Chris Rock to Produce Late Night BET Show Hosted by Robin Thede

 

It was announced in an exclusive Hollywood Reporter interview yesterday that Robin Thede, former head writer of Comedy Central’s now-defunct The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, has been tapped to host a new BET late night talk show. Called The Rundown with Robin Thede, the show will be executive produced by Thede, Chris Rock, and some of the production team from Jax Media, who also produce Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Rock and Thede sat down with THR’s Lesley Goldberg to discuss the new half-hour show, which was picked up for a 24-episode run that’s expected to debut this fall. The two revealed that they’ve shared a student/mentor relationship ever since Thede wrote for the 2014 BET Awards, which Rock hosted. At that time, Rock saw that Thede was more than just a writer, and that she had the talent to step in front of the camera too. Now, they’ve teamed up for a 30 minute, fast-paced show that promises to deliver hilarious and relevant satire and cultural commentary.

The show first came together after The Nightly Show got canceled and Thede was looking to create something for herself. “I took a general meeting at Jax Media and they asked if I was going to do a show, what that would be. I rambled out what would become The Rundown. They bought it in the room.”  She says she brought Rock up on a lark, but Jax had produced Chris’ movie, Top Five.  The next thing Thede knew, Chris was in!

Rock said he will be involved, but doesn’t want to have a heavy hand, and may pop in for field segments.  “I’m going to be involved a lot, but if you can tell, then something is wrong; then her voice isn’t coming through,” he said, adding, “we have to let her get established; it’s always got to be right — but I still have a career! I have no problem being in something hot!”

Thede also explained the show’s structure. “We’ll start the show with an opening sketch that will spoof something from the week. Then we’ll do the in-studio segment with the live audience where we go through the rundown. We’re only going to hit topics with a couple of jokes because it’s a literal rundown on the massive screen that says the topics that we’re going to cover.”  Thede says there will not be any “12-minute deep dives”  on serious topics like why black lives matter. There will be field pieces in the show’s third act that can cover longer topics. That portion of the show could also contain sketches or even musical acts. And there’s a fourth act– a tag with something funny at the end.  “It’s a really well-rounded show that takes advantage of all the things I do. Viewers can expect a layered show that if you don’t like one thing, just wait 30 seconds because it’s going to change and move really fast.”

The whole interview is an interesting look at how these two immensely funny and creative minds came together, and how excited they are to bring the new show to fruition, so be sure to head over to THR and check out the full article at THR.

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.