With Game of Thrones coming to an end, HBO is looking to diversify its offerings amid a prestige TV landscape at its most crowded. A key agent in the next era of HBO appears to be Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl creator and star Issa Rae. After the success of Rae and Larry Wilmore (The Nightly Show)’s Insecure, Shadow & Act is reporting that HBO has ordered not one, not two, but three shows from the multi-talented Rae. They will be developed in addition to a third season of Insecure.
Him or Her
The first will be another collaboration with a black male comedian; a comedy called Him Or Her which will be developed with ex-Daily Show writer Travon Free. The show will follow the day-to-day and date-to-date life of a black, bisexual male in the modern world. Free, who is himself bisexual, made headlines as one of the first openly LGBT Division 1 athletes. The show will be the first show to feature a black LGBT man as its main character since Noah’s Arc ended in 2006.
Sweet Life
Rae’s second project will be a teen drama set in Windsor Hills, an LA suburb known as “Black Beverly Hills.” She is developing and writing Sweet Life with Scandal producer Raamla Mohamed. The show will follow a group of affluent black teens and will bear resemblance to classic teen drama 90210.
Drama In The 90’s
Finally, Rae’s third series will be a period piece set in the early 1990’s. It will follow a young black couple trying to make their way in a turbulent world. The show will bridge the Reagan years to the Clinton years, at the height of tension between the LAPD and the communities they purported to serve. Angela Flournoy, VCU First Novel award-winning author of The Turner House, will produce with Rae and write the pilot.
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