We’re only four episodes into the first season of Yara Shahidi‘s “Grown-ish,” but Freeform has already ordered a 20-episode second season.
Clearly ABC executives know a good thing when they see it!
According to Deadline, the “Black-ish” spinoff has been a massive success thus far for Freeform. Its January 3 premiere was the highest-rated comedy debut for Freeform in six years, and it was the best series start for the network since Shadowhunters.
“Grown-ish” followed Yara Shahidi’s character from “Black-ish,” Zoey, as she goes to college and learns to navigate the world away from home at fictional Cal U. In real life the outspoke and socially conscious star was accepted into Harvard last year but has deferred her admission to launch the series.
Recently, Shahidi appeared on The View, where she spoke about her new Black-ish spinoff show, Grown-ish, in which her character goes to college. This new series, like its predecessor, doesn’t shy away from heavier topics.
“What I do really appreciate about what the writers did is that a lot of the storylines on ‘Grown-ish’ are not cleanly wrapped up,” she said. “If anything, we’re trying to talk about, similar to ‘Black-ish’, the different views that every character has.”
Find out what’s missing from Grown-ish.
She also admitted that, being 17, there were a few things her college-age character experienced that she would call her friends up to ask, “Does this happen?”
In that same interview, Shahidi spoke about how there was a sense of “emergency” that people her age felt that drove them to connect with politics.
When co-host Meghan McCain went on to ask her who she felt was a politician that would bring “hope” to her generation, Shahidi admitted that there was no one she could think of.
“What my generation is looking forward to is midterms, because what we are now focusing on is who we can appreciate who can represent us on a more local level,” she said.