The first season of the television comedy series Black-ish aired between September 24, 2014, and May 20, 2015, on ABC in the United States. It was produced by Khalabo Ink Society, Wilmore Films, Cinema Gypsy Productions and Principato-Young Entertainment, with creator Kenya Barris, who also served as executive producer alongside Anthony Anderson, Brian Dobbins, Jonathan Groff and Helen Sugland.
The series revolves around Dre, portrayed by Anthony Anderson, a family man who struggles with finding his cultural identity while raising his kids in a white neighborhood. He lives with his wife, Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) and his kids Zoey (Yara Shahidi), Andre Jr (Marcus Scribner), and twins Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane (Marsai Martin).
After only airing six episodes, ABC ordered a full season of 24 episodes.[1] It was renewed for a second season on May 8, 2015.
The pilot episode premiered to a total of 11.04 million viewers, ranking number 1 in its time slot.[2] It garnered 3.3/10 adults 18-49.
Advertising exec Dre looks forward to a promotion that would make him the first African American senior vice president at his firm, but he worries that there is a price to pay for his success when his son Andre Jr. announces that for his 13th birthday he's converting to Judaism in order to have a Bar Mitzvah like all his friends.
Dre insists on giving Andre Jr. "the talk," a decision he soon comes to regret when he's inundated with nonstop questions about sex from his curious son.
Dre is on a mission to get Andre Jr. to become friends with more black kids after learning his son is clueless about "the nod." Meanwhile, Rainbow wants to inspire little Diane to become a doctor, and so she takes her to work at the hospital on what ends up being a really bad day.
Dre takes over Rainbow's "mom" duties for a week and the overwhelming praise he receives from everyone at his kids' school ends up going to his head to the point where he finds himself going overboard not to be outdone by anyone, including the school's "crazy mom."
Dre worries that his older kids are going to ruin his Halloween fun by refusing to take part in the Johnson tradition of seeing who can pull the most outlandish pranks on each other.
It's reality check time for the Johnson kids courtesy of Dre, who decides that his children have become spoiled after they turn their noses up at his favorite cheap restaurant in his old hood. To remedy the situation, Andre Jr. and Zoey are forced to take jobs at his office, while Jack and Diane try to make money around the neighborhood, which, to Bow's embarrassment, leads to rumors about the family falling on hard times.
Dre receives a lot of love from his mom when she pays the Johnsons a visit, and some grief from Bow, who doesn't get along with her mother-in-law, although Dre's determined to change that.
Dre wants "Team Johnson" to feel more connected and have each other's backs, but ends up creating a problem for himself when he falls short of Bow's expectations. Meanwhile, Zoey and Andre Jr. are tasked with babysitting the twins, a job they would rather not do.
Certain that his annual office Christmas party needs a black Santa, Dre goes out of his way to fill the red suit, even though the head of HR already got the job. Meanwhile, Bow doesn't feel like competing with Ruby over who cooks the big holiday dinner.
Dre worries that his machismo is being questioned by Rainbow after another man dismisses him in front of her. This leads to Pops helping his son save face and, in the process, opening the door to another chance with Ruby. Elsewhere, the school play takes a turn for the awkward when Jr. and Zoey are cast as the romantic leads in "Romeo and Juliet."
Dre decides to teach his kids the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while on their annual MLK holiday ski trip; and for Junior, this means a unique lesson on intolerance in the real world—or in his case, the ski lodge.
Dre vows to make Valentine's Day a romantic success, even though most years he and Rainbow end up quarreling; and Diane comes to the conclusion that she is too critical and accepts help from her siblings learning how to give a compliment.
Dre teaches Andre Jr. how to trash-talk a school bully; Diane is afraid of the dark. In the last trash-talk of the episode, Dre calls Junior "Raven Symone with a fade"; Raven-Symoné would go on to guest star as Dre's sister in episode 22.
Dre, determined to make up for the no-frills, last-minute wedding he and Bow had, organizes an amazing vow renewal for their 15th anniversary. But when Bow’s hippie-dippy parents, Alicia and the very white Paul show up unannounced -- bombshells are dropped and old disagreements re-ignite between the two families, especially with Pops and Ruby.
Bow tricks Dre into thinking she's pregnant so he'll admit he didn't get his vasectomy. Meanwhile Jack and Diane try to be the babies while they can and Junior tries many attempts to get the baby to like him for him.
Dre and Bow decide on their own how to handle Zoey after Dre sets new rules in the house rules (mostly for Zoey) and Jr. teaches Jack and Diane loopholes around the rules.
Andre Jr. meets a girl in the Young Republicans club, which throws the liberal Dre and Bow for a loop. Diane gets jealous when Dre gives Zoey a cool nickname when she gets glasses.
