Imagine Justin Bieber, Kanye West , Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph playing heightened versions of themselves, or characters (and not all at once), with the regular cast of Black-ish , ABC’s hit show.
Good fit or not? That’s the fantasy guest star list of Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross .
Speaking at an Emmy panel, Ross — who plays a doctor and wife to Anthony Anderson’s character on the race-centric comedy — spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about her wish-list guests.
Of West, she told THR , “I think he should be a doctor working with my character, Rainbow. Dre [Anderson] gets worried Rainbow is going to have an affair with him, but Rainbow has no interest.”
Ross went on to name Saturday Night Live alums Wiig and Ferrell — the latter as his alter ego Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy — as hoped-for guests. Meanwhile, series creator Kenya Barris proposed Rudolph and Bieber.
Barris explained, “For some reason I feel like Bieber would be a great person to bring into Zoey’s [Yara Shahidi] life.”
“He would be the kid a father wouldn’t necessarily want their daughter to date. I’ve seen some funny comedic stuff he’s done,” he went on.
Barris may be referring to the recent, much-hyped The Comedy Roast of Justin Bieber , or perhaps the singer’s turn with Zach Galifianakis on Between Two Ferns , or the Funny or Die clips Bieber filmed as a newbie.
Last October, another star of the show, Laurence Fishburne , also name-checked Bieber, but in an insulting context.
Appearing on The View, the actor was asked to explain why he thought the show’s title was controversial to some.
“Depending upon on your perspective, for some people [black-ish] means when black folks kind of act white, for some people it means when white folks act black,” Fishburne offered.
In a nutshell, he referred to the comedy series’ central pitch of an upper-middle class black family residing in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood and the father’s attempts to maintain their racial identity, then slammed, “I think of it this way. Two words – Justin Bieber .”
At the time, just as now, there wasn’t much outcry over Fishburne’s comment, since piling on Bieber without perspective is pretty much a national pastime. For that reason, it is to be hoped that if Bieber’s management team are approached regarding the singer appearing on the show, that they have the good sense to legally insist on script/edit approval to avoid damaging scenarios.
Moving on. Marcus Scribner, who plays the role of older son Andre Jr., told THR he’d love Robert De Niro to grace the show. “Robert De Niro is my favorite actor, so he would be a great guest star. Or Morgan Freeman. That would be really cool,” he said.
The publication also reports the cast are eager to cross-pollinate with the Modern Family cast.
Barris said, “I’ve asked Steve [Levitan]. I don’t know if it’s going to happen this year, but I would love it.”
Shahidi added, “With two crazy families combined, the craziness would only escalate,” before adding that the cast would also love playing off ABC’s other family comedy, The Goldbergs , which is set in the 1990’s.
Meanwhile, Anderson is also eyeing Empire . He explains, “To show that both shows can co-exist.” Thoughts on Bieber , West and other proposed guests on Black-ish?
Let us know your views in comments below.
[Images via ABC]