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Oh man, I love that casting news!  I love the concept of his character even more:
 

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“He’s sort of a hipster, entitled kid who gets on Dre’s nerves,” creator and showrunner Kenya Barris said. “He’s constantly on a search for the best conditioner for his hair. He’s probably gone to Penn or Wharton and could have gotten a great-paying job, but he’s trying to find himself. That attitude more than anything makes Dre want to strangle him.”

 

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Here's a recent podcast interview with creator Kenya Barris.

Some things I knew already, but I learned a lot more about Kenya, some of which was good: 

  • He and his wife (who is also named Rainbow) actually got a divorce right before "Black-ish" premiered. They're back together now--and I already knew they're expecting their sixth child--but I don't think they've re-married.
  • Kenya is a lot like Dre--the good and and the bad. He's funny, but he's also silly, he can be selfish, and there's a small but definite streak of sexism coursing through his veins.
  • The episode "The Nod" was based on a real incident with Kenya walking around a TV set with comedian Pete Holmes. And when they passed by a black janitor and Kenya did The Nod, Pete (who is white), was all, "Wait. Do you know him?" And he had to explain The Nod to him.
  • He has some great insights on film and TV making. 
Edited by topanga
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18 hours ago, Dee said:

Jonathan Groff says he wants to cast Maya Rudolph as Johan and Rainbow's sister.

I need this to happen.

I want Maya as Bow's sister who happens to be under the dellusion that she's some huge star because she does karaoke, with Maya doing her Beyonce impression thinly veiled.

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Even more amazing, or disheartening (depending on how you look at it), is that it's been 34 years since the last time a Black woman (Debbie Allen) won in her category.

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10 hours ago, Dee said:

Even more amazing, or disheartening (depending on how you look at it), is that it's been 34 years since the last time a Black woman (Debbie Allen) won in her category.

I have thoughts...but I'm just going to focus on being happy for Tracee's win!

Some people are up in arms because there's an upcoming episode where the Johnson family and Andre's co-workers react to Trump's election. This morning on "Eye Opener," I read a tweet from a Trump supporter saying that Black-ish has just lost a viewer. Somehow I don't think this guy was ever a Black-ish viewer. Or he would have known there were other episodes he wouldn't have liked such as the Black Lives Matter episode and the one where Dre and Rainbow essentially called Republicans racists and couldn't understand how a black person could be part of the Republican party. 

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58 minutes ago, topanga said:

I have thoughts...but I'm just going to focus on being happy for Tracee's win!

Some people are up in arms because there's an upcoming episode where the Johnson family and Andre's co-workers react to Trump's election. This morning on "Eye Opener," I read a tweet from a Trump supporter saying that Black-ish has just lost a viewer. Somehow I don't think this guy was ever a Black-ish viewer. Or he would have known there were other episodes he wouldn't have liked such as the Black Lives Matter episode and the one where Dre and Rainbow essentially called Republicans racists and couldn't understand how a black person could be part of the Republican party. 

Oh man, the comments for that episode thread is going to be... interesting... Hopefully mods are aware of the subject matter of the episode and will be monitoring closely. And yeah, that doesn't seem like someone likely to watch Black-ish. I doubt viewership will be impacted too much. Someone likely to be offended is probably not watching the show to begin with.

Honestly, I am surprised they will be touching on the election so directly in a sitcom, since it has been such a touchy emotional topic for everyone on both sides. Not exactly sitcom material. I wouldn't be surprised if many on both sides sit this one out because of that.

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12 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Oh man, the comments for that episode thread is going to be... interesting... Hopefully mods are aware of the subject matter of the episode and will be monitoring closely. And yeah, that doesn't seem like someone likely to watch Black-ish. I doubt viewership will be impacted too much. Someone likely to be offended is probably not watching the show to begin with.

Honestly, I am surprised they will be touching on the election so directly in a sitcom, since it has been such a touchy emotional topic for everyone on both sides. Not exactly sitcom material. I wouldn't be surprised if many on both sides sit this one out because of that.

Some people also felt that way when the show tackled police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement--they didn't want a serious, "Very Special Episode" to violate the tone and spirit of the show. I personally don't mind it. Yes, this is a comedy, but it's also a comedy that addresses race and some social justice issues. So I like it when real world issues affect the comedy. Even Bow's conflicted feelings about hiring a nanny were very genuine. 

