Tracee Ellis-Ross Opens Up About Her Former Series ‘Girlfriends’ Coming To An Abrupt End: We Had 13 More Episodes To Do–We Never Did Them

Tracee Ellis-Ross Opens Up About Her Former Series ‘Girlfriends’ Coming To An Abrupt End: We Had 13 More Episodes To Do–We Never Did Them

While it’s been many years since the hit series “Girlfriends“ came to an end, fans are still curious as to why the popular show ended in such an abrupt way.

During a recent interview, Tracee Ellis-Ross, 49, opened up about her time on the series “Girlfriends” and how she and the cast were unaware that the show was ending. She explained,

“Our last episode that we shot was during the writers strike and I actually directed it. It was my first time directing–it was not fun because it was really bizarre, it was surreal. But then we just kinda faded away.”

She continued,

“We had 13 more episodes to do–we never did them. We didn’t have a wrap party. We didn’t know we were ending. The last moment wasn’t with all our writers and everybody. It was not sort of a ceremonial end.”

Tracee Ellis Ross

“Girlfriends” is a sitcom series that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN’s successor network, The CW, before being canceled in 2008. It followed the lives of four black women navigating through work, dating, and life’s ups and downs. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008. “Girlfriends” still remains one of the most popular/influential tv series in pop culture history. The entire series began streaming on Netflix on September 11, 2020, to commemorate the show’s 20th anniversary.

Tracee Ellis-Ross then explained that the unfortunate way Girlfriends ended gave her a deeper appreciation for the proper send-off she received with the ABC sitcom “Blackish.”

” I have such deep appreciation for how Blackish is ended, and I leave with so much joy and pride. And I really have the opportunity to say from an educated place, this is a beautiful end.”

She went on to reflect on the time she’s had on the show and how much of a positive impact it has left on her and others.

“I leave our show with so much joy and pride and I feel like what we did in these eight seasons really did change the landscape of modern primetime television. Really changed how we understand what an American family is and that a Black-American family has a universal appeal for all of us that we can identify in so many different ways. The fact that we were a black family that was thriving and not just surviving.”

blackish cast

Tracee Ellis-Ross continued,

“There’s so many things about our show that I felt excited about when I signed on originally and only continued to blossom and I look back and I have so much pride…It’s a really interesting thing to have an end like this and to be able to talk about it–both the people that we made the show with but also others and what the impact was for them.”

(Click here to see the full interview)

“Black-ish” is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, and ended last month with the final episode airing on April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. “Black-ish” follows an upper-middle-class black family. The show revolves around the family’s lives, as they juggle several personal and sociopolitical issues. The series stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Marsai Martin, and Miles Brown. Jenifer Lewis, Laurence Fishburne, and Deon Cole also have recurring roles.

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