Entertainment TV 'Black-ish' to End After Upcoming Season 8: 'Exciting and Bittersweet,' Creator Kenya Barris Says Black-ish, starring Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, debuted on ABC in 2014 By Ally Mauch Published on May 14, 2021 03:15PM EDT Photo: Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Black-ish has been renewed for an eighth and final season at ABC. Creator Kenya Barris announced the "exciting and bittersweet" news on Instagram Friday, days prior to Tuesday's season 7 finale. "To ALL the people in the world I love, honor, respect and care for it is both exciting and bittersweet to share that black-ish has been RENEWED by ABC for it's [sic] EIGHTH... and FINAL SEASON," he wrote. "In this day and age it is rare to get to decide when your show should come to an end, and we are grateful along with ABC to be able to make this final season exactly what we'd hoped for—– and to do it with the entire and AMAZINGLY STELLAR cast coming back to close this chapter out with us the right way!" Barris, 46, continued. Black-ish, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Jenifer Lewis and Laurence Fishburne, first premiered in September 2014 and has led to the spinoffs Mixed-ish, Grown-ish and Old-ish. Hulu to Stream Black-ish Episode That Was Pulled in 2018 and Made 1 Year After Trump's Election Over the years, the popular series has tackled difficult topics surrounding race and racism in America, including police brutality and the country's history of slavery. In 2017, Ross, 48, won a Golden Globe for best performance in a comedy TV series for Black-ish. Barris won two NAACP Awards for outstanding writing in a comedy series, in 2016 and 2017, and Black-ish has also been nominated for 20 Emmy Awards, with one win. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Patrick Wymore/ABC In his announcement post, Barris shared a video featuring some of the cast members reflecting on the show's legacy. "When we launched, I didn't know that our show was going to have the impact that it had," Ross says in the clip. "The thing that makes the Black-ish brand of comedy so universal is it's family, it's always a little messy," adds Fishburne, 59. "Whoever's watching this, thank you all for being interested in the stories that we wanted to tell," says Anderson, 50. "I'm looking forward to how we're going to wrap up this series." Black-ish. Christopher Willard via Getty ABC Brings Black-ish Back to Fall Schedule — 'It's Important to Tell These Meaningful Stories' Barris wrote in his caption, "This show has changed my life in so many ways and I am so proud of the conversations we've started along the way. None of this would have been possible without our audience and supporters, who have championed the show every step of the journey; allowing us to change not just the narrative of Black Families, but of Family, Culture, and the World in general." "All the while allowing us to talk about things that people were not supposed to talk about period... especially on a network television comedy," he continued. The writer and producer, who also stars in his own Netflix show, BlackAF, concluded the post with a thank you to everyone involved with Black-ish. "Thank you to everyone who made it possible to get to this point! The cast, crew, writers, directors, executives, and especially my family, who allowed me to mine so many deeply personal moments from them (many times forgetting to give them the heads up) and show them to the world," he wrote. "Tears fill my eyes and a smile brightens my face as I say thank you to ALL of my blackish family for all you have given of yourselves." Black-ish airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on ABC.