As a sketch comedy series written, produced by, and starring Black women, A Black Lady Sketch Show has been regarded as a first of its kind.
Creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer, and star Robin Thede almost wishes that wasn't the case. She recently told ET that when the series was first in production, she purposefully sought out underrepresented talent to prove a point to the industry — that she was able to find it easily.
"I wanted Hollywood to know that finding talented women of color is not hard," she said. "I'm literally just picking and choosing out of an endless selection of talented women of color."
Thede added that the production design team is comprised of Asian women and Latina women. All the editors and producers are women of color, and ABLSS is the first series to have a writer's room made up entirely of Black women. The cast is also all Black women.
Beyond demographics, Thede said that her cast and crew also vary in economic background and lived experiences. Some come from prestigious education, and others learned their skills and humor without any schooling at all, which she believes contributes to the product they are able to create.
"I like to hire Black women writers who have all sorts of different experiences. Some went to Ivy League schools, some grew up in a hood, some did both, and of all ages as well," Thede explained. "And I think that's really critical because it's so important to show the breadth of what we can be."
For its fourth season, ABLSS held auditions that Thede said were overwhelmed by the amount of talented Black women who attended. She added that they easily could have cast "twelve more" in addition to the three new cast members.
"There were so many, so many great Black women that came — I literally wrote tearful letters to the ones who didn't get it," Thede said. "I was like, 'It could have been you. It really could have, it's not your fault.' It's heartbreaking for me to tell Black women 'no' on this show because it's literally named for them, you know? It's hard for me to turn our sisters away, but we'll get 'em in there eventually."
Thede emphasized that the show was made to champion and uplift Black women, and that she hopes for the comedy to become an "act of service" for them.
She said: "The product that we put out, the comedy that we put out, is an act of service to the audience. That joy that we're able to give people is an act of service to all these Black women that we make this for."
A Black Lady Sketch Show season four premieres on HBO Friday night.
