#black-ish season 7 will air on ABC ‘fall’ schedule after The Conners

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“#black-ish season 7 will air on ABC ‘fall’ schedule after The Conners”

ABC has reversed course with at least one part of their upcoming 2020-21 schedule, and it revolves around the black-ish season 7 premiere.

Today, the network confirmed that after previously deciding to hold off on the comedy, they are now going to air it Wednesday nights at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, following The Conners in its new timeslot. This shift comes after criticism over black-ish being MIA until midseason, especially at a time in this country when its voice is more needed than ever. (Call Your Mother, a comedy originally set for this 9:30 timeslot, is now being held to midseason.)

In a statement, ABC head Karey Burke alluded to the current state of the country as a reason for shifting the premiere up:

“black-ish has a long-standing history of shining a light on current events and honoring Black voices through the lens of the Johnson family. After speaking with [executive producer] Kenya [Barris] and our creative partners, we decided it was important to tell these meaningful stories during this moment in time, so we are adjusting our premiere schedule and are committed to doing whatever it takes to bring this series back as soon as we possibly can.

“Following recent monumental events, it’s imperative that the dialogue continues and empowers viewers to raise their voices,” Burke added, “and there is no other show that does that like black-ish.”

Meanwhile, Barris himself added the following:

“We are incredibly grateful to Karey, Dana [Walden] and Peter [Rice] for recognizing the importance of black-ish in this moment and applaud them for making the necessary shifts to bring the show back as soon as possible … While the last few months have felt overwhelming at times, they have also underscored just how important it is that Black voices are not only heard but empowered and amplified as well; and our entire black-ish team is humbled to be a small part of telling our stories and are excited to get back to these conversations.”

For the record, ABC is hesitant to call their schedule the “fall,” since they don’t want to commit to a premiere window. That is instead when they are hoping to have the series back. We think that it’s possible they will be there in October or November, regulations in the city of Los Angeles and California in general will play a role in that.