{"id":49526,"date":"2014-11-12T11:58:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T19:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/?p=49526"},"modified":"2014-11-12T14:51:55","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T22:51:55","slug":"black-ish-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/black-ish-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"black-ish Interviews \u2013 Meet with the Creator & Junior Cast #ABCTVEvent"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you didn’t already know, a\u00a0new series aired on ABC this season called black-ish<\/em>. I had the opportunity to interview the show’s creator, one of the writers, and some of the cast (and their parents) while on the Disney trip in L.A. Check out these insightful (and pretty funny) black-ish<\/em> interviews!<\/p>\n

\"black-ish<\/p>\n

black-ish<\/em> Interviews: Kenya Barris, Series Creator<\/h3>\n

Here are some thoughts from the\u00a0creator, Kenya Barris, during our group’s roundtable interview.<\/p>\n

What is “black-ish”?<\/p>\n

I think from our character\u2019s point of view, the world is a lot more homogenized for his kids than it ever was. I have five kids too. I looked at my kids and the way I grew up and my definition of what being black was is not what my kids were living. And they were a bit black-ish, a little lesser of a version than what it was for me growing up. But at the same time, all of their friends, who interestingly enough, primarily are not black, were a little bit more of what I thought black was growing up. It was like an additive version of that. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a black or white kid left in America. They\u2019re all just sort of a blaze of everything else \u2013 Asian, Latino. I think we are kind of blended into this sort of homogenized layer of what America is. As a father, he\u2019s dealing with that. And his father dealt with something different. It\u2019s kind of talking about where we are today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What real life references are there in the series?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my life, it\u2019s Laurence\u2019s life, it\u2019s Anthony\u2019s life. I even talked to some of the kids, it\u2019s their mom and their dad. It\u2019s an amalgamation of all of our lives. My kids often because it\u2019s essentially based on my family. My son thinks he\u2019s Jack and at the end of the spanking episode when he didn\u2019t get it he was like, \u201dHah, that was a close one.\u201d I think it\u2019s fun for them. I know it\u2019s fun for me. It\u2019s an amazing blessing in America to sit up see something that kind of came from our life like my wife\u2019s name is actually Rainbow and things like that. I think it\u2019s fun for them. I also think it\u2019s a little bit… I have a 12-year-old daughter and she\u2019s like, \u201cWhy am I not in this thing. If I am, am I a boy to you?\u201d It\u2019s interesting but at the same time causes a bit of conversation I think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is this a “black” show?<\/p>\n

I, first of all, don\u2019t see it as a black show. I see it as a show. I don\u2019t think people look at Modern Family and look at it as a white show. I think it\u2019s a show that happens around predominantly black cast members. I think that\u2019s something that I want to make sure people take from this is that that\u2019s the world we\u2019re living in. We\u2019re just families. Some families have black people, some families have asian. With that being said, it was not hard for me. I didn\u2019t want to do a show that was just about a family that just happened to be black but about a family that was absolutely black. And coming from my wife being mixed and my mom being half Dominican, my own personal life, it\u2019s a lot of different things. For me that\u2019s part of what makes this a dope country. That\u2019s more the version of how I see.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

black-ish<\/em> Interviews: Lindsey Shockley,\u00a0Writer<\/h3>\n

One of the show’s writers, Lindsey Shockley, gave us a quick introduction before screening the episode that’s actually airing tonight, “The Gift of Hunger.” It was interesting that there are about 11 writers and it’s split about 50\/50 in ethnicity\u00a0(black vs non-black) and gender.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us about the show?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in the middle of writing episode 14, that\u2019s as far as we\u2019ve gotten. And we got picked up for another 11, which is awesome. So we\u2019re going to go all the way through, almost through summer to match with Modern Family because Modern Family goes all the way to almost when school gets out. We\u2019ll be paired with them throughout 2015.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What about the episode about spanking?<\/p>\n

So many of us in the writers room were spanked as kids but so few parents in the room spank now. There\u2019s that disconnect of \u201cwe grew up one way\u201d and now. He whips that belt out. It\u2019s what you grow up with versus what you do once you\u2019re a parent. I\u2019m so glad that connected. The threat of next time. It\u2019s interesting how just him saying, \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in you\u201d was enough of a punishment for Jack and you could see it in his eyes that, \u201cAw, I disappointed my dad!\u201d that that was just as harsh as a spanking.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What about the content?<\/p>\n

One of the things that he (Kenya) feels very strongly about that every week, we go around the writers room and everyone tells real personal stories about growing up, we have a lot of parents on staff and they\u2019ll talk about parenting dilemmas, even husband and wife dilemmas, he wants everything to come from a really true problem and not just some made up fictional story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How do you feel now that a few episodes have aired?<\/p>\n

We feel really blessed. Overall it seems like the feedback we\u2019re getting is really positive and people are really excited about the show. We feel like it\u2019s giving us the confidence to just tell these true parenting stories that we really want to tell and then find these fun, fantastical ways to tell them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

black-ish<\/em> Interviews:\u00a0Junior Cast<\/h3>\n

In black-ish<\/em>, the star have four children \u2013 two teens and a set of younger twins. We so enjoyed interviewing the youngest of the cast featured on the show. They were bright, well-spoken, friendly, and just a great group of kids. That’s why we were especially tickled when they recognized us at the Big Hero 6 premiere<\/a> the following day.<\/p>\n

The actors we interviewed were:<\/p>\n