Patricia ‘Ms. Pat’ Williams and Jordan E. Cooper on season 3 of ‘The Ms. Pat Show’

“The Ms. Pat Show” is back! The Emmy-nominated BET+ sitcom has returned for a third season, and theGrio caught up with star and co-creator Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams and co-creator and writer Jordan E. Cooper.

The two broke down the new “lighter” season of the series, why the show seems to resonate so much with audiences, and more.

In the new season of the hilarious series, the self-described “grown-folks sitcom” continues tackling challenging topics with “in-your-face” humor.

“It’s a fun season,” Williams told us. “We always drop in gems and want to open up your mind a little bit, but it’s more of a fun season.” Cooper added, “We still have those hard conversations but we do it with heavy-handed comedy.”

Like many humorous series, there is an infectious theatrical element to “The Ms. Pat Show,” which is filmed in front of a live studio audience. Cooper, who is a playwright, is coming off the critically acclaimed run of his play “Ain’t No Mo.”

“I was so intentional about that because I’ve always believed that sitcoms are just theater with cameras,” he told us. “Before I had access to see plays, it was watching ‘Good Times,’ watching ‘The Jeffersons,’ watching ‘Golden Girls.’ Those are plays to me.” He added, “It’s a really fun element that keeps us on our toes a lot … I love telling the actors new jokes without telling the rest of the cast, so a lot of the reactions you see are just real reactions.”

“This season we had to turn people away,” Williams told us when discussing their enthusiastic studio audience. The show even has a DJ to pump the audience members up, making it a unique and fun experience for the actors as well. “Every Friday it’s a party, baby!”

Williams also spoke to responses she gets from fans, especially while she is out on the road doing comedy shows. “The problem I’m having now with the audience is that they are yelling out lines,” she explained. “I’m like this is not ‘The Ms. Pat Show,’ this is a comedy show!” She added, “They come into my DMs, they cuss me out … people are really invested in this show!”

Still, Williams understands that the comfortableness fans have with her comes from the power of representation. “I just feel like they have someone on TV that they find real and can connect to. They feel like a family member.”

The third season of “The Ms. Pat Show” is streaming now on BET+.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Patricia ‘Ms. Pat’ Williams and Jordan E. Cooper on season 3 of ‘The Ms. Pat Show’ appeared first on TheGrio.