ABC is set to air an election-themed episode of “Black-ish” as a two-part, partially animated special next month, the network announced Tuesday.
The hour-long standalone episode will air Sunday, Oct. 4. Director Matthew A. Cherry, whose film “Hair Love” won the Oscar for best animated short in 2019, will direct both parts.
The special will air ahead of “Black-ish” Season 7, which was moved up from midseason by ABC in the wake of the renewed Black Lives Matter protests earlier this summer. The two episodes will not serve as the season premiere, which has not yet been given an official premiere date by ABC.
Read the full episode descriptions below:
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.
“Black-ish” has once before gone partially animated, for the Season 4 premiere episode “Juneteenth,” which featured a”Schoolhouse Rock”-style animated musical segment performed by The Roots.
According to ABC, Season 7 of the family comedy will continue the show’s tradition of topical storylines, including “addressing the global pandemic, systemic racism and the movement for social justice and equality.”
The series stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Marsai Martin, Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis, Peter Mackenzie, Deon Cole and Jeff Meacham. It 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.
Deadline first reported news of the special.