successful was the short-lived Mixed-ish, which focused on Bow's life growing up in a mixed family; the series was canceled after two seasons. Another spinoff, Old-ish, never saw the light of day. Despite these ups and downs, Black-ish remains a major success, and now a whole new audience is discovering what makes this series so special.