Freeform has ordered college-ish (working title), a spin-off of ABC’s award-winning hit series “black-ish,” starring breakout star Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson and Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy. Freeform has ordered 13 episodes of the half-hour, single-camera comedy which is set to premiere early 2018 on Freeform and the Freeform App available on connected TV, mobile devices and online. The show, whose previous title was Liberal Arts, was developed for ABC, but it was decided that it would be a better fit for Freeform.
college-ish follows the Johnson’s eldest daughter Zoey (Yara Shahidi) as she heads off to college and quickly discovers that not everything goes her way once she leaves the nest. From “black-ish” executive producer Kenya Barris comes a contemporary take on the current issues facing both students and administrators in the world of higher education. Yara is joined by ”black-ish”’s Deon Cole (Charlie), who moonlights as an adjunct marketing professor, as well as funny new characters both in the administration and student body who all reflect the complex and hilarious points of views that populate college campuses.
“I never thought they’d let me put ‘black-ish’on the air let alone give me a spin-off. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to continue working with Yara and the rest of this talented young cast. To any aspiring writers struggling to make it out there, I highly advise adding an ‘–ish’ to any working title you might have. It seems to be the move,” said Kenya Barris.
“Our goal at Freeform is to celebrate the power, possibility and inclusivity of youth culture through our shows,” said Karey Burke, executive vice president, Programming & Development, Freeform. “Kenya Barris blazes new trails in the funniest way possible with ‘college-ish’ and we can’t wait to get schooled by the incredibly talented Yara Shahidi, who is the perfect addition to our Freeform family.”