black-ish
The Word
TV Flash files “The Word” as a desk essential hour — black-ish (2014–2022) on ABC, season 2, episode 1, aired 2015-09-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E01: listed hour 25 of 173 in the black-ish guide, first listed hour of season 2. It aired 2015-09-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Pops, Pops, Pops” (S01E24). Next is “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gun” (S02E02).
Essential hour: “The Word”. The Word makes language the season title: sitcom engine humming while the essay goes in through the joke.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Jack faces possible expulsion after using the N-word in a song at the school talent show.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Word sit in the black-ish guide?
S02E01 is listed hour 25 of 173 — first listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 1.
When did black-ish S02E01 air?
The Word aired 2015-09-23 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need the spinoffs?
grown-ish and mixed-ish are extras. black-ish is the suburban Johnson engine; start here unless you already live at the college spinoff.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Kenya Barris smuggled race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam without losing the joke. Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross argue first, lecture later; the kids keep the sitcom engine humming. Broadcast comedy that treated Black suburban identity as weekly debate, not Very Special garnish.
ABC did not park a seminar on a quiet Friday. **2014** put Kenya Barris's Johnsons on the broadcast calendar as multi-cam comfort with race, class, and parenting essays smuggled through the laugh. Anthony Anderson's Dre worries his kids are losing cultural identity in affluent suburbia; Tracee Ellis Ross's Rainbow argues first, lectures later. Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Marsai Martin keep the engine humming. Rex can romanticize a simpler network night; this was issue-driven multi-cam thriving…
Filed against
- Anthony Anderson as Dre Johnson
Anthony Anderson’s Dre Johnson argued first, lectured later on black-ish — Kenya Barris smuggling race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam without losing the joke. Tracee Ellis Ross opposite, kids keeping the engine humming.…
- Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson
Tracee Ellis Ross’s Rainbow Johnson argued first and lectured later on black-ish — Kenya Barris smuggling race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam without losing the joke. Anthony Anderson as the other half of the debate; the…
- Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson
Yara Shahidi’s Zoey Johnson kept black-ish’s sitcom engine humming as the kid who could argue — Kenya Barris smuggling race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam without losing the joke. Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross…
- Marcus Scribner as Andre Jr.
Marcus Scribner grew up in the argument as Andre Jr. on black-ish — Kenya Barris smuggling race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross arguing first, the kids keeping the engine humming.…
- Miles Brown as Jack Johnson
Miles Brown’s Jack Johnson kept black-ish’s sitcom engine humming while Kenya Barris smuggled race, class, and parenting essays into ABC multi-cam — Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross arguing first, lecturing later. TV Flash files him…
- Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson
Marsai Martin stole scenes as policy as Diane Johnson on black-ish — Kenya Barris’s ABC multi-cam, race and class as weekly debate, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross arguing first, the kids keeping the engine humming. A youngest who…