''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' is an American television sketch comedy series created by

Robin Thede Robin Thede ( ) is an American comedian, actress and writer. Raised in Iowa, she has also worked as an entertainment correspondent, host, and radio personality. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to be head writer for a late-n ...

for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. The show consists of comedy sketches performed by a main cast of Black women, currently consisting of producer and creator Thede,

Gabrielle Dennis Gabrielle Dennis is an American actress and comedian, known mostly for her work in cable television series ('' The Game'', '' Blue Mountain State'', '' The Underground''). Dennis starred in the Fox medical drama ''Rosewood'' alongside Morris C ...

Ashley Nicole Black Ashley Nicole Black (born June 15, 1985) is an American comedian, actress, writer and producer. She was a writer and correspondent for ''Full Frontal with Samantha Bee'' (2016–2019), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

, and

Skye Townsend Skylar Christan "Skye" Townsend (born September 1, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She has released two EPs, ''Vomit'' (2012) and ''Rocking Chairs'' (2015). Townsend joined the main cast of ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' in 2021. Music car ...

. Alumni cast members include

Quinta Brunson Quinta Brunson (born December 21, 1989) is an American writer, producer, actress, and comedian best known for creating, executive producing, co-writing, and starring in the ABC comedy series ''Abbott Elementary'' (2021–present). Brunson gained ...

and

Laci Mosley Laci Mosley is an American actress, comedian and podcaster. She performs improv comedy at UCB Los Angeles and co-starred in the Pop comedy series '' Florida Girls''. Mosley is best known for her podcast ''Scam Goddess'', which focuses on histori ...

. The show has featured guest stars such as

Issa Rae Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, producer, and comedian. Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series ''Awkward Black Girl''. Since 2011, Rae h ...

, Vanessa Williams,

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

, Laverne Cox, Nicole Byer,

Amber Riley Amber Patrice Riley (born February 15, 1986), sometimes known mononymously as RILEY, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series ''Glee'' (2009–2015). For her perform ...

, Miguel, Omarion, Raven-Symoné,

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

, Tia Mowry,

Tahj Mowry Tahj Dayton Mowry (; born May 17, 1986) is an American actor. He is the brother of identical twin actresses Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry and is known for his role on the show ''Smart Guy'' as the main character TJ on The WB, though the show gained ...

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That' ...

, Kyla Pratt,

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...

, and

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

. ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' premiered with a season of six episodes on August 2, 2019, to "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. The first season received a 2020

TCA Award The TCA Awards are awards presented by the Television Critics Association in recognition of excellence in television. There are eleven categories, which are presented every summer towards the end of the organization's summer press tour. Due to ...

for Outstanding Achievement in Sketch/Variety Shows and season two won three Black Reel Awards. Seasons one and two hold a 100% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. The second season premiered April 23, 2021 after being delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, which debuted on April 8, 2022. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

Cast

Main cast

Recurring guest stars

Guest stars that have appeared in multiple episodes. *

Essence Atkins Essence Uhura Atkins (born February 7, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career appearing on television sitcoms, before her regular role on the short-lived first African-American prime-time drama '' Under One Roof'' ( CBS, 1995). Atkin ...

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher D. Caldwell, better known as Bob the Drag Queen and Caldwell Tidicue, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, and reality television personality. He is best known for winning the eighth season of ''RuPaul's D ...

* Yvette Nicole Brown * Nicole Byer *

David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on '' Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015� ...

Broderick Hunter Broderick Hunter Jr. (born January 3, 1991), is an American model and actor from Fontana, California. Early life Broderick Hunter Jr. was born on January 3, 1991, in Fontana, California to Broderick Hunter Sr. and Chika Hunter. He has an older s ...

* Phil LaMarr *

Yvonne Orji Yvonne Anuli Orji (born 2 December 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role in the television series '' Insecure'' (2016–2021), for which she has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and three NAAC ...

* Natasha Rothwell *

Holly Walker Holly Ruth Walker (born 15 November 1982) is a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2011 to 2014, as a Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Green Party list MP. She is deputy Director of Helen Clark Foundation, The He ...

* Tyler James Williams

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2021)

Season 3 (2022)

Production

Development

In the summer of 2018,

invited her close friends and fellow comedians

, and

to help her develop a comedy series. Thede then pitched the series to

as a way to address the dearth of Black women's representation in the American comedic landscape. Thede was encouraged by HBO executives to push boundaries and take risks with the show. The show was originally titled ''The Black Lady Sketch Show'' but the name was changed to communicate to audiences that the series is a single representation of Black women in comedy. The show is thought to be the first sketch comedy series written, produced by, and starring Black women. On January 28, 2019, it was announced that HBO had ordered a half-hour sketch show, ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'', written and created by Robin Thede.

is the co-executive producer with Thede through Issa Rae Productions, known as Hoorae as of 2021. The season one director is

Dime Davis Dimonique "Dime" Davis (born October 4, 1985) is an American director and producer. She directed several episodes of the BET series ''Boomerang'', and was the co-showrunner of the second season. Davis was the director and executive producer of the ...

. Season two was directed by Lacey Duke and Brittany Scott Smith. Bridget Murphy Stokes is the third season's director. On August 27, 2019, HBO announced that ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' had been renewed for a second season. Filming of the second season was put on hold due to the

, but on March 23, 2021 it was announced that the six-episode season would premiere on April 23, 2021. On May 24, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a third season. On June 2, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a fourth season.

