Robin Thede's 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' Returns With Star-Studded Season 3

Secure your laces and your lacefronts! They’re back!

Source: Amy Sussman / Getty

The Emmy award-winning, history-making, and rule-breaking A Black Lady Sketch Show returned to HBO on Friday with a hilarious season 3 premiere. Series creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer, and star Robin Thede discussed the “epic” new season and its 40+ guest stars with Entertainment Tonight on Thursday.

“I’m living my dream. I’m making the show I’ve always wanted to make and the show that I’ve been preparing for three decades to make,” Thede said about the first-of-its-kind comedy show.

“I know I have a good team, and so, everyone around us is deadset on the same goal and that’s to make every season bigger and better than the last. I know we have done that with season 3.”

The ABLSS team features Gabrielle Dennis, Ashley Nicole Black, and new cast member Skye Townsend, but these aren’t the only familiar faces we can look forward to spotting. The new season starts with cameos from Holly Robinson Pete, Jamelle Hill and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez putting a Black lady twist on The Purge for the one time a year hair products that don’t work can be returned for full price. In the epic rush to the beauty supply store, Kyla Pratt gives us the episode’s ridiculously funny title, “Save my edges, I’m a donor!”

“We get to see sketches that are coming back, not only from season 2 but from season 1 that we haven’t seen,” she added about the Issa Rae-produced variety show. “So we get to see the funeral ball with Bob the Drag Queen and we’ll get to see a number of things that are in homage for characters we have known and loved for the past seasons, but also just giving love to the audience who stuck with us and waited so long to see these six episodes every year.”

In addition to appearances by Wanda Sykes, David Alan Grier, Kel Mitchell, and Michael Ealy, can look forward to the return of fan-favorite characters like Thede’s blonde hoteptress Dr. Hadassah Olayinka Ali-Youngman, Pre-PhD, and Black’s invisible super-spy, Trinity. Thede even recruited Ava DuVernay for more of the chaotic comedy.

“I am in awe of every single one of them,” the creator said about her long list of guest stars. “I’m so excited to see them — I mean, who thought Ava DuVernay would do a sketch? She was essentially playing a heightened version of herself but she had an hour to come shoot with us. I was like, ‘I got you, don’t worry.'”

“And she was like, ‘There are only two sentences in the script.’ I was like, ‘We’ll make more of it. It’s fine.’ And literally on set, I’m just yelling out jokes. I’m like, ‘Say this.’ She was like, ‘I would only do this for you. You are chaotic.’ And it was great. She’s amazing.”

Thede and her trailblazing team promise a lot more authenticity and absurdity in the bigger and better new season. Tune to new episodes of A Black Lady Sketch Show on Fridays at11 p.m. ET/PT. and streaming on HBO Max.