The premiere of Insecure‘s third season on Sunday night brought not just one show — but two.
This season’s show-within-the-show is called ‘Kev’yn’ and it’s an homage to ’90s Black sitcoms.
via Complex:
In the first episode, we’re introduced to the characters, which include the show’s namesake Kev’yn, Percy, Yolanda, Kev’ysha, and Lil Chris. On the Insecure website, the characters are also given fake actor/actress names. For example, Yolanda is listed as being played by Monique Lewis, who is played by the real-life actress Erika Alexander. Alexander is an actual sitcom star, who had roles in popular ’90s shows like Living Single.
Two clips of the show aired on Sunday. “After agreeing to switch gender roles for a day, Kev’yn and Percy realize being a woman isn’t a slice of cake,” the synopsis of the first episode reads. Watch “The Original” below.
In the second clip, which Issa and Daniel watch at the end of Sunday night’s Insecurepremiere, Yolanda and Kev’yn go head-to-head on timely topics. Yolanda sports a ‘Black Wives Matter’ T-shirt, while Kev’yn dresses in a 76ers uniform with Colin Kaepernick’s number. Watch that clip below.
Kev’yn follows in the footsteps of Due North, the season 2 show-within-the-show set in the pre–Civil War South and starring Regina Hall.
In an interview with The Wrap earlier this week, showrunner and executive producer Prentice Penny explained how the writers came up with the concept of Insecure’s new show. “This season, we were just talking a lot about how much we love like ’90s black sitcoms,” he said. “Obviously in the wake of Roseanne and Will and Grace and, you know, Full House and all the shows they brought back, we just started having discussions too about like, why aren’t they rebooting any shows of color?”
So the crew of Insecure decided to make their own rebooted classic. “If they’re not going to reboot A Different World or Brandy, or they’re not gonna reboot any shows of color, then let’s reboot our own show,” Prentice explained, adding that it’s “our homage to all the shows of color.”
You can catch ‘Insecure’ and ‘Kev’yn’ at 10:30 p.m. Sunday nights on HBO.
