Black-ish Sets Election-Themed Animated Special For October

September 2, 2020

In light of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections in November, ABC has announced that its hit comedy series black-ish will be having an hour-long standalone special with two back-to-back episodes scheduled to air on Sunday, October 4 ahead of the series’ seventh season premiere. The two election-themed episodes will be directed by Oscar-winner Matthew A. Cherry (Hair Love) with the second episode set as an animated special.

The black-ish Election special will follow the Johnsons as they navigate the upcoming election, with Junior (Marcus Scribner) embarking on his journey as a first-time voter and Dre (Anthony Anderson) launching an exploration into local politics. The official episode details for the special are as follows:

Directed by Matthew A. Cherry from a script written by Eric Horsted, the synopsis for “Election Special Pt. 2,” reads: “Junior is excited for his first time voting but discovers he has been purged from the voter polls so he does a deep dive into why – trying to understand the systems in place for voter registration. “

Directed by Matthew A. Cherry from a script written by Graham Towers and Ben Deeb, the synopsis for “Election Special Pt. 2,” reads: “Dre’s colleague Stevens (Peter Mackenzie) makes an ill-advised decision to run for Congress, so Dre enlists his family’s help and campaigns against him but gets caught up with fundraising and private interest groups.”

Season 7 will continue to tell stories that shine a light on current events through the lens of the Johnson family, addressing the global pandemic, systemic racism, and the movement for social justice and equality.

Created and executive produced by Kenya Barris, black-ish stars Anthony Anderson as Andre “Dre” Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Marcus Scribner as Andre Johnson Jr., Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, Laurence Fishburne as Pops, Jenifer Lewis as Ruby, Peter Mackenzie as Mr. Stevens, Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy and Jeff Meacham as Josh.

Since its debut, the series continues to garner critical acclaim and has also received numerous nods from award-giving bodies including a Peabody Award in 2015, 19 Emmy nominations, and 5 Golden Globe nominations with Tracee Ellis Ross winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress.