Freeform has addedthree series regulars to “grown-ish,” a spin-off of ABC’s “black-ish,” starring Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson. The series was formerly known as “college-ish.” The 13-episode, single-camera comedy will start production next month and is set to premiere early 2018 on Freeform and the Freeform App, available on connected TV, mobile devices and online.
Emily Arlook (“The Good Place,” “Hand of God”), Chris Parnell (“Saturday Night Live”) and Trevor Jackson (“Burning Sands,” “American Crime”) join the previously announced cast of Yara Shahidi (“black-ish”) and Deon Cole (“black-ish”), with additional casting to be announced.
Creator and executive producer Kenya Barris said, “’grown-ish’ reflects what we’ll be dealing with in the show – that in-between place where you’re not quite an adult but facing grown world problems for the first time. Where ‘black-ish’ examines what it means to be black, ‘grown-ish’ is an examination of what it is and what it means to be grown.”
From “black-ish” executive producer Kenya Barris comes a contemporary take on the current issues facing both students and administrators in the world of higher education. Yara Shahidi portrays Zoey – Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) popular, entitled, stylish and socially active 17-year-old daughter — as she heads off to college and quickly discovers that not everything goes her way once she leaves the nest. Yara is joined by ”black-ish”’s Deon Cole (Charlie) who portrays Charlie, Dre’s eccentric and unpredictable co-worker at Stevens & Lido. Zoey runs into Charlie during college orientation where she learns that he moonlights as an adjunct marketing professor. Arlook will portray Miriam, a freshman know-it-all at Southern California University with a no-holds-barred attitude. Parnell will portray the dean of Southern California University, and Jackson will portray a socially conscious sophomore at Southern California University.