black-ish's Never-Before-Seen Shelved Episode Is Now on Hulu

A shelved episode of black-ish  titled "Please, Baby, Please" -- which should have originally aired during Season 4 -- has been released for the first time ever on Hulu.

The episode was originally pulled after ABC and showrunner Kenya Barris couldn't come to a compromise -- and is famously touted as the last straw in Barris's strained relationship with ABC. After the episode was shelved, he signed an exclusive $100 million contract with Netflix. The issue centers on Dre (Anthony Anderson) reading a bedtime story to his infant son, recounting the events of the past year, tackling several controversies that arose during Donald Trump's first year in office. One of the sensitive subjects covered in the episode is kneeling during the national anthem during football, which began as a sign of peaceful protest from major athletes in solidarity with victims of police brutality and racial injustice. In the episode -- according toVariety -- Junior (Marcus Scribner) and Dre get into an argument over the NFL's #TakeTheKnee protests. At the time, Barris and ABC both released statements that they mutually unhappy with the direction of the episode and decided to shelve it. 

Here's Why ABC Shelved a black-ish Episode Over "Creative Differences"

Now however, Barris and ABC have made a mutual decision to make the episode available to stream after Barris reached out to ABC -- which is now run by a completely different slate of executives -- to start the conversation. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country after the recent death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others, the network decided the cultural value of the episode was worth airing, a fact that Barris and his cast and crew knew from the outset. 

In a statement Barris said, "I cannot wait for everyone to finally see the episode for themselves and, as was the case nearly three years ago, we hope it inspires some much-needed conversation -- not only about what we were grappling with then or how it led to where we are now, but conversations about where we want our country to go moving forward and, most importantly, how we get there together. Thank you to ABC Entertainment for allowing this moment to happen. And thank you to the entire black-ish family for never shying away from tough conversations, making telling stories like this possible."

"Please, Baby, Please" and every other episode of black-ish is now streaming on Hulu.