Here's the Real Reason 'black-ish' Is Ending After Eight Seasons

Spring is the time of year when viewers find out whether their favorite shows have been canceled or renewed, and it seems like no sitcom is safe after ABC announced that shows like American Housewife and Call Your Mother would not be returning to the small screen.

Along with these series, we also learned that mixed-ish was canceled after two seasons, but viewers can find some comfort in knowing that black-ish will return for one last season before viewers are forced to say goodbye to the Johnsons. 

The series creator of black-ish, Kenya Barris, recently teased the show’s series finale on social media, but why is the series ending?

All good things must come to an end, and Kenya Barris recently announced that his hit ABC series, black-ish, is one of those things. According to Kenya, the show will end with Season 8, and the news didn’t necessarily come as a surprise to fans. 

In 2018, Kenya negotiated an early exit from his deal with ABC but still remained involved with the black-ish franchise and the series' spinoffs. Kenya’s departure from the network came shortly after ABC shelved the highly controversial “Please, Baby, Please” episode, which touched on several hot-button racial and political issues including, but not limited to, the Charlottesville protest. 

According to Kenya, who went on to ink a three-year, eight-figure Netflix deal, the time has come to say goodbye to the Johnson family for good. 

The series creator wrote in a statement, “To ALL the people in the world I love, honor, respect, and care for, it is both exciting and bittersweet to share that black-ish been RENEWED by ABC for it’s EIGHTH… and FINAL SEASON.” 

The statement continued, “In this day and age it is rare to get to decide when your show should come to an end, and we are grateful along with ABC to be able to make this final season exactly what we’d hoped for – and to do it with the entire and AMAZINGLY STELLAR cast coming back to close this chapter out with us the right way!”

News of black-ish ending comes shortly after the cancelation of the show's spin-off mixed-ish, which focuses on the life of Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross), the series matriarch. Tracee also teased the show’s final season on Twitter. 

“Hard to imagine that it’s been 7 yrs of @blackishabc & this will be our 8th & final season," she tweeted. "The joy & pride in what we made is immeasurable. Thx 4 laughing, crying & growing with the Johnsons! To the #blackish family: my love 4 you runs deep! Stay tuned y’all. It’s gonna be good!”

In the future, we can expect to see Kenya Barris’s upcoming projects on Netflix. He's already released the 2020 mockumentary series #BlackAF, which, like black-ish, is also loosely based on his life.

In addition to grown-ish, which was renewed for a fourth season on Freeform, Kenya also announced that he is working on a third black-ish spinoff, Oldies, which focuses on the lives of Dre’s mom (Jennifer Lewis) and dad (Laurence Fishburne). 

You can catch the Season 7 finale of black-ish May 18 on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.