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Robin Thede talks season three of ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show,’ working through COVID and casting guest stars

TheGrio spoke with the actress/comedian about the new season of her Emmy award-winning HBO sketch comedy series.

HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show has been a hit since it premiered in 2019, helping make its star and creator Robin Thede a household name. The actress/comedian has not only spearheaded an Emmy Award-winning show that’s funny, irreverent, and biting all at once, but it’s given many other talented Black women a platform to shine.

Like most television shows, A Black Lady Sketch Show ran into the roadblock that is the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown threatened the show’s momentum, but it quickly recovered thanks to brilliant writing and amazing guest stars.

Thede spoke with theGrio about the third season of the series, the challenges of navigating COVID-19, and her approach to booking and utilizing guest stars on the show.

73rd Primetime Emmy Awards - ArrivalsRobin Thede attends the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards at L.A. LIVE on Sept. 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

“It’s my favorite season. I think every season gets better,” Thede told theGrio.

She says there was a marked difference between producing the second and third seasons after navigating through the pandemic with and without a vaccine.

“I think season two was made during a rampant pandemic and we didn’t even have the vaccination. In season three we had vaccinations, we knew more about how to make a show in a pandemic, so, it was less challenging to make than season two,” Thede says.

She explained how crucial it was for the show, its cast, and writers to find the “rhythm,” especially given that much of season two happened during the height of the pandemic.

“We were able to get back into what I think is the real rhythm of the show. And season two was great! Listen, five Emmy nominations, a win– like season two was amazing,” Thede said. “I am in competition with myself to amp the bar every season, to raise the bar.”

Although Thede and the cast were getting used to working with COVID restrictions, shooting during the rise of the omicron variant was still a challenge.

“We shot [this season] in the fall, so, you know, it was still COVID-y out here in these streets,” she said. “So it was really scary. We were still testing six times a week and by the grace of God, never got shut down. But our crew was still really, really careful, and protecting our cast.”

One major aspect of A Black Lady Sketch Show’s success is its guest stars. Season one included Angela Bassett, David Alan Grier, and Tia Mowry. Issa Rae, Gabrielle Union, and Kim Wayans appeared in season two. Thede tells theGrio that season three will take the guest stars to another level.

“We’ve got 40 plus guest stars on this season. You know, everybody from Ava DuVernay to Michael Ealy to Kel Mitchell to Holly Robinson Peete, to Wanda Sykes to Tommy Davidson; Essence Atkins is back, [and] Raven Symone,” Thede said.

Although the show has landed numerous A-list guests, Thede said she focuses on the writing first. “The brilliant thing about this show is that we write sketches and characters that we love, and then the writer’s room closes and then we cast the show,” she says.

“We can’t write for celebrities just because we need them to come one day and often we only have that location a specific amount of time, so it’s just a narrow window to fill. So what we do instead is create great sketches and great characters, and then we reach out to celebrities that we think will fit the bill for those characters.”

Season three of A Black Lady Sketch Show premieres Friday.

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‘Constantly learning’: Dominique Morisseau and J. Keys on enduring love

As we wrap up February’s ‘Mighty Love’ series, the Tony-nominated playwright and her musician husband share their 23-year love story.

This is a continuation of theGrio’s “Mighty Love” series, running through February. Read our first couple’s story here.

When Tony-nominated playwright and MacArthur Genius Dominique Morisseau met producer James ” J.” Keys in their native Detroit, it’s likely neither anticipated the heights they’d climb, individually and together. Twenty-three years and one viral wedding dance later, they have been married for nearly nine years and are new parents—as well as creative collaborators. As theGrio has been celebrating Black love along with Black history this February, the two graciously sat down with us to share a bit of their journey and enduring bond.

While Morisseau was winning history-making acclaim (and two NAACP Image Awards) for plays like the Temptation jukebox musical Ain’t Too Proud, J. was forging a path of his own as a hip-hop artist, producer, and engineer. When Dominique’s play Skeleton Crew opened on Broadway this January, it featured original music and lyrics by J., who is also part of the sound design team of her next production, Confederates. But in the beginning, J. simply had “all these butterflies” when he first watched Dominique perform her poetry at an event while the two were in college.

