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a14 people & arts
Tuesday 19 april 2022
TV’s ‘black-ish’ ends 8-season run with legacy, fans secure

By LYNN ELBER which the show reimagines crimination within an ethnic
AP Television Writer as code for, “I think you’re community against those
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A sur- going to fail and you’re with darker skin.
prise awaited “black-ish” over your head,” as Harper “That resonated with me
creator Kenya Barris and recalled the scene. because my kids are like
his family on a 2016 visit to “I died laughing, because different colors of the rain-
the newly opened National the parents at my daugh- bow, all different complex-
Museum of African Ameri- ter’s school are amaz- ions, and the same thing
can History and Culture in ing, but we often leave with my family,” she said.
Washington: An exhibit on that place thinking, ‘Oh, “I really understood when
the TV series was on display. my goodness, I hope our they were addressing how
“I was very, very emotional” daughter’s loving it, at people are treated dif-
at seeing the honor, Bar- least,” Harper said. ferently within the African
ris said. He returned to the Jerry McCormick grew up American race.”
Smithsonian museum ear- watching Bob Newhart’s Her daughter, 19-year-old
lier this month for a splashy sitcoms and “Good Times” Emily Johnson, welcomed
salute to “black-ish” as the in the 1970s and ‘80s, the show’s handling of is-
end of its eight-season run among others. He com- sues, major and mundane,
approached. This image released by ABC shows Anthony Anderson, left, and pared “black-ish” to anoth- that are part of Black life but
“It was just surreal. The Tracee Ellis Ross in a scene from the series finale of “black-ish,” er comedy of the time. largely ignored on screen.
Smithsonian, as a brand, is airing April 19. “We never saw affluent One example: a teen’s
tied to things that are last- Associated Press Black people on TV, except quandary over whether to
ing, that are part of what series was a network TV rar- son of Black professionals. for ‘The Jeffersons,” said keep straightening her hair
the core DNA of this world ity: A depiction of a pros- He remembers feeling the McCormick of San Diego, or go natural.
is. To put our show in that, perous, tight-knit family of same way about criticism who works in communica- “Black-ish” also became
it meant a lot to me,” he color, the Johnsons, with of “The Cosby Show,” a tions and as a journalism in- a vehicle for sobering, nu-
said. Black creators shaping their 20th-century TV depiction structor. “I grew up in South anced chapters about rac-
Sitcoms, especially family- stories. of a well-off African Ameri- Carolina and it helped hav- ism, police violence and,
centric ones, are more likely “I remember when it first can family. ing it on because it was as- in a hard-edged 2018 epi-
to be enshrined in viewers’ came out, I was concerned But “black-ish” has a dis- pirational.” sode, the impact of Donald
memories than museums. that it was going to be ei- tinctly more layered view He sees ‘black-ish” as akin Trump’s presidency. (The
Shows such as “The Brady ther serious and off-putting, of race, starting with the to “the grandchild of ‘The episode, shelved by ABC,
Bunch,” “Good Times” and or really sad and comical,” title that reflects dad Andre Jeffersons’ and the child was released two years lat-
“Full House” were part of drawing on stereotypical “Dre” Johnson’s fear that of ‘the Cosby Show.’ You er on Hulu.).
their viewers’ coming of characters that may or affluence is separating his have Dre and Bow, a cou- The goal is “telling stories
age, with the shows and may not exist in life, said children from their ethnic ple who truly care about that are about something,
their characters beloved viewer Onaje Harper. The identity. It also has a sharp- each other. They parent telling stories that have a
well beyond their original pandemic turned him into er take on race relations, their children. They run the point, that are actually try-
runs. a binge-viewing convert, Harper said. house. The children are not ing to say something. It was
Talk to admirers of ‘black- one who swats away online He cited an episode in overtaking them.” what television for a long
ish” and the same seems carping that the show isn’t which Dr. Rainbow “Bow” Ladinia Brown, a New York time used to be about,”
probable for the series, “real.” Johnson, played by Tracee City fraud investigator, said Barris said — whether it
which airs its half-hour finale “It’s not real to them, but Ellis Ross, is being a support- she loves “the reality of it. was dad’s moral sermons
at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday (mid- this is my everyday,” said ive parent and volunteers The stuff is funny because a in “Leave It to Beaver” or
night EDT on Hulu), followed Harper, an educator- for a private school fund- lot of is is just so true.” She the social satire of Norman
by ABC News’ “black-ish: A turned-businessman in Dal- raiser. One of the white cited a favorite episode Lear’s “All in the Family”
Celebration” on ABC. The las who is the grandson and parents offers her help, that tackled colorism — dis- and “Maude.”q
Review: ‘King’s Shadow’ chronicles

unlikely treasure hunter

By ANDREW DeMILLO spies from the East India company, ri-
Associated Press valling rulers and others. Along the way,
Charles Masson isn’t a household name, Masson unearths archeological treasures
even for many avid readers of history, but that pointed to the city’s existence.
it’s easy to wonder why that’s the case The story of Masson’s life at times can be
after reading “The King’s Shadow.” convoluted, with a massive cast of char-
Historian Edmund Richardson’s book on acters that many writers would die for. But
Masson’s search for the lost city Alexan- Richardson skillfully weaves the tale of Al-
dria Beneath the Mountains is less about exander’s empire with Masson’s adven-
the treasure hunt and more about the un- tures, using a novelistic approach rather
likeliest of archeological heroes. than dry academic one that focuses on
A deserter from the army for the East the action without sacrificing key details
India Company in the 1800s, Masson about the history.
wound up in Afghanistan and sought to Toward the end of Richardson’s book,
find the remnants of the famed city that he notes that history is not just formed by
was part of Alexander the Great’s sprawl- scholarship. Rather, he writes, “it is also This book cover image released by St. Martin’s Press shows
ing empire. made of stories.” With “The King’s Shad- “The King’s Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly
That search winds up being the back- ow,” Richardson contributes quite a story Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria” by Edmund Richardson.
drop for Masson’s exploits as he dodges to prove that point.q Associated Press