Casting

On May 24, 2019, it was announced that the show would star Thede along with comediennes Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, and

, Gina Torres, and

Marsai Martin Caila Marsai Martin (born August 14, 2004) is an American actress, best known for her role as Diane Johnson on the ABC sitcom ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022). In 2019, Martin starred in the comedy film '' Little'', which she also produced, becomin ...

were announced as three guest stars. On March 23, 2021, it was announced that Brunson would not appear in season 2 due to scheduling conflicts. Additional changes for season 2 included the casting of

and

as main cast members. Confirmed guest stars include

, Jesse Williams, Miguel, Skai Jackson,

Laz Alonso Laz or LAZ may refer to: People * Laz people of the Black Sea area **Laz language First name * Laz Alonso (born 1975), American actor * Laz Barrera (1924–1991), Cuban-born American racehorse trainer * Laz-D (born 1982), American rapper *Laz Dí ...

, Omarion, Kim Wayans,

Ayesha Curry Ayesha Disa Curry (née Alexander; born March 23, 1989) is a Canadian-American actress, cookbook author, and cooking television personality and the wife of basketball player Stephen Curry. After guest roles in several television shows and movies ...

, Lance Gross, and Wunmi Mosaku. On March 2, 2022, it was announced that Mosley would not appear in season 3 due to scheduling conflicts. Guest appearances include Ava DuVernay,

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez (born January 7, 1991), formerly known as MJ Rodriguez, is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several Performing arts, performing arts schools in her youth before being c ...

, Raven-Symoné,

, Kyla Pratt,

Jemele Hill Jemele Juanita Hill (; born 1975) is an American sports journalist who writes for ''The Atlantic''. She worked nearly 12 years for sports conglomerate ESPN. She wrote a column for ESPN.com's Page 2 and formerly hosted ESPN's '' His and Hers''. ...

, and

Holly Robinson Peete Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete (born September 18, 1964) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama '' 21 Jump Street'', Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', and D ...

Writers

Lauren Ashley Smith was the show's head writer for the first two seasons. Additional writers for season one are

Brittani Nichols Brittani Nichols (born June 20, 1988) is an American producer, actress, comedian, and writer. In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in the film ''Suicide Kale,'' which won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest. ...

, Rae Sanni,

Amber Ruffin Amber Mildred Ruffin (born January 9, 1979) is an American comedian. She hosts her own late-night talk show titled ''The Amber Ruffin Show'' on NBC and Peacock. She has been a writer for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' since 2014. When she joined ...

and Akilah Green. Cast member

also wrote for the show. It is the first television series to have a writer's room entirely composed of Black women. For the second season, Ruffin, and Nichols left the writer's room, and Kindsey Young, Shenovia Large, and Kristin Layne Tucker joined as additional writers. The season three writer's room retained Large and brought on new writers.

Release

The series premiered on August 2, 2019. The second season premiered on April 23, 2021 on HBO and

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

. Season three will premiere on April 8, 2022.

Reception

Season one

The first season of ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' received critical acclaim. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

, the first season of ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' holds an approval rating of 100%, with an average rating of 8.88/10 based on 20 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Singular, subversive, and simply hilarious, ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' finds universal humor in specific spaces to craft quick-witted sketches that perfectly showcase Robin Thede and her talented cast." According to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, the first season received an assigned score of 89 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." In a review by

Ali Barthwell Ali Barthwell is an American writer. She reviews television for ''Vulture'' and is a staff writer for ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'', for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Life and caree ...

for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', she wrote, "''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' possesses a confidence in its first season that suggests the show is not interested in being chopped up into easily consumable chunks. ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' seems more interested in creating a whimsical, loving world for its leads." Writing for

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

, Jen Chaney stated: "''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' isn’t just funny. Its sketches are consistently clever and surprising, often concluding with twist endings that add a whole other layer to the jokes that had us rolling a couple of minutes ago." In 2020, the show became the first Black women-led sketch show to receive a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nomination for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.

Season two

The second season also received positive reception. It holds a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight critics' reviews.

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

journalist Kristen Lopez said that the season "once again delivers hilarity and absurdity in equal measure." Margaret Lyons of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that the show "has such a fun ear for specifics and lyricism, and the new season grows seamlessly into itself; the show’s recurring characters are back, and Robin Thede, its star and creator, is as dynamic as ever." Danette Chavez of ''The A.V. Club'' noted the show "has an air of reinvention" and "retains the cohesion, rapid-fire energy, and mix of culturally specific and universal humor that made the first season uproarious and a joy to watch." The second season received five Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Variety Sketch Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Sketch Series. Daysha Broadway, Stephanie Filo, and Jessica Hernández received the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming The Primetime Emmy Award for Picture Editing for Variety Programming is awarded to one television series each year. From 2012 to 2015, the category was called Outstanding Picture Editing for Short-Form Segments and Variety Specials. Prior to 2012, ...

, the first all-women of color ensemble to receive the award in Emmy history. Season two was named to "best" year-end lists published by '' Paste'', ''The A.V. Club'', '' The Root'', and '' NPR''.

Season three

Kristen Baldwin of '' EW'' rated the season an A− and hailed it as "consistently, ridiculously funny." Similarly, ''

'''s Jenna Scherer described the show: "In its third season, ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' continues to blaze a trail as a show both by and for its titular demographic, unafraid to make cultural references that will gleefully whizz over the heads of white viewers." Scherer also complimented the chemistry of the cast members: "they share such an easy rapport, riffing off each other seemingly effortlessly whether the moment is scripted or improvised."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Lady Sketch Show 2010s American black television series 2019 American television series debuts HBO original programming Television series by Home Box Office Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment 2010s American sketch comedy television series 2020s American black television series 2020s American sketch comedy television series African-American television English-language television shows Hoorae Media Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series