‘Mixed-ish’ EP Tracee Ellis Ross on How ‘black-ish’ Prequel Will Be Different
Fall Preview
The ish universe expands again (ABC’s black-ish has already spawned Freeform’s grown-ish) with the prequel mixed-ish, following biracial black-ish mom Rainbow as a 12-year-old.
Young Bow, as she’s nicknamed, and siblings Santamonica and Johan (Arica Himmel, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Ethan William Childress, above) move with their free-spirit parents Alicia and Paul (The Haves and the Have Nots‘ Tika Sumpter and Mark-Paul Gosselaar) from a hippie commune to the suburbs, where the kids quickly find they don’t fit in with either their black or their white schoolmates.
“Even on black-ish, we haven’t completely explored [being mixed],” says exec producer (and narrator) Tracee Ellis Ross, aka adult Bow on the original. “This is an opportunity to unpack that in a much larger way.”
Mid-’80s headlines — “things like the Challenger explosion, drugs and affirmative action,” per exec producer Karin Gist — will be incorporated in a relevant yet funny way.
But the title subject matter is apparent from the get-go: Mariah Carey, who is biracial, belts the catchy theme, “In the Mix.” A guest spot could be next. “She’s expressed interest,” confirms Gist. “It would be fantastic!” Or, at the very least, fantastic-ish.
Mixed-ish, Series Premiere, Tuesday, September 24, 9/8c, ABC
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