The hit ABC comedy Black-ish has tackled some serious, controversial subjects—like police brutality, the N-word and what it’s like to be black in America—but the Peabody Award-winning show is also critically acclaimed for blending those heavy topics with a lot of laughs and plenty of family fun.
As the second-season finale of Black-ish airs on May 18 with a nod to the groundbreaking ’70s sitcom Good Times, Parade sat down with members of the show’s Johnson family—Anthony Anderson (dad “Dre”), Tracee Ellis Ross (mom Rainbow), Laurence Fishburne (grandpa “Pops”) and children: Yara Shahidi (Zoey), Marcus Scribner (Andre), Miles Brown (Jack) and Marsai Martin (Diane).
Black-ish tackles serious issues, but also makes time for fun. Why is it important for both?
Anthony: Because that’s real life. We can do an episode that’s heavy, but on the flip side, we can enjoy life. It’s easier to get your message across with a teaspoon of sugar than it is with a teaspoon of salt.
Laurence: You know, it’s that old saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” We’ve got a little bit of medicine in our cabinets, you know? And we’re just giving it to people in a way in which they can see it. I love what I do, and I’m just so happy that we have been embraced and that our audience is as diverse as our country is.
Yara: I feel like what Black-ish has done is make it easier to have a conversation about some things.
Marcus: We’re a comedy, but we’re handling topics that wouldn’t even be seen on television at all if it weren’t for our show, which is really cool.
Marsai: There’s no such thing as a perfect family. The Johnsons may have some real issues and real problems, but they’re still a great, lovable family.
Why is a family game night important?
Marcus: It gets your mind off of things that may be stressful, whether it’s a big test coming up or your parents have something due at work.
Marsai: Sometimes you can be very separate during the day, and then you come together, and it’s like, “Oh wait, we love each other!”
Yara: Amidst all the work, it’s important to have that family home base that you can always rely on.
Miles: Being with your friends is cool, but I think family is better.
What kind of games do you play with your families?
Marcus: We have a ton of games: Battleship, Life, Monopoly, Connect Four, Sorry! We even do Twister sometimes.
Yara: Our family games are Monopoly with my Bubba, my momma, and my two brothers. My brother, oh my goodness, he’s going to be on Wall Street. He always wins, and he’s 7.
Tracee: My family does jigsaw puzzles. My mom [Diana Ross] and my sisters are really big on those. My mom will dump a box out on a table, and you will catch people at different times in there by themselves and everybody gets involved.
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What are your memories of family game nights?
Yara: Scrabble. I’d always try and do, like, really weird words. So qat was one of them, because it’s a type of shrub.
Anthony: Bid Whist, Spades, Tonk, Monopoly, Yahtzee.
Tracee: Life, Battleship.
Anthony: Wait, what’s the game with all the pieces and you had to time it? It was orange and blue. And [makes buzzing sound]. And you had to put X’s…
Tracee: Perfection! Operation was big too. And Simon! We had Simon going around this Christmas, and it was crazy. I think someone got to 18? It is a hard game!
Anthony: We forgot Connect Four! The games were pretty basic back then.
Tracee: My siblings will all tell you that I hated playing games. Winning? That was never of interest to me.
Anthony: I will confess: Any game that I could cheat at, I enjoyed.
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What do you do when you win a game?
Marcus: Just a lot of, “Yeah! I did it! In yo’ face!” Basically a touchdown dance. I do a little pop locking, mixing a little robot in there.
Marsai: I would stand up and do a dance move, like the Bernie or the Whip and Nae Nae.
Miles: I, like, taunt the people that I won—because I worked hard for that win.
Tracee: I don’t really care about winning as much. Anthony is a great winner and a terrible loser. Anthony never loses even if he loses!
Anthony: Oh, I gloat. It can be 18 years from now, and I’ll be like, “Hey! Remember that time I whooped ya ass? Hah!”
Are there any games you’re bad at?
Laurence: I would probably be really awful at poker. Don’t you have to have a poker face? I use my face to tell people what I am thinking or I am feeling. I don’t know that I’d be any good at poker.
If the Black-ish cast had a “family” game night, what kind of game would you like to play?
Anthony: Truth or Dare—I would be going for the truth, to see what everybody really thinks and feels.
Laurence: Charades, because you have to be a good actor to do it.
Marcus: I think since we have such a huge cast, a giant game of Twister would be hilarious.
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