Black-ish Star Tracee Ellis Ross Explains What Makes It A Great Sitcom

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross shares her perspective on what makes it a great sitcom. The 49-year-old actress has played Rainbow Johnson in the series since season 1 premiered in 2014. Created by Kenya Barris, Black-ish depicts the lives of the upper-class Johnson family as they navigate a number of cultural and sociopolitical issues.

Ross stars in the series alongside Anthony Anderson, who plays her on-screen husband Dre Johnson. The pair are joined by fellow co-stars Yara Shadidi, Jenifer Lewis, Marsai Martin, Miles Brown, Marcus Scribner, and Laurence Fishburne. Having boasted a hugely successful seven seasons and garnering at least one Golden Globe award for the performance of Ross, Black-ish is finally airing its final season 8. The show’s positive reception inspired at least two spinoffs, Mixed-ish and Grown-ish, with the latter currently enjoying season 4. A further spinoff entitled Old-ish was also meant to be in development, however, progress on the show has reportedly come to a halt.

Speaking during an interview on the YouTube series Hot Ones, Ross has revealed what she believes makes Black-ish a great sitcom. “I think it’s when you care about the people,” she said, explaining that Black-ish avoided trivialising her character’s strong romantic relationship with Anderson’s Dre. Going on to describe its realism as “the beauty of the show,” Ross said it was “built into the DNA” of the series to address serious social and political issues in a comedic way. Check out her full comments below:

“I think it’s when you care about the people. So, I was really drawn to this couple because they actually loved and liked each other. Because so often sitcom couples are based on eye-rolling and like you hate your partner. But that wasn’t the case with Bow and Dre, and so it was really intriguing to me … I think that was the beauty of the show, and I think we earned those moments and it was really built into the DNA of our show that we were able to kind of… I mean if you list the topics, the themes of our episodes you’d be like, ‘That’s not a comedy. I’m not sure. Police brutality? Postpartum depression?’ And I think we did, we earned that stuff because it was anchored in reality. You know, it’s a segue into the rings but it’s like you can take in so much more. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, you know. When you’re not being punched in the face, when you’re laughing, you can actually take stuff in.”

Black-ish has long been praised by fans and critics alike for its handling and portrayal of highly sensitive issues. The show’s courage in covering serious and relevant topics despite any possible controversy (namely its season 4 episode, “Please, Baby, Please”) has functioned as a key selling point for Black-ish for several years, providing an equally relatable and educational source of entertainment. In addition, the on-screen chemistry demonstrated by the main cast, most notably between Anderson and Ross, has helped to foster a far more authentic viewing experience that has been celebrated by critics.

Though Black-ish season 8 may mark the conclusion of the series, a potential for further spinoffs remains. Nevertheless, it seems likely given the show’s blatant success, that series creator Barris could be approached for further projects of a similar style and nature. Regardless of whether his next work holds any connection to the Black-ish universe, Barris has obviously found a winning formula for future sitcoms that current fans of the ABC hit are sure to be drawn to.

Source: Hot Ones