Anthony Anderson is going to be doing some genre transitioning, as he’s returning to Law & Order for the highly-anticipated upcoming 21st season. This change coincides with the end of his long-running ABC sitcom, black-ish. The actor seems to be excited about the move, as he recently posted a first look at his work on the new show. Now, he’s opening up about returning to the long-running legal drama and moving away from comedy for a while.
The actor talked with ET ahead of the final season premiere of his beloved comedy series. Though he'll surely miss the show, based on his comments, it sounds like he's excited to be returning to Law & Order after all these years:
It means a great deal. They're bringing the show back and billing it as their 21st year... full circle is what it is, and it's a good thing.
Anthony Anderson appeared on NBC's long-running drama as NYPD Detective Kevin Bernard from 2008 to 2010. Just four years later, Anderson was cast as Andre “Dre” Johnson, Sr. in black-ish, on which he also serves as an executive producer. With the sitcom coming to an end, he’s looking towards what the future holds. And in the same interview with ET, he explained what it’s like going back to drama after doing comedy for the better part of a decade:
You know, a lot of people ask why, and I say why not? It's the opportunity to go back and reprise [my] character, and have a little fun in the dramatic space for a little while.
It was first announced in May that black-ish would coming to an end. At the time, series creator Kenya Barris took to Instagram to share the news of the show's renewal for an eighth and final season. He also made sure to note that it's coming to an end on its own terms, which doesn't always happen in the unpredictable realm of TV.
Though fans are sure to be disappointed to see the Johnson family go, there's another lingering piece within that franchise. There's currently a spinoff, Freeform's grown-ish, which has amassed a solid audience and will return with the second half of its fourth season in January. It's built up a greater following than fellow offshoot mixed-ish, which ran on ABC for two seasons before being cancelled earlier this year. There were also plans for another series called old-ish, which was to star Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis, but ABC announced in May of this year that there were no plans for a pilot.
Besides L&O and black-ish, Anthony Anderson has made his name on plenty other projects. He’s appeared on Veronica Mars, The Departed, The Shield, All About the Andersons, and Big Momma’s House among other series and movies. His upcoming reprisal on the drama is definitely exciting, and it'll be fun to see what else is in store for the upcoming revival.
Don’t miss Law & Order Season 21, which premieres on February 24, 2022 on NBC!
