Saturday Night Live alumna Maya Rudolph is slated to return to NBC in May with an hour-long variety show special, featuring musical guest Janelle Monae, according to Shadow and Act.
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The Maya Rudolph Show will air at 10 p.m. on May 19 and will be an update of the classic variety show, offering music and comedy sketches by Rudolph and several celebrities.
So far, stars scheduled to appear include The Office’s Craig Robinson, and SNL alums Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen and Chris Parnell. Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Monae will be a musical guest, and Raphael Saaddiq will be the bandleader.
The special, which also could double as the pilot for a series, is being executive-produced by SNL’s Lorne Michaels, Entertainment Weekly reports.
Rudolph, who appeared on SNL from 2000 to 2011, was the show’s last black female cast member for five years until Sasheer Zamata was hired this year. The show’s lack of diversity had been a sore point among critics for years. Before bringing on Zamata, the 38-year-old show had had only four women of color as regulars.
Read more at Shadow and Act.
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