HBO Orders Weekly Late-Night Show Starring ‘SNL’s Sam Jay; Prentice Penny To EP

Peter White
·3 min read

Sam Jay is getting a weekly late-night show on HBO.

The Saturday Night Live writer will host the currently untitled show starting in 2021. It will be exec produced by Insecure’s Prentice Penny.

Jay joined the writing staff of the NBC comedy in October 2017 and Jay’s first hour-long comedy special, 3 In The Morning, was released on Netflix in August 2020.

The 30-minute show, which joins Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in the weekly late-night space on the premium cable network, will see Jay tackle the top trending topics in urban and world culture for the week – including race, politics, sexual identity, science, celebrity, religion, and more – and examines them from her unique and subversive point of view.

The series will be executive produced by Jay, Penny for A Penny For Your Thoughts, Chris Pollack and David Martin and Kara Baker for Avalon. Alex Soler will also serve as co-executive producer for A Penny for Your Thoughts Entertainment.

“Sam is fiercely funny, provocative, and a complete original. Her comedy seamlessly glides between vulnerability and grit, and she always makes you see the world in a whole new way,” said Nina Rosenstein, EVP, HBO Programming. “Joining forces with Prentice to bring Sam’s talent to late-night is a perfect fit.”

“I’m really excited to bring my point of view to late-night television and have felt nothing but support creatively from HBO and A Penny For Your Thoughts,” said Jay. “So everyone wear your mask and vote so I can make my TV show.”

“I’m so excited to create this project with Sam as I think she’s one of the best comic minds today,” added Penny. “When I first started thinking about this idea, I knew I wanted to create it with someone who was smart, funny, irreverent, and boundary-pushing. Someone who would elevate it to a place that not only challenges the culture, but challenges all of us to think different and be better. Sam is undoubtedly that person. I’m extremely honored to work with her on this and we’re both incredibly grateful to Casey, Nina and everyone at HBO who believed in this project from the beginning. It’s going to be a fun ride.”

Sam Jay is represented by Avalon, ICM Partners, WME, Viewpoint and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Prentice Penny and A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment are repped by WME and attorneys John Meigs and Adam Kaller.

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