‘Black-ish’ bids farewell after 8 seasons

ABC/Richard Cartwright

(NOTE LANGUAGE) The ABC family comedy black-ish ended its eight-year run Tuesday night, with Anthony Anderson‘s Andre Johnson quitting his job and moving the family out of the familiar Sherman Oaks, California home they’ve shared for the past eight seasons — with a little encouragement from Olympian Simone Biles.

As the episode opens, it seems not much has changed in the 17 years since the Johnsons moved into the posh neighborhood, leading Andre to believe he’s ready for a change.

“If I’ve learned anything, I would say you have to do what you want to do, and not what anybody else wants you to do,” Biles, tells Dre during a visit to his office. “Do a gut check. What’s your heart telling you?”

When Dre pitches the idea of moving to a Black neighborhood to his wife, Rainbow — played by Tracee Ellis Ross — and adds that he wants to quit his job too, she enthusiastically replies, “I think we should blow this b**** up.”

The Johnson kids, Diane and Jack — played respectively by Marsai Martin and Miles Brown — are skeptical at first, until they get a look at their sprawling new digs.

However, the move is bittersweet for Marcus Scribner‘s Junior, who realizes “It’s not just over for me this time, it’s over for all of us.”

As Dre and Bow survey the now empty rooms of the soon-to-be former digs, they decide to hold a New Orleans-style funeral for the house. Now joined by Yara Shahidi‘s Zoey, they throw roses into a casket, after which they’re joined by the entire cast and crew, who dance down the street to the strains of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” followed by Stevie Wonder‘s “As.”

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