Why I can't WAIT for HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show
So, unless you’ve been living under a wifi-disabled rock, you’ve probably already seen the trailer for HBO’s hotly anticipated A Black Lady Sketch Show. The brainchild of comedian, actress and writer Robin Thede (also former head writer for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore), and executive produced by Awkward Black Girl-turned-TV-powerhouse Issa Rae (of HBO’s Insecure), the show features a core cast of four celebrated Black actresses/comedians - Robin herself, Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis, and Ashley Nicole Black.
I first came across the trailer as a pinned tweet by Quinta Brunson, or Quinta B as the internet at large affectionately calls her. She is best known as a Buzzfeed TV alum and a comedian with perfect timing and a finger on the pulse of what it means to be young, Black, and female today. Since her Buzzfeed days of bringing the Internet solid gold in the form of infinitely meme-able video content, her star has continued to rise thanks in part to her triple-threat talents as an actor, writer, and producer.
For this latest project, she joins a constellation of Black comedic superstars in what HBO bills as “[the first sketch comedy series] to be written by, directed by, and star Black women.” For me, A Black Lady Sketch Show is also an homage to the many generations of talented, Black female performers who have worked hard to make this moment possible. Because really, when you see Angela Bassett, Issa Rae, Loretta Devine, Quinta Brunson, Laverne Cox, Lena Waithe and Patti freakin’ LaBelle all in the span of one two-minute trailer, you know to quietly abandon whatever plans you thought you had for the August 2 premiere of the show on HBO.
From the moment the trailer dropped online on July 7 and up until the time of this writing, it had been viewed over 800,000 times on Facebook, and almost 3 million times on Twitter. That’s almost a million views per day and counting, a number that I’m hoping will translate to ratings once the show is actually on the air (fingers crossed!)
The preview begins, appropriately, with a group of four Black women singing at the top of a hiking trail, “We made it to the top, ayyy!” What follows is a slapstick moment where Quinta B’s character slips and tumbles off the edge. Later, in a scene labelled, “Bad Bitch Support Group”, the queen Angela Bassett intones, “There is nothing wrong with being an okay bitch.” As the other “bad bitches” react in shock, she adds with a smile that could cut glass, “As long as you not a basic bitch!”
Golden Globe winner Angela Basset in the trailer for HBO's A Black Girl Sketch Show
Aside from the core, four-member cast, the show also boasts a rotating cast of Black Hollywood a-listers in each episode. The trailer legit looks like they pulled up on the Black Hollywood whatsapp group (because you know it HAS to exist) and just said, “Party on the HBO lot. Come through.” It features everyone from rising star and teen movie mogul Marsai Martin (of Blackish and Little fame), to everyone’s favourite Afro-Latina Gina Torres, to ‘90s/early-’aughts standouts like Tia Mowry and Khandi Alexander, to comedic staples like Yvette Nicole Brown and Loretta Devine, to black entertainment legends like Patti LaBelle. More guest appearances include David Alan Grier, Yvonne Orji, Aja Naomi King, Natasha Rothwell, Larry Wilmore, Jermaine Fowler, Lil Rey Howery, Deon Cole and Kelly Rowland.
And if it seems like I’m just naming names at this point it’s because I am. When I say this show is stacked, it is STACKED. Again, three million trailer views in three days. Suffice it to say, the people are ready for this.
In the words of Quinta B herself,