Issa Rae Returns to HBO With New Comedy Pilot
Issa Rae is returning to HBO with a new comedy pilot nearly 10 years after “Insecure” premiered and introduced audiences to her sharp take on friendship, relationships and adulthood.
HBO ordered a half-hour pilot from Rae, currently titled “Untitled Male Friendship Show.” Rae will write and executive produce the project, which will explore friendship, ambition and success through the world of professional boxing in Las Vegas.
The series will center on Menzel, a 30-year-old barber and aspiring sports manager who also serves as the best friend and confidant of JB, an up-and-coming professional boxer. The two friends will navigate ambition, loneliness, insecurity and the complicated pressures that come with success.
Rae will reunite with Prentice Penny, who served as showrunner and executive producer on “Insecure.” Penny will take on those same roles for the new project and will also direct the pilot. Their reunion gives the series a strong connection to Rae’s HBO history while shifting the focus from Black female friendship to male friendship.
“Insecure” premiered in 2016 and ran for five seasons before ending in December 2021. The acclaimed comedy earned Rae multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and helped establish her as one of Hollywood’s leading voices in television.
Rae later created “Rap Sh!t,” another HBO comedy that followed two aspiring rappers as they pursued success in the music industry. The series ran for two seasons and ended in 2023.
The new pilot marks another collaboration between Rae and HBO, although viewers will have to wait before they can see whether the network orders the project to series. Casting and filming have not yet begun, according to reports.
