The second time might be the charm for Kenya Barris’s first series on Netflix, #blackAF. It was just announced that it’s been renewed for a second season.
Variety reports that the comedy series, based on Barris’ real-life family, is getting a second wind. The renewal news comes after decidedly mixed reviews about the series that details what it’s like being an upwardly mobile Black American.
Pulling on the same themes that Barris explored in his hit ABC series Black-ish, #blackAF touched on the legacies of slavery, the history of Juneteenth, Black criticism (episode five, which was my favorite) and the struggle to raise rich Black kids, who curse at their parents and dabble in drugs. For many, the storylines didn’t prove fresh or relatable.
Barris hit back at critics who complained about him using the same stories in his Netflix series.
“The idea that people criticize me for it being so close to black-ish? I’m like, ‘Go f-ck yourself, dude.’ I would do it again,” he said on The Hollywood Reporters‘ Awards Chatter podcast. “Writers tell their stories in their voices.”
“It’s important to tell over and over and over again, because it needs to get hammered into the idea that we are part of the fabric of this country in a way that you’re not seeing,” Barris added of the repeated storylines.
With Barris playing himself onscreen opposite Rashida Jones, who embodies his onscreen wife Joya, his onscreen children are played by Iman Benson, Justin Claiborne, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Richard Gardenhire Jr., Scarlet Spencer and Genneya Walton.