ABC Debuts New Family Comedies at the Paley Center’s Fall Preview

On the last night of the Paley Center’s Fall Preview Nights in Los Angeles, the Center showcased two of ABC’s new comedies that center around the ever evolving idea of families in America.

Cristela and black-ish each focus on multi-generational family situations, from two different perspectives; Cristela examines a working-class Hispanic family and how they interact within different expectations and commitments while black-ish studies the different levels of what it means to be African-American over the generations.

Creators, cast and executive producers all shared their thoughts about these two new shows, sharing personal insights into how each show is representative of their creators. Both Cristela Alonzo and Kenya Barris each utilize their own personal histories to shape and create each show. In the same way that Modern Family addresses what has come of new and different family structures, both shows are trying to find something real in one or two experiences that can speak far beyond specific groups.

Cristela has the ability to just be a story of struggle and adversity, while black-ish wants to pick about some of the monolithic stereotypes that tend to dominate conceptions of African-American families.

Each show has heart and tells a story that translates across cultures and everyone involved in the shows feels the same. Laurence Fishburne, who is working on his first comedy, found elements of the comedy to be what drew him to the black-ish, while Tracee Ellis Ross is more than happy to have her mixed heritage worked into the show, while also embracing the slightly off nature of both her character, Rainbow, and Anthony Anderson’s Andre.

black-ish premieres after Modern Family on September 24 at 9:30 Eastern/8:30 Central. Cristela premieres on October 10 at 8:30 Eastern/7:30 Central.