25 Episodes · Premiered September 24, 2014 · Ended May 20, 2015
Andre 'Dre' Johnson has a great job, a beautiful wife, Rainbow, four kids, and a colonial home in the 'burbs. But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family? With a little help from his dad, Dre sets out to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family that honors their past while embracing the future.
In "Pilot," Dre, an advertising exec, is happily anticipating a promotion at work, which would make him the firm's first African American senior vice president. Rainbow, an anesthesiologist, is looking forward to Dre's raise. Meanwhile, Andre Jr. makes an announcement -- he's converting to Judaism so he can have a Bar Mitzvah, like all his friends.
Dre, disappointed that Bow has already given Andre Jr. "the talk" because she thinks he's too big of a prude to do it, decides to rectify matters by giving his son HIS version of "the talk." But Dre soon finds himself wishing he'd left well enough alone when Andre Jr. starts to drive him crazy with non-stop questions about sex.
Dre sets out to expand Andre Jr's social circle to include more black kids after he discovers Andre Jr. is clueless about "the nod." Meanwhile, hoping to inspire little Diane to become a doctor, Rainbow takes her to work at the hospital... on what turns out to be the worst day ever.
When Dre agrees to take over Rainbow's "mom" duties for a week, the overwhelming praise he gets from everyone at his kids' school goes to his head. He soon finds himself pushing the envelope to outdo everyone, even the school's "crazy mom".
Although Dre and Rainbow agreed they would no longer spank their kids, all bets might be off when Jack disobeys. Now, Zoey, Junior, Diane and a nervous Jack are afraid that their parents will go back on their word.
Dre fears his holiday fun will be ruined when the older kids balk at the glorious Johnson Halloween tradition of seeing who can pull the most outlandish pranks on each other.
After the kids turn their collective noses up at Dre's favorite cheap restaurant in his old 'hood, he decides it's time to give them a reality check. He insists all of them get jobs. But when Andre Jr. and Zoey start working at his office, he can't help but interfere, and Jack and Diane's efforts to make some spare cash leave the neighbors thinking the family has fallen on hard times, much to Bow's embarrassment.
"Oedipal Triangle"- Dre's mother, Ruby, comes for a visit, and she smothers her pork chops with gravy, Dre with love, and would like to flat out smother Bow, who feels the same way about her. Dre tries to find a way to get the two most important women in his life to get along, on "black-ish.
Dre wants the family to feel more connected so he encourages "Team Johnson" to embrace what it means to have each other's backs. But Dre creates trouble for himself when he falls short of Bow's expectations. Meanwhile, Bow and Dre invoke "Team Johnson" and put the less-than-enthusiastic Zoey and Andre Jr. in charge of babysitting the twins.
Dre campaigns to be the new Santa at the annual office Christmas party, but when that honor goes to Angelica, the lovely head of HR, he goes to great lengths to unseat her, because he's convinced Stevens & Lido needs a black Santa. Meanwhile, Bow is tired of competing with Ruby over who cooks the big Christmas Eve dinner,.
Dre thinks Rainbow is questioning his machismo after another man dismisses him in front of her. But when Pops swoops in to help his son save face, Ruby is attracted to this show of manliness and the couple reignite their love affair. Meanwhile, things get awkward when Jr. is selected to play "Romeo" to his sister Zoey's "Juliet" in their school play.
On the way to the Johnson family's annual MLK holiday ski trip, Dre realizes his children may not know the significance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so he decides to inundate them with Dr. King history facts. Once they arrive at the ski lodge, Dre finds a unique way to prepare Junior for a real world that includes intolerance.
Although Dre and Rainbow find they always end up quarreling on their annual Valentine's Day date, this time around, Dre is determined to do everything right and keep the peace. Meanwhile, Diane realizes she may not have received many Valentine's cards because she is too critical, so her siblings decide to teach her how to give a compliment.
"Andre from Marseille"- When Zoey brings home her first "serious" boyfriend, a boy from school also named Andre, Dre takes an instant dislike to him for many reasons, including the fact that he's white, from France and rather worldly for a kid. He's thrilled when they break up..until he learns that Andre dumped Zoey because she's too shallow, something Dre takes as a personal affront.
Dre schools Andre Jr. in the art of "playing the dozens," trash talking someone into submission, after he's intimidated by a bully at school, but he succeeds a little too well with his plan; Bow struggles with sleep deprivation when Diane develops a fear of the dark.
Dre, determined to make up for the no-frills, last-minute wedding he and Bow had, organizes an amazing vow renewal for their 15th anniversary. But when Bow's hippie-dippy parents, Alicia and the very white Paul show up unannounced -- bombshells are dropped and old disagreements re-ignite between the two families, especially with Pops and Ruby.
Things begin to fall apart, in more ways than one, when Dre hurts himself playing basketball right before his 40th birthday. He hands the planning of his big party over to his much younger, hipper assistant, fearing he really is getting too old to be cool. Bow and Ruby face off over who can get Dre the best gift, and the kids try to figure out what to give their dad for his special day,.
Bow learns from her colleague that Dre never had the vasectomy a few years back that he was supposedly scheduled, so she decides to see if he'll come clean and tell the truth.
When Bow reconnects with her college friends on Facebook, she invites them over for an elaborate dinner party and tries to impress them. But the night of the party, Dre ends up learning a lot of new information about Bow's past. Meanwhile, the kids discover that one of Bow's friend's was on "The Real World," so they decide to shoot their own reality show and document the party.
When super cool -- and white - exec Jay Sloane challenges Dre over his street cred and picks inept Charlie for a big urban market account, Dre finds himself questioning his "blackness." Pops gets a letter from the IRS and fears the worst.
When teenager Zoey goes through a mini-rebellion phase by pushing boundaries and acting out, Dre wants to lay down the law, while Bow insists on a softer approach like her mom did with her.
Bow encourages Dre to tell his mother what everybody else in the family already knows: That his sister, Rhonda, is gay. Meanwhile, Zoey tries to help Junior develop better "gaydar"; at the same time, Diane and Jack get competitive over Mother's Day gifts.
Liberals Dre and Bow freak out over Junior's decision to join the Young Republican Club to impress a girl whose parents they quickly arrange to meet; and Zoey gets teased about having to wear glasses.
In the Season 1 finale, Jack and Diane learn the history of the Johnson family from Pops, who tells them a colorful story about his great-great grandfather's dealings with a ruthless gangster during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance.
