Lena Waithe’s ‘Twenties’ Is Finally Coming To Television

It’s about a Black, queer woman and her two straight besties.

Lena Waithe’s long-gestating comedy Twenties will finally hit television screens. On the heels of her successful remake/reboot/sequel/whatever we’re calling it, Boomerang— which just got a season two pickup — BET has greenlit the single-camera comedy series from the Emmy-winner.

“Twenties has been a project I’ve been dreaming about for as long as I can remember,” Waithe said in a statement. “I think a lot of people were interested, but didn’t see the vision. I’m so grateful [BET executives] Scott Mills and Connie Orlando did. I know audiences have been waiting a long time for this one.”

The eight-episode, half-hour series, which Waithe created and wrote in her early 20s, follows the adventures of a queer Black girl, Hattie, and her two straight best friends, Marie and Nia, who spend most of their days talking shit and chasing their dreams. Twenties is a scripted show about friendship, finding love, and messing everything up along the way. #Relatable.

“BET Networks is thrilled to partner once again with the creative visionary Lena Waithe on both Boomerang and Twenties as she is without a doubt a leading relevant voice of our generation and a disruptor in her own right,” said Orlando. “BET is committed to the elevation of inclusive and authentic storytelling that viewers continue to expect from the brand.”

Waithe executive produces Twenties with Susan Fales-Hill, who will co-showrun with her. Fales-Hill is legendary in her own right as former head writer and co-executive producer of The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World.

“I’m deeply grateful to Lena Waithe for dragging me out of the crypt to run her groundbreaking series about women of color who are as intelligent as they are funny, as ambitious and driven as they are confused,” said Fales-Hill. “It is exhilarating to be back in television, at BET at a moment of unprecedented multicultural inclusion in the entertainment industry.”

Rishi Rijani and Andrew Coles also executive produce.

Waithe is the hardest working woman in Hollywood, with the second season of her drama The Chi is currently on Showtime, her show Boomerang, and the film Queen & Slim, which she wrote, coming out in November. She’s also developing a series with The Read’s Kid Fury.

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Lena Waithe’s ‘Twenties’ Is Finally Coming To Television