“Insecure” promo (HBO)
HBO renewed Issa Rae’s debut TV series “Insecure” for a second season, cementing the show’s impact.
The series premiered Oct. 9 and follows a character named Issa, portrayed by Rae, as she navigates her unfulfilling career and life with her longtime boyfriend and her best friend.
Variety reported the renewal Nov. 14, noting the scripted comedy nabbed an average of 3.2 million viewers during its first season. The network greenlit the show for 10 episodes next season, besting its present eight-episode run. Currently, sturdio heads don’t plan on introducing casting changes or involving new showrunners.
“All three [series] have done exactly what I’d hoped in terms of connecting with audiences and raising the questions the creators set out to raise,” Casey Bloys, HBO’s new president of programming, told the website of “Insecure” and other freshman shows “Westworld” and “Divorce.”
In a press release, Bloys noted both audiences and critics have welcomed the new shows, “all of which have distinctive, original voices.”
Rae, who executive produced and created “Insecure” with Larry Wilmore, tweeted her excitement over the series’ renewal Monday.
https://twitter.com/IssaRae/status/798233411475255296
Additionally, many fans tweeted their pleasure.
Monique Williamson said the show meant “so much to me and my friends.”
yaaaaaaassssss! This show means so much to me and my friends
— Monique Williamson (@stufmoniquesays) November 15, 2016
Marchand Lynch congratulated the cast on the series’ renewal.
Congrats to @IssaRae @MsDeniese @YvonneOrji @thatsAyannaJ and the whole #Insecure squad for the 2nd season pick up!
— Mitch Marchand III (@MitchMarchand) November 15, 2016
Meanwhile, Alex gave thanks to a higher power.
https://twitter.com/xKingDomi/status/798263941847810048
The show was a long time coming for Rae, who got her start the nontraditional way — on YouTube.
Rae opened up about the judgment she felt from actors and producers whose Hollywood status is cemented by experience.
“‘You didn’t come up the traditional way, you kind of broke in’ is the perception on many fronts,” she told Time magazine in September. “When I’m in a room with the bigger movie stars and the television stars and the people who’ve been doing this for a while … even though I can call some of the showrunners my mentors, I still feel insecure about my own place in Hollywood.”
