The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore

History

The 11:30 PM (ET) time-slot for Mondays through Thursdays on Comedy Central had previously been occupied by The Colbert Report, another spin-off of The Daily Show, which was hosted by Stephen Colbert, and premiered on October 17, 2005. In 2012 Comedy Central renewed Jon Stewart's contract to host The Daily Show through the end of 2015 and Colbert's contract to host The Colbert Report through the end of 2014. Colbert intentionally had his contract synced up with David Letterman's contract to host Late Show with David Letterman for CBS, so they would both expire at the same time; in the event Letterman chose to retire, Colbert would be available to take over the show. On April 3, 2014, Letterman announced on his show that he would retire in 2015. On April 10, 2014, it was announced that Colbert would leave Comedy Central at the end of 2014 and replace Letterman as the host of Late Show on CBS beginning in 2015. The final episode of The Colbert Report aired on December 18, 2014.

Jon Stewart pitched the idea to Comedy Central of giving Wilmore a show to air during the 11:30 PM time-slot after his show. According to the network president, Stewart said it would be the ideal time-slot for a show with a different format that would "provide an opportunity for the underrepresented voices out there". The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore was produced by Stewart's production company, Busboy Productions. Stewart, Wilmore, and former The Daily Show showrunner Rory Albanese served as executive producers. Wilmore had been slated to be showrunner on the ABC sitcom Black-ish (on which he is now billed as a consulting producer), but had to decline so he would be available to host The Nightly Show.

On May 9, 2014, it was announced that Wilmore had been selected to host a show to air in the 11:30 PM time-slot for Mondays through Thursdays on Comedy Central beginning in 2015. Wilmore, like Colbert, had been a long-running cast member on The Daily Show prior to getting a spin-off. He had worked as a contributor on the show since August 2006; he served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" and also ran "Wilmore-Oliver Investigates" alongside John Oliver. The original title of the show was going to be The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore, which was suggested by Jon Stewart. It was later changed as a result of receiving backlash from Fox as they intend to use the same title for an upcoming series based on the 2002 film of the same name, Wilmore later stated he was happy with the title change.

The studio used to tape the show was the same one that was used for The Daily Show until July 2005 and for The Colbert Report throughout its entire run. The studio is located at 513 W. 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. NEP Studio 54 on 54th Street is owned by NEP Broadcasting, which is New York City's largest production facility, and also owns The Daily Show set at NEP Studio 52 two blocks south on 52nd Street. Aside from the set, the show's production offices have been described as "loft-like" and "all overhead pipes and exposed brick".

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore was the third late-night show to be hosted by a cast member from The Daily Show, behind The Colbert Report and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which is hosted by John Oliver for HBO. Samantha Bee followed Wilmore as the fourth Daily Show alum to host a show with the debut of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee in February 2016 (although her show airs in prime-time, not late-night).

Bill Nye incident

During a panel on September 29, 2015, about NASA's discovery of water on Mars featuring Bill Nye, comedians Ricky Velez and Michelle Buteau continually interrupted Nye and denied interest in the discovery. Nick Venable of CinemaBlend.com called the telecast "insipid", adding "if anybody out there is watching The Nightly Show for science information – and that's a long shot since the show's ratings aren't that strong anyway – then you're doing it wrong."

Vox's Alex Abad-Santos described the incident as "the segment that made me stop watching The Nightly Show" and "one of the most unpleasant viewing experiences in recent memory." "Nye’s genuine, earnest explanation is met by Velez yelling," Abad-Santos noted. "I’m not worried about Mars. Why would I be excited about Mars? I’m barely excited about Earth," Velez yelled. "Trump is first in polls right now!"

When Wilmore did a Reddit AMA in February 2016, outrage over the Nye segment dominated most of the discussion, with more than 1,000 comments specifically criticizing the show's treatment of Nye, characterized by Adweek's David Griner as the moment that many thought the show "turned away from Stephen Colbert's legacy of intellectualism." In response, Wilmore was surprised by the outcry, "It was just a conversation," he wrote on Reddit. "People are allowed to have a point of view. Bill Nye had a great time on that panel. He's been on the show a couple of times. People are allowed to have opinions. For the life of me, I really don't understand why people are so upset that someone would disagree with Bill Nye. I was on Bill's side of that, but still, who cares? It's just a conversation." Bill Nye has since appeared on the show, making light of the incident.

