‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ Production Designers Painted a Portrait of Robin Thede with a Corgi, Then Hid It in the Background of a Sketch

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson When “A Black Lady Sketch Show” production designers Cindy Chao and Michele Yu sat down to determine which episode of the comedy series they’d submit for Emmy consideration, they kept one key factor in mind. “We partially pick which episode to submit based on the title,” Yu tells Variety, laughing over Zoom as she and Chao explain their process. “It’s a fantasy to have a very serious person onstage announcing these titles.” The episode Chao and Yu landed on was Season 4’s fifth half-hour, “Peek-a-boob, Your Titty’s Out,” which features the prehistoric drama of “The Real Housewives of B.C.”; recurring character Cousin Curtis manning a hotel front desk before being sucked into the season’s interstitial sketch; and a “Family Matters”-style sitcom spoof where the episode title is uttered as a quippy jab from series regular Gabrielle Dennis to creator/star Robin Thede. (Seems they chose wisely since the duo and set decorator Lizzie Boyle are nominated for the second year in a row.) More seriously, the duo chose the episode because it demonstrated their work in an array of different environments — a mix of location shoots and built sets.

For example, the opening sketch, “Why You Ain’t Say Nothing,” was shot on an existing sitcom set, while “Frock of Shit” was filmed in a (haunted) house and “The Real Housewives of B.C.” took place in a Southern California cave.

The episode also displayed the skills of their creative collaborators, from the show’s director Bridget Stokes and DP Kevin Atkinson to the costume, hair and makeup departments and other below-the-line crew. “The ‘Real Housewives’ sketch comes together because of the group effort,” Yu explains. “We wanted to pick sketches that fire on all cylinders.