Robin Thede is showing no signs of slowing down the rich expanse of magical reality found in “A Black Lady Sketch Show.”
Beginning with the Season 3 finale, which revealed that Dr. Hadassah was secretly controlling women, Season 4 embraces twists to “constantly reinvent” reality as the comedian and show star and creator of the past introduces the season’s characters to each other. And the different storylines get intertwined.
“My life and my world are constantly changing. As we go through life, it must be, and so I think metaphorically we get to play with it,” Thed said at the April 14 premiere of the fourth installment. previously told TheWrap. “What world is this where Dr. Haddas will be elected president? This is clearly not the world we live in, but a parallel universe where all these characters get to play, and where these women inhabit these characters. We start meeting the women behind the characters and the mystery begins to unfold.
While this element enriches the viewing experience for loyal fans in the form of recurring segments – cue Black Lady Courtroom – and characters like the Coral Reefs Gang and Chris, Theed encourages newcomers to tune in for the fourth chapter, regardless He must not have seen the show before.
Thed said, “There are two ways to enjoy the show: 1) On a base level, just watching the sketches and enjoying and laughing … and that’s what a lot of people take for granted,” Thed said. “The second level is with the rewatch and adding sketches from previous years and adding characters and following their story… The real reward is, if you’ve been watching since Season 1, you can see all those Easter eggs. Those who receive and those who continue will understand the story.
With three seasons into the HBO series, Theed continues to expand its writers’ room with new and different voices, noting that the broader format of this season makes the installment accessible to a wide variety of audiences.
“We talk about an all-black female writers’ room, but what that means is that we really celebrate diversity among a group that may seem similar, but isn’t,” Thede said. . “We’ve got black women from all kinds of different walks of life and different experiences who bring a variety of comedy to the table.”
Keep reading to find out which characters fans are vying to bring back and how Thede produced a music-filled fourth season of “A Black Lady Sketch Show.”
Music has always been an integral part of the show. Can you talk about making music video sketches and how it’s different from fully written dialogue?
I think we approach it with the same kind of energy, which is that we want as many jokes as possible, as quickly as possible. We have a big musical opening sketch after a cold start to this season, which was really fun, because we got to introduce all the new cast members to the OGs. So it was a really fun introduction; I think it just sets the tone for them.
Of course, we have a new opening song [and] credits every year, and I think people are finally getting used to it. The first time we changed the opening credits, they were like, “What, where are the puppets?” We have different paths and this is a sketch in itself, we don’t treat it as something that is an afterthought. We’re very intentional about everything on this show… Black culture is very inextricably linked to music. We use it to create hilarious moments that you can’t even realize the music is making you laugh. But we try to use it as irony – or not irony – to invalidate the laughs to another level.
What feedback have you heard from the audience? What else do they want to see?
I haven’t played Chris in two seasons – people are bugging me about it – so he’s back and better than ever, with a better hairline than ever. They’re also really excited about the new cast members, and they each have their own fan base, which I love. So I know he will love seeing them. Black Lady Courtroom, oh my god, we didn’t do it the first time last season, and people were furious. So, it’s back, dear… Also the Coral Reefs gang – we haven’t seen them in two seasons – so Gabriel Dennis is back and he has a rival, who I’m really excited for is Tracy. There’s Ellis Ross, who crushes it. We only write when we know we have a story to tell, and that’s why some characters don’t come back in some seasons.
He asked about guest stars – he wants to see all his favorites on the show. I’m really excited about people like Debra Wilson and Jackie Harries making triumphant returns to the show, but we’ve never had Debra before and I’m really excited to have them and pay tribute to these women who paved the way. paved us to do so.
How has it been shooting for this season with hopefully a few less restrictions as we are still slowly emerging out of the pandemic?
[For] Season 2, everyone was double-masked and getting tested eight times a day, and it was just scary, because there was no vaccine. And then the people of Season 3 were vaccinated; It was feeling a little better. And then [for] Season 4, there are no restrictions on kids or animals or crowds anymore, so we really went for it, and we were able to create a lot without any restrictions. Our crew is still unmasked, and we still test everyday, but this was just to make sure everyone has peace of mind and is safe and sound. I think we’re definitely getting into what feels like production normalcy for the most part.
Can you talk about the option for Season 4 to remain a six-episode season?
Oh, it’s none of my business. We’re happy to get the six we’ve got – the show still takes the better part of a year to make because we’re making short films, so new locations, new characters… imagine your favorite comedy show every Rose is reinventing itself – it’s a big job and it’s an intense show. I know six is never enough. And I like that, don’t you? I love that we guys want more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity,
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” premieres Friday on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
