The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the fourth Black-ish property is in development at ABC. The new series, Old-ish, will follow Earl “Pops” Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) and Ruby Johnson (Jenifer Lewis). Though the two saw a bit of a rough patch in the original series, they'll be giving love a second chance in this new story.
Kenya Barris, Black-ish creator, will be both writing on and executive producing the series. Barris left ABC back in 2018 to create #BlackAF for Netflix, but will be returning to help foster in this new project. Joining him as EPs will be Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, Anthony Anderson, and E. Brian Dobbins. Jenifer Lewis will also be involved on the production side, but as a producer. Barris' overall deal with Netflix remains intact.
Old-ish will join Grown-ish and Mixed-ish in the Black-ish spinoff family. The former follows Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) as she navigates college, while the ladder is an 80s jam that follows Rainbow's younger self (played by Arica Himmel). Grown-ish is the only member if the Black-ish family that doesn't air on the ABC network. Execs decided it skewed too young, so the series airs on ABC's sister channel, Freeform.
Both Fishburne and Lewis' characters have been staples in the franchise from early on in its tenure. While the series follows the two of them trying to rekindle their love, it'll also deal with gentrification in LA and the community's response to the shift.
