Black-ish to air a partially animated election-themed special directed by Matthew A. Cherry

Deadline

Cherry, who won an Oscar earlier this year for his animated short film Hair Love, will helm the back-to-back episodes scheduled to air Oct. 4 -- unless the NBA Finals messes with ABC's special. Deadline reports that "Election Special Pt. 1" and the animated ‘Election Special Pt. 2" won't be the Season 7 premiere. The Season 7 premiere will likely air in late October. "With production just now gearing up on the series under coronavirus protocols, the animated special under the watch of the Hair Love director serves a dual purpose," says Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "It is clearly topical heading into the final month before a COVID-19 hobbled America decides if Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be sworn in as POTUS on January 20, 2021. The special also buys Black-ish some additional time to be ready for a full season coming out of the prolonged production stoppage of the pandemic." The first part of the special will see "Marcus Scribner’s Junior pumped about finally being able to vote, only to find he has been dropped from the voters list – and discovering the realities of why that occurred," per Deadline. The animated second part "sees the Peter Mackenzie portrayed Stevens from Dre’s (Anderson) ad agency make a lunge for a Congressional seat. A lunge that takes Dre and his family down to the underbelly of modern day politics."