freshman comedy has the makings of success

each of its first five episodes hovering around seven or eight million viewers, compared to its lead-in’s roughly nine million. When you consider the show’s ill-fated forerunners, that’s not too shabby.

The series follows an upper middle-class black family whose patriarch, Andre “Dre” Johnson, is played by comedian Anthony Anderson (“Law & Order”). Dre’s an executive at a major ad agency and his mixed-race wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross, “Girlfriends”), is a doctor, so the family is pretty well-to-do.

Though he’s happy to be able to give his four kids the opportunities and advantages he lacked growing up, it dawns on Dre that the affluence they’ve always known has caused them to grow up detached from their racial background. It all comes to a head in the pilot episode when Dre’s 13-year-old son, Andre Jr., declares that he’d rather play field hockey than basketball and wants to have a bar mitzvah, despite the fact that neither he nor the family is Jewish. Andre Jr., played by Marcus Scribner in the young actor’s first starring role, prefers to go by Andy and, in the third episode, fails to give “the nod” to another black kid in his school. This incites disbelieving horror from his proud father, who has vowed to instill in his kids the lation of today’s young people in a general sense.

“I feel like my kids are a little bit of a lesser version of what I remember the ideology of what black was,” the show’s creator told the “Hollywood Reporter.” “At the same time, all of their friends — who are mostly non-black kids — are a little bit more black than I remember. They’re sort of black-ish, all their little friends, and my kids are sort of black-ish.”

Two-time Emmy winner Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix,” 1999), who lights up the screen as Dre’s crusty and tell-it-like-it-is father, added to the explanation of the concept when he visited “The View.” “For some people, it means when black folks kind of act white,” he said. “For some folks, it means when white folks kind of act black. If you like rock ‘n’ roll, if you like rhythm and blues, if you like jazz, if you like hip-hop, you might be black-ish.”

Where the series stands strong is that it doesn’t beat you over the head with the theme from week to week — which a lesser show would surely be apt to do. While the pilot was pretty heavily laced with Dre’s borderline-obsessive voiceovers about black this and black that, it’s a fair enough expectation for the setup episode.

The episodes that follow still keep to the theme, but the storylines incorporate broader issues and everyman problems that all families of all races face, from struggling to bond with one’s teenagers to agonizing about whether to spank a misbehaving or “deserving” child.

“It mirrors humanity,” Anderson told “The Hollywood Reporter” during a recent interview. “If you like life, you’ll dig the show.”

This relatability, paired with genuine humor, could very well give “Black-ish” the staying power that previous “Modern Family” followers sorely lacked.

Providing something that appeals to everyone is a hard thing to achieve, but just about everyone can relate to the ups and downs of family life. As Whoopi Goldberg commented after Fishburne’s “The View” interview: “Whatever your ‘ish’ is, this is your family.” Catch the newest episode of “Black-ish” airing Wednesday, Nov. 26, on ABC.

ACROSS

1 Mr. Stevens who played the title character of classic detective show “Peter Gunn”

6 Fam. tree member

9 “__ Bop” by Cyndi Lauper

12 1983 movie Barbra

Streisand directed and starred in

13 __ _ premium

14 “Ready or __!”

15 A&E docu-series about nonprofit organization Paws and Stripes: 3 wds

17 ESPN interviewee, briefly

18 Anoint, archaically

19 Des’__, British R&B singer

20 Actress who stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on TNT’s “Major Crimes,” a police drama set in Los Angeles: 2 wds.

25 Advertising award

26 __ Stiles (Role on ‘60s series “Route 66”)

27 “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” character, Captain

Benjamin __

29 “I’m __”: 1960 Brenda Lee song

32 Comparative suffix

33 Scandinavian symbol of yore

34 Medical docu-drama on USA Network set in a univ. medical center: 2 wds.

40 Common verb suffix

41 Dutch cheese

42 Late-shift times [abbr.]

43 Host of Bravo’s late night talk show “Watch What Happens: Live”: 2 wds.

48 Grand __ (Wine classification)

49 Bother

50 Ms. Christensen of NBC’s “Parenthood”

51 Dusk, fancy-style

52 “__ Night” by Elvis Presley

53 Rowdy __ (Clint Eastwood’s “Rawhide” role)

DOWN

1 Ms. Charisse

2 Classic car

3 Director Mr. Lee

4 “__ Too Late” by Carole King

5 Twilight, to a poet

6 Did some workshop work

7 Cosmicomics author Mr. Calvino

8 __ Sea (Body of water near Murmansk, Russia)

9 Part of Ringo’s kit: 2 wds.

10 Eagles song: “__ California”

11 Lucy’s friend on “I Love Lucy”

16 “The O’Reilly Factor” airer [acronym]

20 Headset-wearing record spinners

21 Ms. MacGraw

22 What they call the house in The Animals’ song: 2 wds. 23 Harnessed, as oxen

24 Adam van __, Flemish painter

28 Herb variety

30 Circular, for short

31 “You bet!”

34 Country singer Mr. Gill 35 Cavern

36 MSNBC host Mr. Farrow

37 Move

38 Mount __ (Hometown of Cliff Arquette’s alter ego Charley Weaver)

39