It’s hard to believe Ego Nwodim has only been on “Saturday Night Live” for six years. She’s had us roflol-ing with characters like Rich Auntie with No Kids and Lisa From Temecula for so long that it feels like she’s been an integral part of the show forever. It’s even harder to believe that she’s just now becoming part of a scripted comedy series, the new Peacock comedy “Mr. Throwback,” alongside basketball phenom Steph Curry. 

“Time does fly,” the Baltimore native tells BET.com from New York City, where she grinds double-digit days every day on “SNL." “This will be the first scripted series where I am a regular, and it was worth the wait.  “SNL" has prepared me to do some really challenging things. There were days [on “Mr. Throwback”] where people were like, ‘You must be so tired right now.’ And I'm like, ‘This was nothing compared to what I've been primed to do.’ Once the energy of "SNL" is in you, and you’re working all those hours, you're kind of running on adrenaline, and you're so used to it that slowing down feels like something is amiss.” 

Shot entirely this summer (mostly in Chicago, with some parts in San Francisco), “Mr. Throwback” is a mockumentary-style comedy about a washed-up, down-on-his-luck basketball star Danny (played by “Happy Endings” alum Adam Pally) whose career has hit the skids so bad he’s resorted to selling old-school memorabilia to make ends meet. To get back in the game of life, he reunites with his sixth-grade buddy Steph Curry, playing himself; Nwodim plays Kimberly, Steph’s childhood friend, business partner, manager, and overall handler who grew up with both guys and the “bad cop” who has to keep Steph on task, and Danny from wreaking chaos with his nonsense.

“My manager sent me the pilot script, and I was expecting to read it sort of studiously,” she says. “But I was cackling out loud at dinner by myself at a bar. I'm like, ‘I'm pretty sure I look crazy laughing to myself out loud. But I knew then just how invested I was in the comedy, and even the story and wanting to know what happened. I was like, ‘I want to be a part of this.’” 

Being part of “Mr. Throwback” meant, for Nwodim, flying back and forth between Chicago and New York in the middle of the week for "SNL" tapings, a demanding part of the job she nonetheless found rewarding because of the material. Kimberly is a deadpan, strict enforcer type who, on her own, may not read as ha-ha, fall-out funny at first. Still, like characters in other mockumentary shows like, say, “The Office” or “Abbott Elementary,” Kimberly is so dry and authentically herself, the humor shines through as she relates to Steph and Danny––always giving them the business and keeping them in line.

“She's the person who makes sure all Steph’s affairs are in order and everything is moving like a well-oiled machine. She's Type A, and can hold her own, calm in the face of a storm. She knows what she's doing, she’s smart, quick-witted. I think she's my kind of gal," Nwodim says.

Nwodim means that in more ways than one, the super-busy performer and creator runs her calendar and affairs without an assistant and has to be hyper-efficient with her time. Moreover, Nwodim thinks Kimberly will look and feel very familiar to many Black women who, by choice or default, must juggle a million things and are often the smartest person in the room.

“She feels that pressure and she feels that tension. She's going to perform and she's going to deliver. My guess is a majority of women are navigating that and feeling like you have to prove yourself. And as Black woman, you feel it all the more. The experience that Kimberly is having is really reflective of an experience that women are having in male dominated spaces and Black women are having in male-dominated or white-dominated spaces, so it's something people will be able to relate to for sure. What I hope people take away from Kimberly is to make room for themselves as they navigate the world, and how important it is to not neglect yourself, your desires, and your own self-care.” 

Working alongside Steph Curry in shooting Mr. Throwback also allowed Nwodim to learn about basketball. She’d only met him once before when they did a bit for the ESPYs, which Curry hosted in 2022, but through the show, she’s been able to pick up a thing or two about hooping. “I knew then that I didn't know anything about it,” she says. “And what I know now about basketball is that we don't go together. I wish I were better at basketball. I'm trying to learn; I’ve enjoyed going to games. But the extent of my knowledge is that I'm bad at it, and traveling is bad.” 

“Mr. Throwback” debuts on Aug. 8 on Peacock. Watch the trailer below.