“A Black Lady Sketch Show” will say hello to some new faces and goodbye to an old friend for its next season.
Ashley Nicole Black, who served as a cast member and writer of the HBO sketch comedy series, will not return for the show’s fourth season, which has begun production for a premiere next year. In her place, the remaining core cast members — creator Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Skye Townsend — will be joined by three new featured players: DaMya Gurley, Tamara Jade, and Angel Laketa Moore. Black, an Emmy-winner for her work as a writer on “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” and as a producer on “Ted Lasso,” will next be seen in the Apple TV+ series “Bad Monkey” from “Ted Lasso” co-creator Bill Lawrence.
The sketch series has gone through past cast changes in previous seasons: “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson starred in Season 1 before exiting the show, though she made a surprise cameo in the Season 3 finale. Season 2 featured Laci Mosley, who left the cast due to scheduling conflicts with the Paramount+ “iCarly” reboot she stars in.
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” will be the first major television credit for Gurley, who is best known for performing comedy on TikTok. Jade previously appeared as a contestant in Season 19 of “The Voice,” where she was coached by John Legend. Moore is a stand-up comedian whose prior TV credits include “Swimming With Sharks,” “Atypical,” “United States of Al,” and “B Positive.”
“We are forever indebted to our sister, Emmy-winner Ashley Nicole Black, whose contributions as a writer and performer on ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ for three seasons have made an indelible mark on our series and in comedy history,” Thede said in a statement. “She will always be a part of our family and we are rooting for her as she continues on her path of greatness Angel, DaMya and Tamara are the absolute bellwether for the next generation of comedians! They sing, dance, act and make you laugh! They are going to surprise and delight viewers with their endless talents, and we can’t wait to introduce the world to them!”.
The HBO series, which features an all-Black-and-female cast performing in short-form sketches and an increasingly convoluted running story about surviving the apocalypse, has received consistent critical acclaim since premiering in 2019. Its first three seasons have received a total of 13 Emmy nominations, with two wins for best editing of a variety series and a best directing trophy for Bridget Stokes, who helmed the Season 3 premiere.
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