‘Black Lady’ creator Robin Thede signs first-look deal with Warner Bros. TV

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Robin Thede, the co-star and Emmy-nominated writer-actress-producer and creator of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, has signed an overall first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

In her exclusive multiple-year agreement, Thede will be using her comedic writing and acting expertise to continue creating groundbreaking TV programming. She will develop new content for streaming outlets, cable networks and broadcast networks.

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Thede became known in 2017 and 2018 for executive producing and hosting The Rundown with Robin Thede on BET. The following year, she partnered with Issa Rae to develop A Black Lady Sketch Show, now in its second season, the first major sketch show to be created by, written by and starring Black women.  

Thede began her studies in Evanston, Illinois. After earning degrees in broadcast journalism and African-American studies, the Northwestern University alumna studied improvisation and sketch and comedy writing in Chicago with Second City, the famed improvisational comedy troupe. 

In 2015, she broke a glass ceiling in entertainment, becoming the first Black woman to be named head writer of a late-night talk show, both writing and corresponding for The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central. Variety named her one of their “Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2019.”

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Thus far, her comedic work has attracted faithful viewership. A Black Lady Sketch Show was renewed for a second season and garnered a 2020 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Sketch Show.

If the term “lucky seven” has any real resonance in gambling odds, The Black Lady Sketch Show is favored to win Thede that Emmy by a thread: It’s the Iowa-raised writer/actress’ seventh comedy sketch-show job.

Thede joins Rae, Michael B. Jordan, Ava DuVernay and other Black industry titans at Warner Bros.

In addition to her new deal, Thede is co-writing the script for HBO’s Fashionably Black, a project being produced for HBO Max under Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

She will also be making an appearance in Bad Hair, a horror-comedy written, directed, and produced by Justin Simien scheduled to debut on Hulu Oct. 23.

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