Issa Rae slated to co-write a comedy series for HBO

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Issa Rae, the Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl web-series creator, is now bringing the awkward character to television. Rae is teaming up with Bernie Mac Show creator Larry Wilmore to co-write a comedy series for HBO, in which she will play the lead role.

The HBO show parallels the theme of Issa Rae’s web-series, and is centered around the humor found in the awkward everyday experiences of a young African-American woman.

“I came up with the series from my own interaction with people. It’s really an exaggerated version of me.” Rae told theGrio. “I thought it would be funny to portray awkward situations on screen that we all go through.”

Rae describes herself as awkward and said that she created the web-series because she did not see herself in the characters that were currently on television.

According to Deadline, Rae and Wilmore will co-write the show as well as taking on executive producer roles. Wilmore will serve as the lead executive producer in conjunction with 3 Arts Entertainment production company, which will manage Wilmore and Rae throughout their work on the comedy show.  Rae will take a co-executive producer position in addition to her writing and on-camera responsibilities.

This is the second television project that Rae has been able to bring to television; she worked with ABC’s Scandal writer Shonda Rhimes to create I Hate L.A. Dudes on ABC.

Issa Rae has been busy outside of work on her web series, and that work was recognized when she graced Forbes‘ “30 Under 30” list. Earlier this summer it was announced that the web star was cast to play Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic of Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun. Rae is also writing a memoir to be published by HarperCollins.

Co-writer Larry Wilmore has had his fair share of successes as well. He makes humorous contributions to The Daily Show and has written and produced for shows like In Living Color, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Jamie Foxx Show, and Sister Sister.

The premier date of the HBO comedy has not been released