Black-ish
ABC | Release Date: September 24, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubLaToya FergusonSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black-ish, is fun, cool, and hip. It just so happens to also have a lot going on upstairs. Read full review
91
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 15, 2014
Season 1 Review: Let’s hope it can maintain the joy of the pilot and not fall into broad shtick. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: In its own sweet way, this is a landmark show. Read full review
90
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Even in a better season, ABC's provocative and very funny Black-ish would stand out for its broad and biting satire of an uneasily post racial society seen through a very modern-family prism. Read full review
90
The OregonianKristi TurnquistSep 19, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black-ish is one of the best new shows of the season. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: While the big set pieces are very funny, there are too many lulls between them. But odds are you'll come away believing the show will get better and hoping it does--because TV will be all the better for it. Read full review
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black-ish has a lot packed into its oft-amusing opening half-hour. It’s both fairly daring and also endearing, sharply written but with an overdose of narrative exposition. The kids and adults are all well-cast and there’s no laugh track to gum anything up. Read full review
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black-ish arrives as a comedy that knows what it's about, and how it wants to be about it in a very smart way. Read full review
83
NewsdayVerne GaySep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Yes, "black-ish" can be fiercely funny, sharply observed, and unfailingly good-humored about the racial divide. But just beyond that glossy surface is a serious and even compelling undercurrent. Read full review
83
Washington PostHank StueverSep 19, 2014
Season 1 Review: Depending on how far it’s willing to press and poke at the issues it raises, Black-ish displays a welcoming sense of humor that might be illuminating in the present context. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesLorraine AliOct 22, 2020
Season 7 Review: [Black-ish and The Conners] manage to squeeze humor out of the dismal realities of lockdown and viral surges while still honoring the pain and loss many American families have endured since March. Each household features frontline workers at different ends of the economic spectrum and folks struggling to cope. And each show strikes its own balance of snarky/smart humor, empathy and newsworthy candor, highlighting what it takes to muddle through unprecedented times. Read full review
80
The New YorkerEmily NussbaumMar 2, 2015
Season 1 Review: The series has transformed from hokey formula into one of the goofiest, most reliably enjoyable comedies around. Read full review
80
The Daily BeastKevin FallonOct 1, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show is, first and foremost, incredibly well written, with astute observations about pop culture, particularly as it relates to ethnic identity. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's not a perfect pilot; most sitcoms aren't. But, like a precious few others, you can see that everyone involved is funny and connected to the concept. Read full review
80
Newark Star-LedgerVicki HymanSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: The jokes are tight, and Anderson, whipsawing between smooth playa and high-pitched dismay, is a very likeable lead. There is is a feel-good resolution, although not quite as sappy (and sappily effective) as those on "Modern Family." Read full review
80
SlateWilla PaskinSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Like the many, many sitcoms about the affluent white experience, this is a show that is meant to be seen and enjoyed by everyone. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GraySep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: It should be enough that it's smart and funny. Which it is, though there's always room for funnier. Read full review
80
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot sometimes takes a few broad strokes to cement its concept but there’s a believable dynamic in the core of this family that works to the degree that most sitcoms take years to develop. Read full review
80
The WrapMekeisha Madden TobySep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Most of the jokes work, some of them don't but creator and executive producer Kenya Barris never stops addressing race in unflinching ways. Read full review
80
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Sarah HugginsSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's hard not to compare the comedy to past shows such as "The Bernie Mac Show" and "The Cosby Show" and rightfully so. Black-ish continues the momentum these shows started and brings in issues of this generation. Read full review
80
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot (which is ABC has released to the media) is a polished, entertaining and promising half-hour of comedy about a well-to-do American family. Read full review
75
NewsdayVerne GayOct 19, 2020
Season 7 Review: As expected, both sitcoms [black-ish and The Conners] approach the national tragedy in their own unique ways. "Black-ish" is the brighter of the two, the optimist that finds light at the end of the tunnel in the trustiest of sitcom conventions. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianSep 23, 2015
Season 2 Review: Funny, endearing, and studded with little truths about family life and race relations, the series tackles topics network TV rarely dares to touch--but says little we don't already know. Read full review
75
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: As Pops, the sitcom cliche of grumpy old grandpa, Laurence Fishburne (most recently on “Hannibal” and billed here a special guest star) squeezes every line until it coughs up a laugh. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Like "The Cosby Show," to which it inevitably will be compared, Black-ish balances credible family situations with universally appealing comedy. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyMelissa MaerzSep 12, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's funny, but it's not revolutionary. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: All of which adds up to a pilot that is much more admirable in its intent than its execution, a better conversation-starter than episode. Read full review
70
TimeJames PoniewozikSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Black-ish‘s nuance is promising--it’s aware that there’s not just one way to be black--and the sheer level of execution suggests it has staying power. Read full review
63
People WeeklyJanine Rayford RubensteinSep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: In all, black-ish is Everybody Hates Chris meets Modern Family, but not quite as funny as either. Well, not yet, at least. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklSep 22, 2014
Season 1 Review: The pilot is a little light at bringing the funny, but the concept has promise--and Laurence Fishburne. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s funny. It’s also scattered, and in the first episode it doesn’t push envelopes or test edges. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Yes, the show will be funny, in an innocuous sort of way, if it continues to stay off that pulpit. But if it becomes a little less cautious occasionally, it might rise from merely diverting to important. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s the conversation about race and African-American culture in the pilot that gives Black-ish a little bit of edge. Whether that will be maintained in future episodes or dulled into familiar family sitcom pabulum remains to be seen. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowrySep 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: In the pilot, the writing hews toward the obvious and predictable, perhaps in part because it’s racing along to establish the premise. Read full review
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