Prentice Penny, Inside 'Insecure'

Hey y'all, it's Brittney. And Eric. We are back again with a very special episode of our Quibi show, The Knob with Brittney and Eric. This week is all about TV. The icon, Cheryl Lee Ruff joins us to talk Moisha, her new BET, her short, and her absolutely legendary bridal party pick. You don't wanna miss that story. And co-host of the podcast, Keep It. I, Remedison III is joining us for two episodes to figure out once and for all if Bravo's Real Housewives series is good for the blacks. Come on, y'all. Neenie has left in near disgrace and Monique threatened to kill Candace. It's past time we get into it, but that ain't all. Mm-mm, no, it's not. If you've ever lit up your group chat over the latest drama between Issa and Molly from Insecure, you have today's guest to thank for that. In this episode, we're talking the insecure showrunner, Prentice Penny, the force behind some of your favorite shows from girlfriends to scrubs to Brooklyn 9.9. We chatted all about the importance of having black writers and showrunners in Hollywood and what might be in store for insecure's fifth season. Plus, Prentice tells us which girlfriends and insecure characters he want as real life home girls. You can love this one, y'all. It's fun. So much fun. So much fun. From series like Girlfriends to Insecure, director and showrunner, Prentice Penny is one of the creative minds behind some of the shows bringing us joy this year. After four seasons on HBO, insecure's Gordon outstanding eight Emmy nominations. Today, Prentice joins us to discuss how he pushes the boundaries in his work and will try to get the inside scoop on his plans for season five of Insecure. This is The Knob. (upbeat music) - Prentice Penny, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us. - Thank you, thank you guys for having me. - We are so happy that you are here. Insecure is now a part of this very short list of shows with predominantly black cast that have been nominated for Obstant and Comedy Show. The Cosby Show, Atlanta and Blackish that have all earned that distinction. How does it feel to have insecure be a part of that very short list? - Horrible. I mean, there should not be a short list. I mean, there's so many shows with black people throughout time that are amazing that just go unheralded. So, I mean, am I happy and honored that we get to be with those other shows? Like, absolutely. But the fact that we're talking like 60 years of an award show, - Twenty four. - You know, that's like one every 15 years. You know, that's insane. - You recently wrote a really powerful op-ed about the lack of diversity in writer's rooms. - Why do you think executives and showrunners are so resistant to the idea of diversity and inclusion in their writers rooms? - Hollywood has the same issues America has. - Hollywood is just another microcosm of Americans. People are comfortable with their comfortable with and unless they're pushed to be uncomfortable, that's not normally like a default state that most people want to just be in their normal life. And I think that's what I was trying to say in my article. It's not that like, oh, you're racist or you're not. We get in this very binary form of right wrong, like left right and that's what my point was. It's a sliding scale, right? You know, people have to sort of get out of their own way and say like, hey, let me look at things from a different lens, like let me kind of be uncomfortable. Let me not do the obvious choice. Because I get a lot of things in Hollywood or just sort of people hiring their friends. - Yeah. - Like if you get an opportunity, you're like, hey, I need this to work. So I'm gonna hire somebody I know I'm comfortable with who I know can do the job. But if, again, all your meeting like the same jobs are the same people and those all people are white, well then there you go. It's hard to crack that. - You started out as a writer on one of our all time favorite shows, Girlfriends. Working for another pioneering black showrunner, Mara Brock-Aquiel. - What did you learn from Mara that might have informed your own career as a showrunner? - 80% of what I know now I would say probably more is all what I learned from girls. Because it's like, that's like your, I would say Girlfriends was like the show that raised me. And I think a lot of everything I learned from Mara, I just go like, oh yeah, like I learned that by watching Mara. But really when I learned as a showrunner, your job is like less about the writing at that point and you're more like managing people and you're really trying to get the best out of people, right? And you're trying to take, you know, 200, 300 people and get one vision and that's so hard. And so to watch Mara was just an exercise like a masterclass for like four years for sure. - So you had a hand in developing, you know, two characters who people identify with for better or for worse, Esa and Mara Lee from Insecure. - It's weird, it's all good sex and what do you venture in? But hold on, hold on, hold on. - Hey, Dixie down, makes you laugh. And you don't work at the airport. What's the problem because I'm here? - What goes into developing such iconic characters and where do you get your inspiration? - Ooh, I think mostly, I don't think we ever think about them as iconic. You know, I think that's our first thing 'cause I think always treating them like people. But I think for us, we just try to continue to take those characters and grow and let them grow and let them be fully foreign human beings. So like let them make mistakes, let them do the things and our good choices, let them make things that are like bad choices, the choices that we all make. We just try to find what is the interesting journey for this character. - Eric and I play this game called ranked. And we ranked Esa's men on Insecure. - Ranked one through five. Number one being, maybe Esa sure say with us. - Okay. - Number five being if Esa sees his men again, she needs to sprint in the opposite direction. - Gotcha, run. - Yes, run. - Who do you think is Esa's true match? - I don't know if any of them are to be honest with me. I can tell you who I don't want to win. I don't think she should be with Daniel. I don't think Daniel is. - Well, no, my therapist would agree with you. She should not be with Daniel. - You know what, like maybe Chad. I maybe Chad is his like, (laughing) - So since you wrote for some of our favorite TV girlfriends, we'd like to play a game that we call which girlfriend do you call? (upbeat music) - So Eric and I are gonna give you a few scenarios and you are gonna let us know which girlfriend from girlfriend or insecure you would call on to help you out. - Ooh. - Okay. - Okay. - All right. You have been invited to what is sure to be the wildest party you have ever attended. But in this case, you can only bring one of the homies with you. Which girlfriend do you call? - I would say, Kelly. - I would say this is the right answer. Your correct answer. - Failure answer. - If I'm going out, I'm like, yeah, we going out big. - What I want, I want me a mind with a big dick. I'll be happy as hell. - So scenario number two, you have just unfortunately been harassed in a public park by an infamous Karen. Which girlfriend do you call to show up and show up? - Oh, Molly. - Really? - I want to lawyer, I want to lawyer on site. And Molly's also from Florence and Krenshaw. So like I need the lawyer Molly and I need the ratchet Molly to all have my back and then flipping on them with their legalese when they try to think, oh, this is just a black girl from the hood and then she flip it on them. - You know what? I'm done. - Come on, it's an interesting conversation. - Nothing of it is not. - Okay. - No, I struck a nerd. - You know what? Fuck you and you get some fucking brother. - So you have just been challenged to a viral dance party, you know, with your arched nemesis. Some of you don't like, so you cannot lose to them. Okay? Which girlfriend do you call to help with the choreo? - She can't dance. - Freddie would be Issa. (upbeat music) ♪ And dance until the sun's making the cake see us make ♪ - It's the same one. - I don't say. - Uh, she will be willing to embarrass herself so I will win. So I feel like she would be like, we're going to win. She's a writer. My win be bad either. I feel like Molly is somewhere posting TikToks. - Yeah. - Thank you so much for joining us today, Princess. It was a joint interview. - Thank you guys. - Thank you so much for tuning into today's show, but I have to know who is your favorite girlfriend. Let us know on Twitter at the night show. We'll see you next time for a brand new episode of The Night. (upbeat music)