“I was like, blown away, by just her words and her mind,” he told us—and the feeling was soon mutual. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and romance, as well as an eventual working relationship. But as Dominique shared, enduring love isn’t effortless.

“I would say working together teaches us balance. I think we are constantly learning,” she said. “We constantly have to stop and recalibrate…I will say that collaborating is teaching us that because some days we’re up late listening to my rewrite of my play, or some days we’re up late trying to figure out his music contribution to the play. And so, I think it has taught us the perpetual game of balance and just to be hyper-aware of it.”

Of course, most college romances don’t go the distance, let alone all the way to Broadway, so how do J. and Dominique make love last?

“I think one of the big lessons was sometimes love requires space and space is room to grow, room to kind of discover yourself,” J. explained. “It taught us also when to push and when to pull and when to just release, because there were definitely times I needed pushing, definitely times I needed pulling and then there were times I needed release…I think it was the same with her.”

Hear more about Dominique Morisseau and J. Keys’ love story in our video above.

Maiysha Kai is Lifestyle Editor of theGrio, covering all things Black and beautiful. Her work is informed by two decades’ experience in fashion and entertainment, a love of great books and aesthetics, and the indomitable brilliance of Black culture. She is also a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and editor of the YA anthology Body (Words of Change series).

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

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Loren Hammonds takes us Inside the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival on ‘Acting Up’

The festival, created by legendary actor/director Robert De Niro is back in-person in New York City

The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival is in full effect in NYC and the star-studded event is bringing people back together now that they’ve returned to an in-person festival. 

During a recent episode of theGrio’s podcast, Acting Up, Tribeca’s VP of Immersive Programming, Loren Hammonds, revealed all the ways he and his colleagues have curated the impressive list of projects and how they plan to keep people safe amid the ongoing pandemic. 

2019 Tribeca Film Festival LA Reception At The Nespresso Beverly Hills Boutique Loren Hammonds attends the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival LA Reception at Nespresso Boutique

“We have some great pieces that are outdoor for the first time in immersive and things that people can do from across the globe,” Hammonds said. “Not to mention our Tribeca At Home selections, where you can actually experience the festival wherever you are in the United States.”

He continues, “That was important because even though restrictions are lifting, we understand not everyone can travel or not everyone is vaccinated or feels comfortable traveling. We want to make sure that we’re opening up our program to everybody and really democratizing it by like giving everybody a chance to see what Tribecca is all about.

Regardless of the fact that everyone who’s vaccinated can now walk around without a mask, we are asking everyone to keep their masks on. We’re not asking for proof of vaccination. We have these socially distant pods where essentially you can sit with four people from your own group or two people from your own group, and they’re all distanced from each other. When you’re in the pod, if you’re eating or drinking, take off your mask.”

The 12-day festival features outdoor screenings, intimate talks, immersive experiences, and thought-provoking discussions with creators, creatives, and some prominent figures like Stacey Abrams, Lena Waithe, and Dave Chappelle, among others.

Indoor events, like the screening of Chappelle’s latest project at Radio City Music Hall, will require proof of vaccination for all attendees. 

Festival-goers can expect to see films starring Hollywood heavyweights like Don Cheadle, Brian Tyree Henry, and Van Jones, as well as lesser-known talents who are finally getting a chance to shine. 

Darien Dorsey, Taura Stinson, AmaYah Harrison, Julia Vahn and Louis Bryant III attend the “19 Seventy Free: Part 1” premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival

This year’s festival also offers several films that center on the ongoing pandemic. 

“People still were submitting films at the same level that they have in the past, even with the production shutdown. I think people were working in post-production and they were ready to to to give us some films to look at, so that’s that’s been really great,” Hammonds said.

“We saw tons of films that were pandemic-themed and shot on Zoom. Everything you can imagine. Most of those did not work, but there are a select few that we programed that I’m really, really excited for people to see how creators have dealt with with the pandemic.”

The Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 9-20. Check back with theGrio for more news and reviews all week long. 

Check out the full conversation with Hammonds on Acting Up. 

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