HOW ROBIN THEDE BROUGHT BLACK GIRL JOY TO LATE NIGHT

The Rundown with Robin Thede smashes the mold- body rolls, black Twitter, and all.

“I don’t want to do it again!” The wail issues from the black-clad, stiletto-shod host of BET late-night show, The Rundown with Robin Thede. Thede’s play-complaint is directed at the Quan, an arm-swinging half-crouch made famous by rapper ILoveMemphis, and while she’s clearly comfortable on the dancefloor-she often emerges onto her stage grooving, and hides a body roll in every episode-the maneuver is proving elusive on this frigid Thursday afternoon.

Still, do it again she must. Thede taps that same all- in aplomb she’s deployed to tackle the quandary of hot Trump supporters, the deterioration of black cemeteries, and the story of Delilah Wells, a fictional actress whose transition from the black and white era into Technicolor shocked everyone-because, unbeknownst to them, she’d been black all along. And after a couple of tries, she nails it, or at least sells it, and we’re on to the next thing. Quan down!

In a field that boasts white men as far as the eye can see, a black woman hosting late night might seem like a no-brainer—a necessity, even. But the fact is that, while she’s not the first—Wanda Sykes, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mo’Nique laid the foundation—Thede’s currently the only one. The Rundown‘s segments, which zero in on black history and those who make it, stitched together with her dance breaks and quizzical cracks, have proved critical catnip. After The Rundown‘s debut last October, the weekly, 30-minute show earned praise for the singularity of its voice and vision. Executive produced by Thede, previously the head writer on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore and the first black female head writer for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; Chris Rock; and Jax Media (Full Frontal With Samantha Bee), The Rundown is poised for success.

When I catch up with Thede in her Midtown office the next day, the show has just been named one of The Hollywood Reporter‘s 10 best TV shows of 2017. Begging a short reprieve before our interview to Instagram the news from her velvet couch, she’s clearly jazzed. “Game of Thrones wasn’t on that list!” she says, with the tiniest dash of amazement. “When they told me, I go, ‘Oh, that’s awesome, we made it on the top ten of late night.’ But they said, ‘No, not late night—just shows, period,’ which blew me away. We’re the only late night show on…

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