Robin Thede is returning to late-night TV. The former “Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore” head writer and contributor will host and exec produce “The Rundown With Robin Thede” for BET. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news.
Thede, who made history as the first black female head writer on a late-night comedy show, will “take on the week’s headlines in politics and pop culture with a fast-paced, no-holds-barred show that will feature social commentary, sketch comedy, and pop culture parodies,” THR reports.
Race will be an integral part of “The Rundown,” but not its sole focus. “This is going to be a show that is absolutely geared to a black audience and told from a black, female perspective,” Thede tells THR. “Does that limit it to only race issues? Absolutely not. It’s going to be things that matter to the community, but it’s also a recap of politics and pop culture from the week. It’s things that matter to my audience and to people who care what I think.”
Using a certain recently-ousted Fox News host as an example, Thede jokes, “If Bill O’Reilly calls a woman ‘hot chocolate,’ this is definitely going to be a show you want to tune in to hear what we have to say about it. When that stuff happens and other shows comment on it, it’s always as an observer, not as a witness. As a black woman, I can tell you how that would make me feel and tell you the jokes that would make sense to me and the community that BET serves.”
Along the same lines as “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” and the upcoming late-night shows from Sarah Silverman and Iliza Shlesinger, Thede believes she can best make her mark in a weekly format. “We can take more of a helicopter view of the week and pick out things that spoke to our audience and have fun with those and tailor it,” she observes, and “the field pieces will be more evergreen.”
Chris Rock, also set to exec produce “The Rundown,” comments that supporting Thede was “a no-brainer.” Describing her as “good and funny in front of the camera and amazing behind the camera,” Rock tells THR, “Robin is really talented and she deserves a shot. I’m happy BET stepped up and think people are going to like her.”
Joining Thede and Rock as executive producers are Lilly Burns, Genevieve Aniello, John Skidmore, and Tony Hernandez.
Thede served as a regular cast member of “The Nightly Show” beginning in its second season. She was the head writer for Wilmore at the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner and during her tenure at “The Queen Latifah Show.” Thede has also written for several BET Awards ceremonies and “The Real Husbands of Hollywood.”
Check out Thede’s “Black Lady Sign Language” segment on “The Nightly Show” below.
