Black-ish is at the forefront of of a new era of populist, ethnically diverse programming. Photo / Supplied
Black-ish is at the forefront of of a new era of populist, ethnically diverse programming. Photo / Supplied
Race can be a touchy topic, but a new US comedy finds its funny aspects and brings them out into the light, writes Dominic Corry
Black-ish, which premieres tonight on TV2 at 8pm, is the most successful new American comedy in years and is already on its way to being a bona fide cultural phenomenon.
Anthony Anderson (Transformers, The Departed) stars as Andre Johnson, an African-American advertising executive trying to provide his three young children with a sense of cultural identity in their predominantly white environment. Tracee Ellis Ross (daughter of Diana Ross) plays his wife and Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) plays Andre's father, Pops.
Addressing race and culture with a casual frankness that feels long overdue on mainstream television, Black-ish is cited, with TV2 stablemates How To Get Away With Murder (Tuesdays at 8.30pm) and mega-hit Empire (premiering soon), as being at the forefront of a new era of populist, ethnically diverse programming.
Also, Kiwi actress Kimberley Crossman, quite possibly the whitest person in the world, turns up in a future episode.
When Living gets the chance to speak to Fishburne and Anderson about the show in Los Angeles, the conversation gets off to an interesting start - both men are aware of our country's national rugby team and proceed to helpfully explain what we're talking about to producers Kenya Barris and Larry Wilmore.
"The All Blacks is a rugby team in New Zealand. Bad ass mother-hmmms," explains Anderson, who clearly knows his Antipodean sports.
"Dangerous men. Dangerous men, the All Blacks," contributes Fishburne.
In stark contrast to his generally stern cinematic presence, Fishburne is relentlessly genial and displays a kooky sense of humour. It's a side of the actor's personality that is difficult to imagine ever finding an outlet on his other current television series, the thoroughly dark Hannibal.
"It's not that comedy is hard," says Fishburne. "It's just it's not what I'm known for. I don't do a lot of it. I haven't done a lot of it. And so I was a little uncertain about whether I could pull it off. But the good news is I have Anthony to work with, I have Tracee to work with, I have Kenya and Larry."
Anderson chimes in: "And the thing about our show is it's not set-up, set-up, set-up, joke, you know. The comedy is coming out of the truth and the situation.
"We don't have a laugh track because we don't need to tell you when to laugh. We don't know when you're going to laugh. It's going to affect you all differently. But, well, yeah, we hope you laugh."
Wilmore, who is balancing his behind-the-scenes role on Black-ish with his new job as the host of The Nightly Show on Comedy Central, believes Black-ish has a better chance of succeeding outside the US than its cultural focus might suggest.
"Our director, James Griffiths, is from England." says Wilmore. "He's a Brit, and when he read Kenya's script he said how much he really related to it, as a Brit and someone who had gone through some of the same things with his own father, you know, some of those identity and culture issues."
Adds Barris: "One of the reasons we chose James is because we wanted someone who was outside of the culture to be able to see it, filter it, understand it and speak to everyone.
"Our boss, Paul Lee, as a Brit, has said, 'You know, everyone else in the world is talking about our cultural differences and things we're doing in America, except us'."
