Kenya Barris might be giving us another view into the Johnsons.
Deadline reports that Kenya Barris, the writer-producer behind black-ish, is developing a new series inside the show’s universe.
“We’re brewing it, yeah. It’s something I’m really super excited about. Yeah, we’re brewing it, and hopefully it gets done and adds to that world in a really special way,” Barris hinted.
Barris stopped short of revealing what story the spin-off would be telling or what characters it would be centered around.
Other black-ish spin-offs include the Yara Shahidi–led Grown-ish, in which the eldest Johnson daughter navigates college, and the prequel, Mixed-ish, in which matriarch Rainbow Johnson’s family origins are explored. Both series found a home on ABC—Mixed-ish, starring Tika Sumpter, airs on the main network, and Grown-ish airs on ABC’s cable network, FreeForm.
Barris left ABC in 2018 to pursue a lucrative overall deal with Netflix, but this spin-off will appear on an ABC affiliate network. He said there are no conflicts with the new show because “contractually” he has to “stay within that world,” referencing black-ish.
The writer and new actor stepped outside of the Johnson world with his controversial Netflix show, #blackAF, which was recently renewed for a second season.
Barris said he enjoyed the challenge of writing in an unrestricted format for the streaming service, but still appreciates the appeal of traditional television.
“It’s actually sometimes a little bit nicer to go and do network television because it’s a little bit freeing in a different kind of way because you get to tell different kinds of stories,” he explained.