-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated
and Golden Globe award-winning actress
for her work on the hit series "Black-ish."
The eighth and final season airs Tuesday nights, on ABC.
Let's take a look.
-How was your first day at the clinic?
What?! -So fulfilling.
-We met so many different kinds of people
with such incredible stories.
-See? Oh, gosh, you guys get it.
-Thank you for the opportunity. -No, thank you.
Are you kidding me? So, same time next week?
-Oh. You want us to do this again next week?
-Uh, yeah. Not in a, like,
"I'm making you do it" kind of way.
This is, like, a fun thing for us to do together.
-Oh! So, this was optional?
-Yeah. -See, Vanessa? I told you.
-[ Chuckles nervously ]
-She thought we had to come since you're, like,
our boss and all.
-Oh, so -- so you guys are only here because I'm your boss?
-Oh, I'm so glad you get it.
A lot of people would not be cool with that.
-Please welcome back to the show
our good friend Tracee Ellis Ross.
How are you, Tracee? -Hi, Seth!
I want to make an entrance like it's real,
but you're not gonna see my face.
But the dress is so good. Watch. Here we go.
-It's beautiful. Oh, thank you!
It is a beautiful dress.
It is a beautiful color. Let me tell you something.
Nobody wears bolder and more beautiful colors
than Tracee Ellis Ross. Consistently.
-I love a color, I love a color, I love a color.
Hi, Seth. How you doing?
We're back at home. What is this?
-I know. I'm sorry to flip the script on you.
I promise, next time, it'll be in person.
And, you know, I'm a little worried.
I want to get your assurances that even though "Black-ish"
is coming to a close, you will continue to be
one of our favorite guests on the show in the years to come.
-You are assured. And you don't have to apologize.
Seth, I also shut myself down.
Not because I got delta -- got delta --
got omicron -- I can't even keep it together.
Not because I got it, but because I got scared again,
and everything's just back at home.
It just is what it is. -Yeah.
I mean, for the easily scared,
this has been a real return behind the doors.
-Let me tell you something, I'm back at home by myself.
[ Both laugh ]
-Well, congratulations.
Congratulations on eight seasons of the show.
Congratulations on a premiere that had, let's be honest,
one of the toughest gets for a sitcom guest star
you could imagine.
You guys got Michelle Obama.
-Yeah, called up my friend, texted her, and said,
"Hey, you want to come on down,
do a little guest spot on the show?
You know, just you got a little time,
just come on over and visit."
Yeah, it was really exciting.
What a way to start a final season.
She is the -- And she's such a great actress.
-Yeah. -She was so good at improv
and just kind of hanging with us.
So that was a really fun way to start our final farewell season.
-So, you will confirm that you did not make her
audition for this part.
This was an offer-only situation.
-Oh, no, she auditioned, yeah.
Actually, it was funny -- I had Barack audition for her.
And then, once he made it through the first round,
I was like, "All right, we'll see the wife."
[ Laughs ] -Interesting.
And so now, in the end, Barack didn't get the part?
-No. As a matter of fact, it's funny you say that.
He did not. And -- But it turned out well.
It turned out really well. No, they're amazing,
and, no, they did not audition.
As a matter of fact, we auditioned for them.
We had to make sure they knew we were up to par.
-Now, your producers were aware of the fact
that you were friends with Michelle.
Did they wait a full eight years before asking you,
or has this been something that you've had
to put them off over each season?
-They did not wait eight years,
but this was the first time I was willing to ask.
-All right, perfect. Well, it did work out perfectly.
Your sense of timing was impeccable.
-Thank you. It's not normally the case,
but I'll take it on this one. [ Laughs ]
-So, what -- When you look back at a show
that's been on this long, what are the things
that you feel like have changed the most
or the things that you've enjoyed watching mature
over the last eight years?
-The truth is, the most important part of the show,
for me, and the joy and pride really all comes from watching
Anthony's facial hair grow. -Yeah, good.
-Some would think that it is, you know,
the extraordinary experience of witnessing and being --
participating in the growth of the children on the show.
Or maybe even -- Look at this. -That's amazing.
-This is how I know time has passed.
The robustness of Anthony Anderson's beard
showed us that, truly, anyone cannot achieve what he achieved.
-I think it showed we all have room to grow.
We all have room to grow.
-That is exactly what it tells us.
But I'm also left with a lot of joy and pride,
'cause, you know, we did some good work, Seth.
-You did. -It feels like we did
some good stuff, yeah. -You mentioned the kids.
And you know, I have many writers on my show
who are younger than me --
I would say, almost all of them --
but they're not children.
But you actually worked with kids.
Like, cool, plugged into pop culture, the young people.
Was that helpful, in that it made you feel young,
or depressing because it made you feel old?
-It was devastating, Seth.
It's something that I'm still in therapy because of.
I entered the show and walked around mostly, on most days,
considering myself quite cool. -Yeah.
-You know, youngish, so to speak.
-Mm-hmm. -But, no, the children
on the show, I think they actually played a lot of games
and would turn to me to kind of ask me questions
just so that they could laugh hysterically
about the things I did not know.
And then, I would explain to them that, like,
it's their job to keep me up to speed.
So my failure as a cool person is on them.
They have to be accountable for that,
which they also thought was funny.
But you know what gets sad, Seth, is when you're actually
trying to convince someone how cool you are.
-Yeah. -It's depressing.
-Well, let me tell you, you bring me on that set,
'cause we hung out 20 years ago in New York City,
you and I, Tracee. We ran this town!
We ran this city. -You have no idea!
You have no idea the places I've been, the people I've seen,
and the things I know!
-Now, a lot of those nightclubs are closed now.
They're cycling clubs now. -Yes, yes.
-Spin classes happen there. I have more questions for you.
And in the time -- in this commercial break,
I would just invite you, as I will do,
to reflect on our youth.
We'll be right back with more from Tracee Ellis Ross.