Kenya Barris’ Black-ish survived ABC’s cancellation spree on Friday—which saw the end of Black-ish spin-off Mixed-ish, among others—but only by a nose. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the series has been renewed for an eighth season, but that’ll be it for the award-winning show and Black-ish will end for good after that eighth season. Barris has released a statement about the end of his show on Instagram, noting that it’s “rare” these days for the team behind a show to get the chance to decide when and how to end it, so he’s grateful to ABC for this opportunity.
He also goes on to talk about how the show changed his life and how he’s “proud of the conversations” that Black-ish started, like in the controversial episode about Donald Trump and kneeling athletes that ABC decided not to air in 2017 (it eventually landed on Hulu last year). Barris also thanked everyone who championed the show and allowed them to “change not just the narrative of Black families, but of family, culture, and the world in general.” Barris is currently in the middle of a big deal with Netflix, having created #BlackAF starring himself and Rashida Jones.