Premiered: January 3, 2018

On: Freeform

Starring: Yara Shahidi, Deon Cole, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Luka Sabbat, Chris Parnell, Anthony Anderson, Diggy Simmons & Da’Vinchi

A young adult spinoff of ABC’s hit comedy series Black-ish, Freeform’s Grown-ish dives more into drama without making it about real matters.

Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) leaves home to start college at Cal U. Her dad’s (Anthony Anderson) friend Charlie (Deon Cole) becomes her professor and leads her to a new crew of friends and multiple potential love interests.

While Zoey was fun to watch as the alpha of her siblings on Black-ish, you start to realize that her character development has been paper thin. The main focus of the show is her relationships with Aaron (Trevor Jackson), Luca (Luka Sabbat) and Cash (Da’Vinchi).

Like its predecessor, Grown-ish tries to tackle tough issues like race, sexuality and drugs, but it never hits its stride. The strength of those topics are often sidelined.

Final say: It’s got some growing to do. ★★★☆☆