Anthony Anderson Explains Why He Thinks ‘Black-ish’ is a Success

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Anthony Anderson made it clear he believes the show’s authenticity is the reason the show is such a success.

He says:

“We pride ourselves on dealing with topics and subject matter that are divisive. Because of that divisiveness, people are able to have a dialogue about it and sometimes you come away with a different perspective than the one you entered the conversation with. That’s what’s so great about our show — we spark that dialogue. Not just within the African-American community but the American community. I think our show resonates with people because of that honesty and because of that willingness to push the envelope and go there. So, the response to our show has been phenomenal. We couldn’t have asked for a bigger response than what we got when we first premiered and still up to this day.”

Anthony also claims the show is based a lot on the creator Kenya Barris’ life, with a little of his own sprinkled in too:

“Kenya and I sat down two years ago and conceived the show. The show in its original form was about both our families. We’re products of the inner city — Kenya from Inglewood and me from Compton — and both of us are first-generation successful. All of our children are in private schools, and we’re the only blacks living in our respective neighborhoods. When we met for the first time, we met to talk about business but we ended up talking about each other and found out that we had more in common than not.

“A few weeks later he came to me with the idea for a show. Rainbow is Kenya’s real-life wife. She’s a doctor, her name is Rainbow, and she comes from a mixed marriage. They have five children in private school and I have two. My son came home one day and told me that he didn’t feel black and wanted to have a bar mitzvah, so I met him halfway and threw him a “bro mitzvah,” and you see that in the pilot. Sometimes you’re given a playground to play in, but you’re relegated to a certain part of the playground. Like, “Okay, all of this is yours, but we just resodded the field so you can’t go there just yet,” and, “We just painted the basketball court so the paint is still drying. You can’t go there yet.” The show is a combination of our experiences and of Kenya’s vision, and ABC and Disney Studios have given us the entire playground to play in with no boundaries. Everything is free rein. It’s freeing. We have a place to extend our creative wings and are met with very little resistance.”