Writers and contributors

Jon Stewart was the creator and served as executive producer with Larry Wilmore. Robin Thede served as head writer for the first season and a half of the show, the first black woman to hold that position on a late-night talk show. Beginning with episode 233, Michael Pielock served as the head writer. He was one of the writers before that. The other 14 writers of the show were Rory Albanese (also Executive Producer), Jordan Carlos, Lee H. Ellenberg (episodes 213–259), Bobby Gaylor, Jack Helmuth, Franchesca Ramsey (episodes 169–259), Tim Siedell, Owen Smith (episodes 244–259), Wayne Stamps (episodes 225–259), Sasha Stewart, Robin Thede (also former head writer: episodes 1–159), Jeremy Weiner (episodes 213–259), Colleen Werthmann, Matt Whitaker (episodes 117–259) and Larry Wilmore (also Executive Producer). Former writers: Cord Jefferson (episodes 1–196), Amy Ozols (episodes 1–236; also former co-executive producer), and Holly Walker (episodes 1–218). Tom Ruprecht is a former writer (episodes 1–159) and head writer (episodes 160–232).

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore featured a cast of contributors to help add different perspectives to the show and aid in comedy bits. The contributors included Robin Thede, Rory Albanese, Holly Walker, Jordan Carlos, Ricky Velez, Mike Yard, Grace Parra and Franchesca Ramsey. Shenaz Treasury was a contributor between January and May 2015.

Format

The show's format has been described as a combination of The Daily Show and Politically Incorrect. Episodes would begin with a scripted take on the news by Wilmore, followed by a panel discussion led by him, in which he discussed a particular predetermined topic with his guests. In the first three months, there were four panelists. In April 2015, the number of people on the panel changed to three and writers/contributors began appearing more on the panel. Beginning in November 2015, the panel would include two writers/contributors and one outside panelist. The roster changes with each show, but often featured comedians, journalists, politicians, and authors. Sometimes the opening news segment would be omitted in favor of a longer panel discussion. The end of Monday episodes of The Daily Show used to feature Jon Stewart talking to Wilmore leading into The Nightly Show, a practice also used during the early years of The Colbert Report.

On the format, Wilmore said "I'm not interested in doing a show where I give my opinion and people react to my opinion. Our show is more about the discovery of things. I want people who will teach me something." He also predicted that some people might change their minds on certain issues after hearing the different arguments in depth.

Recurring segments

Initial reviews

Upon its debut, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore received generally positive reviews. On Metacritic the first season currently holds a 69 out 100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that the show's premiere "showed promise," commenting, "Wilmore exhibited a quickness and light touch about sensitive topics, yet struggled to bring much coherence or flow to the overpopulated discussion that took up most of the premiere." David Kallison of The A.V. Club concurred with this sentiment, remarking, "He is more traffic cop than travel guide in this first episode, but his inherent wit and quickness shines through regardless," deeming the debut a "triumph." USA Today's Robert Bianco opined that "Wilmore already seemed completely comfortable as the show's host, as well he should be," calling it a "solid start." Don Kaplan of the Daily News said the program was a "welcome addition" to late-night television, summarizing, "While the program as a whole has room to grow, Wilmore's comedy is sharp, solid and filled with keen observations and strong enough to have earned him the distinction of being the only high-profile black voice in late night television."

The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman wrote that the show's premiere was: "predictably strong [...] the slight nitpicking should not obscure the fact that overall Wilmore was funny; his show was smart and thoughtful, has a bright future and seems an excellent fit with Stewart and the Comedy Central brand."

Wilmore paid a special tribute to Colbert during the closing of the first episode by thanking him for "making 11:30 special." Following the debut of the first episode Stephen Colbert praised The Nightly Show on Twitter, saying he was impressed, and using the hashtag "keepingit100."

Ratings

The debut episode was watched by 963,000 viewers in its original broadcast in the United States. The show averaged 417,000 viewers a night in the key demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49 within its first three months. In March, the show's total viewings were down 38% from the average total of 1.24 million viewers received by The Colbert Report.

By June 2015, the show's total 676,000 viewers average was down 45% from the average total of 1.24 million viewers received by The Colbert Report. The show's average 230,000 viewers in the key demographic of ages 18 to 49 a night was down 45% from the 417,000 viewers its first 3 months averaged.

In August, International Business Times reported that Nightly's ratings were in a "freefall" due to losing its Daily Show lead-in audience (Daily had gone on a seven-week hiatus before Trevor Noah's debut as host) and lacking online viral hits. Nielsen showed Wilmore's ratings down 40% since Stewart's departure as Daily Show host.

Average live viewers: