'Young Love' expands Oscar-winning short film into a TV series

More than 3 1/2 years after winning an Academy Award for “Hair Love,” a six-minute animated short film about a Black father learning to style his young daughter’s hair before visiting her cancer-stricken mother in the hospital, Matthew A. Cherry has crafted another love letter to Black parenthood in “Young Love,” a new sequel series that premieres Thursday on Max.

More than 3 1/2 years after winning an Academy Award for “Hair Love,” a six-minute animated short film about a Black father learning to style his young daughter’s hair before visiting her cancer-stricken mother in the hospital, Matthew A. Cherry has crafted another love letter to Black parenthood in “Young Love,” a new sequel series that premieres Thursday on Max.

Set two months after the events of the short, the animated sitcom follows the titular family — natural hair stylist and vlogger Angela Young (Issa Rae), whose cancer is now in remission; music producer Stephen Love (Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi); and their quick-witted daughter Zuri Young-Love (Brooke Monroe Conaway) — as they navigate the ups and downs of their personal and professional lives in Cherry’s hometown of Chicago. Loretta Devine and Harry Lennix give voice to Angela’s tough but loving parents Gigi and Russell, while the guest cast includes Tamar Braxton, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Debra Wilson.

“The thing I think is really unique about our show is that it’s centered around Black millennial parents,” Cherry told NBC News in a recent video interview. “Typically, in animated shows, the parents are more boomer, more established in their careers, and the idea of exploring millennial parents was cool because they haven’t really achieved their dreams yet. They’re still working toward their goals, but they want to be present in their kid’s life.”

Tasked with expanding the world that he had introduced in the film and accompanying children’s book, Cherry and his creative team sought to create a TV series that would have similar intergenerational appeal. With the added emphasis on the parents and grandparents, “you get to see how three different generations attack the same problem.”

“One of the biggest lessons that we tried to get across with ‘Hair Love’ was this idea of listening to your kids,” Cherry explained. “Stephen was trying to get to the hospital; he was just trying to hurry up and rush her. And when he took a second to actually listen, he discovered, ‘I need to take a second sometimes and just really listen to my kid. Sometimes they have the answer that I may not have.’”