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34 minutes ago, topanga said:

Some people also felt that way when the show tackled police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement--they didn't want a serious, "Very Special Episode" to violate the tone and spirit of the show. I personally don't mind it. Yes, this is a comedy, but it's also a comedy that addresses race and some social justice issues. So I like it when real world issues affect the comedy. Even Bow's conflicted feelings about hiring a nanny were very genuine. 

I agree. As long as it is genuine I like when the show touches on issues. They do a good job of looking at all the nuances and sides of issues. I just hope the election isn't too much of an emotional, touchy issue that they can do it justice while still being entertaining. 

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48 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Oh man, the comments for that episode thread is going to be... interesting... Hopefully mods are aware of the subject matter of the episode and will be monitoring closely. And yeah, that doesn't seem like someone likely to watch Black-ish. I doubt viewership will be impacted too much. Someone likely to be offended is probably not watching the show to begin with.

Honestly, I am surprised they will be touching on the election so directly in a sitcom, since it has been such a touchy emotional topic for everyone on both sides. Not exactly sitcom material. I wouldn't be surprised if many on both sides sit this one out because of that.

I disagree that it's not sitcom material. Norman Lear featured real-world and political topics in sitcoms like "All in the Family" and "Good Times" back in the '70s. In the '80s sitcoms lost their edge and many got so silly I couldn't stand them. "Blackish" is the first sitcom I've watched in years. 

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22 minutes ago, RedHawk said:

I disagree that it's not sitcom material. Norman Lear featured real-world and political topics in sitcoms like "All in the Family" and "Good Times" back in the '70s. In the '80s sitcoms lost their edge and many got so silly I couldn't stand them. "Blackish" is the first sitcom I've watched in years. 

Oh, I didn't mean elections in general. I just meant this past one with all the heightened emotions and tensions around it...

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2 hours ago, topanga said:

This morning on "Eye Opener," I read a tweet from a Trump supporter saying that Black-ish has just lost a viewer. 

What is "Eye Opener?"

Congratulations to TER! She's fantastic.

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4 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

What is "Eye Opener?"

Congratulations to TER! She's fantastic.

Eye Opener is a syndicated morning show that I turn on in the mornings when the kids are getting ready for school and I get ready for work. It has news and weather, like your Good Morning America or Today shows, but Eye Opener a little more aware of what's trending in the worlds of entertainment, social media, technology, etc. It's like Good Morning America for millennials. I'm definitely not a millennial, by the way, but it's a show the kids and I both enjoy. Through Eye Opener, I was introduced to Vines, Pentatonix, and Facebook Live.  Life-changing stuff, I know. 

But we get hard news, too, so it's not all fluff. 

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Impending controversy aside, I'm extremely happy Tracee is finally winning awards (hopefully the Emmy is next).

Never being a huge Girlfriends fan, but enjoying her as performance as Joan, I knew if she got the right opportunity she could, and would, charm the pants off of Middle America, which is exactly what she's doing.

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On 1/9/2017 at 10:24 AM, topanga said:

Some people also felt that way when the show tackled police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement--they didn't want a serious, "Very Special Episode" to violate the tone and spirit of the show. I personally don't mind it. Yes, this is a comedy, but it's also a comedy that addresses race and some social justice issues. So I like it when real world issues affect the comedy. Even Bow's conflicted feelings about hiring a nanny were very genuine. 

Bow's feelings were about a black nanny (who has since disappeared) as I recall.

On 1/9/2017 at 11:56 AM, topanga said:

But we get hard news, too, so it's not all fluff. 

Worth it for Pentatonix (I fell in love when they were first formed for The Sing-Off).

On 1/9/2017 at 10:03 PM, mansonlamps said:

Wow, so there is no room for other points of view <yawn>?  

Yep -- any show on Fox News, or if Breitbart started their own channel or... Plenty of places. 

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Ms. Shahidi seems like a perfectly lovely young woman, but I just don't see anyone building a comedy show around her.  She's okay in a ensemble where they rely on other people to get the laughs, but I haven't seen her display the comedy chops necessary to star in her own show.  That's not to say there are no dormant skills there, but the character of Zoey seems much closer to Denise Huxtable than Whitley Gilbert.  They'd be better off waiting for Junior to go to college and build a show around him.

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I feel the same way. The actress playing Zoey is beautiful and I like the character but not enough to watch a whole show revolving around her. She is almost too much like Denise Huxtable. Honestly, A Different World didn't really take off until Lisa Bonet left the show, she was the weakest link on that show, I'd hate to see the same happen to Zoey. She works much better in an ensemble.

