Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis and Ashley Nicole Black have joined HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show from Robin Thede and Issa Rae. Thede also stars.
Brunson and Black revealed the news on social media with posts about the show and its writers’ room.
View this post on InstagramWe are the cast for A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO. I’m honored. So happy to share this.
The series is a half-hour sketch comedy show that features Black women. Considered to be the first sketch comedy written by, directed by and starring Black women, it will feature narrative sketches performed by the core cast of Black women, as well as celebrity guests.
Lauren Ashley Smith, who was the head writer on BET’s short-lived The Rundown with Robin Thede, will be head writer and co-exec producer for A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Despite being canceled by BET (which has new leadership now), Thede’s The Rundown was critically acclaimed by critics, earning a rare 100 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes. After the cancellation, she went on to host the Television Critics Association Awards to a great response. Thede also has a comedy project in development at ABC.
This marks a return to comedy for Dennis, who starred in the UPN/BET dramedy The Game and Spike (now Paramount Network)’s Blue Mountain State. She most recently had dramatic turns in Rosewood, Luke Cage and The Bobby Brown Story.
Brunson, who found fame on social media with her viral Instagram series and multiple popular web series, made her first foray into traditional television when she was cast in The CW pilot The End of the World as We Know It last year. In 2018, she had a pilot production commitment for a CBS series produced by Larry Wilmore and co-starring Jermaine Fowler.
Black is a three-time Emmy nominee for her work as a writer and correspondent on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Below, you can watch a video from earlier this year with Rae, Thede and Smith talking about the series:
READ MORE:
Photo: Getty Images
