Premium Blend: Wanda Sykes (S6E3)

Wanda Sykes hosts this 2002 episode of Comedy Central’s long-running showcase, stepping into the emcee role just as her career was shifting into high gear. Fresh off an Emmy-winning run as a writer and performer on The Chris Rock Show, Sykes is already fully formed here, projecting her signature exasperation between introducing a lineup of club comics looking for a television break.

The episode operates as a neat early-2000s comedy time capsule. Each guest gets roughly five minutes to make an impression. It offers a chance to see a pre-Cash Cab Ben Bailey and an early set from Alonzo Bodden a couple of years before he took home the top prize on Last Comic Standing. They are joined by Jonathan Corbett and Charlie Grandy in a standard, no-frills half-hour of cable stand-up.