“The thing I’m most proud of”: 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' creator Robin Thede relishes her work and all of its Black girl magic

Tina Thorpe/HBO

She’s widely recognized as the first Black woman promoted to head writer of a late-night talk show. She’s acted, done comedy, both professionally and personally, and even hosted her own late-night show. But multifaceted entertainer Robin Thede says her current project, HBO‘s A Black Lady Sketch Show, is “100 percent” the thing she’s most proud of.

Ahead of season three’s premiere Friday, Thede told ABC Audio that the purpose of the Emmy-winning sketch comedy series is to serve as a safe space for Black women, like co-stars Gabrielle Dennis, Ashley Nicole Black and Skye Townsend, to “play” and be unapologetically themselves.

Creating it as such, of course meant