My favorite (non-movie) pop culture of 2016!

10.) Black-ish

ABC’s family comedies are one of my favorite things. I used to think my wife and i were showing our age by sitting down to catch up with episodes of “The Middle” and “The Goldbergs,” until I realized: these are very funny, well-crafted shows. But the best of ABC’s sitcoms, and possibly the best currently airing, is “Black-ish.”  Starring Anthony Anderson, an actor I’ve been very slow to warm to in other projects, it’s blisteringly funny, smart and politically astute. The story of an affluent black family, it’s sometimes politically bracing and emotionally devastating, such as in the episode “Hope,” about police brutality. But Anderson, Laurence Fishburne and Tracee Ellis Ross are fantastic comedians, able to keep the show hilarious. It also continues the ABC tradition of having youth actors who can give the adults a run for their funny money. Marcus Scribner, in particular, elevates the role of dopey teenage boy. Were it not for the fact that their shows take place in different decades, I’d love to see him palling around with Barry Goldberg.

“Black-ish” airs Wednesday nights on ABC