The hit ABC comedy series “black-ish” has generated a spinoff, but the new series will run on ABC’s cable cousin Freeform. Freeform announced it ordered 13 episodes of the scripted comedy centered on “black-ish” breakout Yara Shahidi.
The new single-camera sitcom has the working title “college-ish.” Hailing from ABC Studios, the show is due to premiere in early 2018.
Along with Shahidi as Zoey Johnson the show stars Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy.
“’college-ish’ follows the Johnsons’ eldest daughter Zoey (Yara Shahidi) as she heads off to college and quickly discovers that not everything goes her way once she leaves the nest,” Freeform notes in its announcement. “From ‘black-ish’ executive producer Kenya Barris comes a contemporary take on the current issues facing both students and administrators in the world of higher education. Yara is joined by ‘black-ish’s’ Deon Cole (Charlie), who moonlights as an adjunct marketing professor, as well as funny new characters both in the administration and student body who all reflect the complex and hilarious points of views that populate college campuses.”
Said Barris: “I never thought they’d let me put ‘black-ish’ on the air, let alone give me a spinoff. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to continue working with Yara and the rest of this talented young cast. To any aspiring writers struggling to make it out there, I highly advise adding an ‘-ish’ to any working title you might have. It seems to be the move.”
Barris, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and Brian Dobbins are executive producers of the series, which was written by Barris and Larry Wilmore.
Yara Shahidi (ABC/Ron Tom)
This could be REALLY interesting if they have the guts to actually address “the complex and hilarious points of views that populate college campuses.”
1. The lack of “free speech” on college campuses and the thinking behind the suppression of “certain kinds of speech.”
2. The need for campus Social Justice Warriors to flee from any challenging discourse and their need for “Safe Spaces.”
3. The episode where Zoey doesn’t agree with her liberal professor’s point of view on a subject matter, and her subsequent “D.” on the paper. (would LOVE to see her Dad’s or better yet Grampa’s reaction to that).
4. The episode where Zoey gets to stay in a segregated dorm!!! And it’s looked at as a fantastic thing!
(again, would love to see the reaction of “Grampa” who may have marched to end the segregation
of housing, dorms, schools, drinking fountains,restaurants etc…
YUP, this show COULD be very interesting…
“A Different World” already did the college spin-off thing with Lisa Bonet from the Cosby Show in the 80’s.
Yawwwwwwn
If ABC’s Freedom network wants to air all points of view, they should pick up “Last Man Standing” for a seventh season.