Robin Thede (The Rundown with Robin Thede, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore) and Issa Rae (HBO’s Insecure) will executive produce and star in HBO’s half-hour sketch comedy, A Black Lady Sketch Show. The series features a core cast of black women and celebrity guest appearances. This will be the first sketch comedy series to be written by, directed by and starring black women.
In addition to Thede and Rae, the cast includes Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis and Ashley Nicole Black.
The show’s celebrity guest stars include Angela Bassett, Lena Waithe, Aja Naomi King, Tia Mowry, Patti Labelle, Amber Riley, Yvonne Orji, Loretta Devine, Gina Torres, David Alan Grier, Jermaine Fowler, Lil Rel Howery, Deon Cole, Marsai Martin, Natasha Rothwell, Khandi Alexander, Laverne Cox, Larry Wilmore, Yvette Nicole Brown and Kelly Rowland.
The hilarious trailer features an array of silly sketches including a support group for self-identified ‘bad bitches’, a fight over who gets to pray for a meal at church and friends whose celebrated hiking excursion takes a turn with mountainside tumble.
Robin Thede is most known for creating, executive producing and hosting BET’s The Rundown with Robin Thede. She was also the head writer & a correspondent for Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, head writer for the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner and has appeared in Difficult People, Key & Peele, A Haunted House and Goodwin Games.
Issa Rae is an Emmy-nominated actress (HBO’s Insecure), New York Times bestselling author (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl) + ‘Best Web Show’ Shorty Awards winner. Rae has appeared in the films, The Hate You Give (2018) and Little (2019).
Quinta Brunson is a writer, producer, comedian and actress – best known for her Buzzfeed Video content and Girl Who Has Never Been On A Nice Date series. She has sold two web series in partnership with Buzzfeed Motion Pictures and was nominated for ‘Best Acting In A Comedy’ at the Streamy Awards for her scripted YouTube Red comedy, ‘Broke’. Recently, she co-produced the pilot for CBS comedy, ‘Quinta & Jermaine’ alongside Larry Wilmore and Jermaine Fowler.
Gabrielle Dennis starred in the UPN/BET dramedy The Game (2006), along with roles in FOX’s Rosewood, Marvel’s Luke Cage and BET’s The Bobby Brown Story.
Ashley Nicole Black is a three-time Emmy nominee for her work as a writer and correspondent on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
This is the creator, writers, director, and cast of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show. This show’s gonna be as black and joyful as we are in this video. #ablss pic.twitter.com/TlEOhR2Dub
— Akilah Green (@akilahgreen) May 28, 2019
Joining Thede and Rae as executive producers are Deniese Davis (Issa Rae Productions), Montrl McKay (Issa Rae Productions), Dave Becky (3 Arts Entertainment), Johnathan Berry (3 Arts Entertainment), Tony Hernandez (JAX Media), Brooke Posch (JAX Media) and John Skidmore (JAX Media).The show’s head writer, Lauren Ashley Smith (The Rundown with Robin Thede) will also co-executive produce.
The show premieres on HBO August 2, 2019 @ 11PM (EST).
