#Black-ish to Air Election-Themed Special Ahead of Season 7

Black-ish is heading into its seventh season on ABC. 

But, before we get to that, the beloved comedy series will air a one-hour, election-themed special, on Sunday, October 4 at 10/9c. 

The two back-to-back episodes, which will air ahead of the official season seven premiere, will follow the Johnsons as they navigate the upcoming election, with Junior (Marcus Scribner) embarking on his journey as a first-time voter and Dre (Anthony Anderson) launching an exploration into local politics.

The special will be presented in part as an animated episode with Oscar® winner Matthew A. Cherry (“Hair Love”) set to direct. 

While no details about when the seventh season will premiere have been revealed, a premiere date should be revealed in the coming weeks as shows start to return to production.

ABC also notes that airdate and timing of the special are subject to the change due to the NBA Finals schedule.

In “Election Special Pt. 1,” (10:00-10:30 p.m. EDT), Junior is excited for his first time voting but discovers he has been purged from the voter polls so he does a deep dive into why – trying to understand the systems in place for voter registration.

“Election Special Pt. 1” is directed by Matthew A. Cherry and written by Eric Horsted.

Then, in a special animated episode, “Election Special Pt. 2,” (10:30-11:00 p.m. EDT), Dre’s colleague Stevens (Peter Mackenzie) makes an ill-advised decision to run for Congress, so Dre enlists his family’s help and campaigns against him but gets caught up with fundraising and private interest groups.

“Election Special Pt. 2” is directed by Matthew A. Cherry and written by Graham Towers & Ben Deeb.

In its upcoming seventh season, “black-ish” will continue to tell stories that shine a light on current events through the lens of the Johnson family, addressing the global pandemic, systemic racism and the movement for social justice and equality. 

The series stars Anthony Anderson as Andre “Dre” Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Marcus Scribner as Andre Johnson Jr., Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, Laurence Fishburne as Pops, Jenifer Lewis as Ruby, Peter Mackenzie as Mr. Stevens, Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy, and Jeff Meacham as Josh.

ABC’s “black-ish” was created by Kenya Barris and is executive produced by Barris, Courtney Lilly, Laura Gutin Peterson, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, E. Brian Dobbins and Michael Petok.

The series is produced by ABC Signature. ABC Signature is a part of Disney Television Studios, alongside 20th Television and Touchstone Television.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.