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I'm guessing it's Zoey because the timing is right for a spin-off and she's the right age in the show to move on, and her loss would not have any major adverse effect on the mothership.  And I imagine that the creators will surround her with a more talented cast so she's not actually the anchor, just a stepping off point to get Blackish viewers to check it out.   Hopefully it's as good.   

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On 1/22/2017 at 9:17 AM, Winston9-DT3 said:

I'm guessing it's Zoey because the timing is right for a spin-off and she's the right age in the show to move on, and her loss would not have any major adverse effect on the mothership.

They don't want to end up like Alex on Modern Family where they have to keep coming up with excuses why she's at home and not at school.  They said she was going to one of the HBCUs, right?  So she'd be away anyway.

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20 hours ago, jhlipton said:

They said she was going to one of the HBCUs, right? 

Denise Huxtable went to a historically black college.  I didn't hear that about Zoey.  Bow wants her to go to her alma mater, Brown.  I wonder if they will use a real college, as for Alex on Modern Family, or a fictional one as on A Different World.

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4 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Denise Huxtable went to a historically black college.  I didn't hear that about Zoey.  Bow wants her to go to her alma mater, Brown. 

I had forgotten where Dre wanted her to go (public school in California) and whether she had decided (she hadn't).  I have a memory like a steel trap -- tusted shut!

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47 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

 

4 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Denise Huxtable went to a historically black college.  I didn't hear that about Zoey.  Bow wants her to go to her alma mater, Brown. 

I had forgotten where Dre wanted her to go (public school in California) and whether she had decided (she hadn't).  I have a memory like a steel trap -- tusted shut!

 

It's all irrelevant until she finds out where she has been accepted, anyway.

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I think Yara can pull it off. The first season of A Different World was dry and really didn't become good until after Lisa Bonet left, partly due to the writing. I think Kenya Barris, who is an HBCU grad himself, can develop a good spin off for her. She had this to say last year:

 "The college search has just begun! Right now I am really open minded, I love a diverse campus in all aspects of the word. Growing up in LA, I definitely want access to a city, while still having a slightly closed campus. I’m a junior and definitely want to go to college to study sociology, but I also have a full time job. Fortunately, Kenya Barris and Jonathan Groff (creator and show runner) both know how important school is to me, so I’m looking at programs that allow for that flexibility to continue playing Zoey. I’ve visited Harvard, Spelman, Howard, Columbia, and want to look at Georgetown, Brown (my TV mama’s alma matter), UCLA, and NYU!"

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I wouldn't be interested in a Zoey spinoff but if Yara is considering Harvard, Spelman, Howard (Anthony Anderson's alma mater), Columbia, etc. then she must be one helluva student as those are all excellent schools. 

Toward the later years of The Cosby Show Tempestt Bledsoe was studying at NYU and I remember reading how the show worked its schedule around her when needed, and I thought that was awesome.  Of course the show also filmed in New York so there weren't any geographical logistics to work out but I sure hope something can be done for Yara.

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How long IS this season anyway? Twenty episodes? That seems like a lot for a network comedy series. Then again, Bow has been pregnant for a couple of years, right?

Ok, I just answered my own question by checking Wikipedia. This season has 24 episodes, same as S1 and S2. Wow, I didn't remember them having so many eps. Well, I guess the baby will finally get borned in the season finale. 

Edited by RedHawk
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On 10/14/2016 at 3:26 PM, Dee said:

Jonathan Groff says he wants to cast Maya Rudolph as Johan and Rainbow's sister.

I need this to happen.

I wish this would've happened. Unfortunately, Rashida Jones has been cast to play Bow's sister.

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31 minutes ago, charmed1 said:

I wish this would've happened. Unfortunately, Rashida Jones has been cast to play Bow's sister.

Maya, Tracee, and Daveed would have been magical together. But Rashida's got pretty good comedy chops, too. 

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On 3/22/2017 at 7:58 AM, charmed1 said:

I wish this would've happened. Unfortunately, Rashida Jones has been cast to play Bow's sister.

I'm still holding out hope for Groff to get Maya to play another of Bow's siblings.

More family members from Rainbow's side of the Johnson family tree, after a seemingly endless parade of Andre's family and friends, would definitely be welcome imo.  

Edited by Dee
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2 hours ago, Dee said:

I'm still holding out hope for Groff to get Maya to play another of Bow's siblings.

In season one, Bow said she has 2 sisters. I am pumped about Rashida, because I am obsessed with her, but Maya needs to be on this show too.

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