Tracee Ellis Ross goes back in time with ‘black-ish’ finale

It’s been a big year for black-ish. The show opened its sophomore season with a hilarious yet sophisticated exploration of the N-word, hit the midway mark with a stunning episode in which three generations of the Johnson family discussed police violence against black Americans, and ended with a homage to the 1970s Norman Lear sitcom Good Times.

Tracee Ellis Ross, who plays Dr Rainbow Johnson on black-ish, may be too young to have watched Good Times when it aired, but she had a blast going back in time as Thelma Evans and riffing on the differences in eras. Her favourite moment in the episode? Commenting on the vagaries of that time’s pregnancy tests. “They are 65 per cent accurate 25 per cent of the time, or something like that,” she recalls during a recent visit to The Envelope’s video studio.

While black-ish is establishing a pattern of breaking from the norm in its finales to time-travel in fun ways, Ross has come to appreciate the changing role of women in society through playing roles in these different eras. She’s also come to realise that black-ish has a lot in common with Lear’s groundbreaking series — both in its humour and its social commentary.

As Bow, Ross is sometimes the voice of reason, sometimes dippier than her husband, Dre (Anthony Anderson). In person, she’s infectiously enthusiastic about her show and the way it deals with topics serious and silly from the same place of love and familial support.