Netflix renews #blackAF for Season 2
David Farnor | On 27, Jun 2020
Netflix has renewed #blackAF for Season 2.
The series, which stars Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones, premiered on the streaming service earlier this year. It marks the first Netflix original show for the Emmy nominated creator of black-ish, who inked an overall deal with the streaming giant in 2018.
Loosely inspired by Barris’ irreverent, highly flawed, unbelievably honest approach to parenting, relationships, race, and culture, #blackAF flips the script on what we’ve come to expect a family comedy series to be. Pulling back the curtain, #blackAF uncovers the messy, unfiltered world of what it means to be a “new money” black family trying to get it right in a modern world where “right” is no longer a fixed concept.
Barris plays a fictionalized version of himself and Jones plays his wife Joya. They’re joined by Genneya Walton (Xtant), Iman Benson (Suits), Scarlet Spencer (Bright), Justin Claiborne (Reverie), Ravi Cabot-Conyers (The Resident) and Richard Gardenhire Jr.
Now, within a few months of its debut, Netflix has already ordered a second run. The renewal comes as word on another Barris project has also surfaced, he is teaming up Pharrell Williams to develop a Juneteenth musical.
He told Deadline: “I won’t really, really, really get into it until we’re in the room because I want it to be fresh, but I definitely know I want to talk about real shit. We want it to be really special.”
Trailer: Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones team up for Netflix’s #blackAF
28th March 2020
Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones are heading to Netflix this April for new comedy #blackAF.
The Emmy nominated creator of black-ish inked an overall deal with the streaming giant in 2018 and now, he’s about to drop his first original show for the service. Loosely inspired by Barris’ irreverent, highly flawed, unbelievably honest approach to parenting, relationships, race, and culture, #blackAF (originally titled “Black Excellence”) flips the script on what we’ve come to expect a family comedy series to be.
Pulling back the curtain, #blackAF uncovers the messy, unfiltered and often hilarious world of what it means to be a “new money” black family trying to get it right in a modern world where “right” is no longer a fixed concept. The Netflix original series stars Barris as a fictionalized version of himself and Jones (Angie Tribeca) as his wife Joya. Kenya and Joya’s children are played by Genneya Walton (Xtant), Iman Benson (Suits), Scarlet Spencer (Bright), Justin Claiborne (Reverie), Ravi Cabot-Conyers (The Resident) and Richard Gardenhire Jr.
You can see them all in action on 17th April when the show premieres worldwide on Netflix. Here’s the trailer:
#blackAF is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.
Black Excellence: Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones to star in Netflix series
13th May 2019
Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones will star in Black Excellence, a new Netflix series.
Inspired by Barris’ irreverent, flawed, honest approach to parenting, relationships, race, and culture, Black Excellence looks to pull the curtain back and reboot the “family sitcom” in a way we’ve never seen before. Barris and Jones will executive produce alongside Hale Rothstein (black-ish, grown-ish). The single-camera comedy will be produced through Barris’ production company, Khalabo Ink Society.
Barris is best known as the creator behind the hit series black-ish, which has launched two spin-off series – Freeform’s grown-ish and the newly-ordered mixed-ish at ABC. Additionally, Barris has several television projects in various stages of development including the multi-camera comedy Unrelated for Freeform and a remake of the popular 1960s sitcom Bewitched that will shift its focus to now center on an interracial blended family. Black Excellence marks the first project under the multi-hyphenate’s overall series deal with the streaming giant. Barris made Netflix his home less than a year ago and hasn’t been shy about his desire to flip the family sitcom and what it looks like on its head. With the series officially launching its writers room last month, he is wasting little time getting to work on exploring and pushing those boundaries.