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ABC’s ‘black-ish’ Ends Its Run as ABC Looks to Future

This image released by ABC shows Anthony Anderson, left, and Tracee Ellis Ross in a scene from the series finale of "black-ish," airing April 19. (ABC via AP)
This image released by ABC shows Anthony Anderson, left, and Tracee Ellis Ross in a scene from the series finale of "black-ish," airing April 19. (ABC via AP)
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ABC’s ‘black-ish’ Ends Its Run as ABC Looks to Future

This image released by ABC shows Anthony Anderson, left, and Tracee Ellis Ross in a scene from the series finale of "black-ish," airing April 19. (ABC via AP)
This image released by ABC shows Anthony Anderson, left, and Tracee Ellis Ross in a scene from the series finale of "black-ish," airing April 19. (ABC via AP)

As the comedy “black-ish” ended its run after eight seasons with a relatively modest live audience of 2.52 million viewers, ABC is already pivoting to what it hopes is its next defining sitcom.

The “black-ish” series finale last week featured a storyline where series stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross move their fictional Johnson family from the predominantly white area where they had been living to a neighborhood with more Black families.

It was the largest audience for the series since its final season debut in September, according to the Nielsen company, and certain to increase when delayed viewing is taken into account.

The series earned four Emmy Award nominations for best comedy in an era where it’s unusual for a broadcast series to be recognized.

Less than a week later, at a New York dinner held by ABC parents Walt Disney Co. on Monday to showcase its creators, a spotlight was on Quinta Brunson, creator and star of the new sitcom “Abbott Elementary.”

The series based in a Philadelphia elementary school and inspired by Brunson’s mother, a kindergarten teacher, debuted in December to strong reviews. It ended its first season on April 12 with an average of 2.9 million viewers per episode, which swelled to 8 million when a full month’s delayed viewing is counted in, Nielsen said.

Brunson said that she’s a fan of workplace and family comedies, which have been a staple of ABC’s lineup for generations.

“I think the world was really longing for that kind of feeling again — the things we got from older shows like ‘Family Ties’ and more modern shows like ‘The Office’ and ‘Parks & Rec,’” she said.

The show will be back for a second season in the fall.

CBS won the week in prime-time last week with an average of 4.5 million viewers, led by “60 Minutes,” which was the week’s top-ranked show for the sixth time this season. NBC averaged 3.01 million viewers, ABC had 2.96 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 970,000 and Ion Television had 960,000.

TNT led cable networks with a prime-time average of 2.62 million viewers. Fox News Channel had 2.25 million, ESPN had 1.33 million, MSNBC had 1.09 million and HGTV had 1.03 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” averaged 6.7 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.9 million.

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Entertainment

UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.