Exclusive: Oscar Winner Matthew A. Cherry On Directing Election Themed Back-To-Back Episodes For black-ish
The Johnsons and “black-ish” return to ABC with a special one-hour television special THIS SUNDAY, OCT. 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. One of the episodes will be presented in animation for the First Time Ever.
Directing both episodes was Academy Award winner Matthew A. Cherry (“Hair Love”).
The two back-to-back episodes, which will air ahead of the official season seven premiere on WEDNESDAY, OCT 21 (9:30-10:00 p.m. EDT), 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. Special guest stars include Stacey Abrams, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero.
The series 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.
ABC's "black-ish" was created by Kenya Barris and is executive produced by Barris, Courtney Lilly, Laura Gutin Peterson, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, E. Brian Dobbins and Michael Petok.
In “Election Special Pt. 1,” (10:00-10:30 p.m. EDT), 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. “Election Special Pt. 1” is directed by Matthew A. Cherry and written by Eric Horsted.
Then, in a special animated episode, “Election Special Pt. 2,” (10:30-11:00 p.m. EDT), 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. “Election Special Pt. 2” is directed by Matthew A. Cherry and written by Graham Towers & Ben Deeb.
In its upcoming seventh season, “black-ish” 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.
Cherry spoke with BlackFilmandTV.com's Wilson Morales about this directing experience, having Stacey Abrams in the animated episode, and his upcoming projects.
