Mixed-ish is an American single-camera sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji and Tracee Ellis Ross that premiered on ABC part of the Tuesday night lineup in September 24, 2019. The series is a prequel spin-off of Black-ish and the second series to be spun off from the primary series after the Freeform series Grown-ish. In October 2019, ABC issued a full season order of 23 episodes for the series. In May 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.
Premise
Loosely based on the early life of Dr. Rania Barris, the series chronicles the childhood years of Rainbow Johnson as she recounts her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s. The family faces dilemmas over whether to assimilate or stay true to themselves when Rainbow's parents move from a hippie commune to the suburbs in 1985.
Cast
Main
Arica Himmel as Rainbow Sojourner "Bow" Johnson, a 12-year-old preteen who is coming into her own while embracing her biracial heritage.
* Tracee Ellis Ross as adult Rainbow Johnson, who details her background and actual real-life events in each episode.
Tika Sumpter as Alicia Johnson, Bow's mother who works hard as a lawyer at her father-in-law's practice and helps Bow embrace her African-American heritage.
Christina Anthony as Denise, Bow's maternal aunt; Alicia's sister. A very-loving woman from Tennessee who is not afraid to express her African-American heritage, even though she tends to be stereotypical towards the family's biracial culture.
Mykal-Michelle Harris as Santamonica Johnson, Rainbow's younger sister with a sassy attitude.
Wayne Brady as Geoffrey, a geologist and Denise's boyfriend
Episodes
Development
On May 2, 2019, it was announced that the Black-ish episode that was set to air May 7, 2019, would be shelved. The episode, titled "Becoming Bow", introduces a younger version of the character Rainbow living with her family, and will instead serve as the pilot episode for the new series, with the cast of the parent show appearing in a flash-forward cameo introduction. On May 14, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Tuesdays at 9:00 P.M. It is set to debut on September 24, 2019. Tracee Ellis Ross, who plays the adult Bow in Black-ish, will serve as both an executive producer and narrator for the series, with flagship costars Anthony Anderson and Laurence Fishburne also executive producing. Mixed-ish is the final series that Barris helped create prior to signing his deal with Netflix in August 2018. Barris had asked for an exit from his ABC Studios deal because of the studio's handling of controversial Black-ish episodes and of rejected pilots he had helped put together. Anders Holm was originally set to play Bow's father, Paul Jackson, and played the role in the series’ pilot episode, but he left the series before it was picked up by ABC. On June 19, 2019, Mark-Paul Gosselaar replaced Holm in the Paul Jackson role, and scenes with Holm in the "Becoming Bow" episode-turned-pilot were subsequently reshot with Gosselaar. In the promos, the family is called "the Johnsons", even though the surname of the characters Harrison and Paul is Jackson, which implies that Bow's maternal family still uses the name Johnson. This was brought up during the Black-ish second season episode "Johnson & Johnson," in which Dre learns that Bow never formally took his last name after their marriage. In addition, the episodes listed are named after songs, television shows, and movies that were made during the 1980s. On October 28, 2019, the series received a full season order of 23 episodes. On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a second season.
Release
Marketing
On May 14, 2019, ABC released the first official trailer for the series.
Music
On August 5, 2019, R&B singer Mariah Carey confirmed that she recorded the series' theme song, entitled "In the Mix." The song was written and produced by Carey and songwriter-producer Daniel Moore and reached number nine on the Billboard U.S. R&B Digital Song Sales chart. During a panel discussion with Barris and Carey, Barris explained that he wants Carey to appear as a guest on the show.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Mixed-ish holds an approval rating of 80% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.08/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it needs more time to establish its own comedic voice, mixed-ish and its appealing cast are off to a sweet and smart start." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
