Larry Wilmore has once again commented on something making news. Only this time, Larry Wilmore himself in the person making news. On Tuesday afternoon, Comedy Central pulled the plug on Wilmore’s The Nightly Show after about a year-and-a-half on the air. It followed The Daily Show at 11:30 p.m. and never seemed to gained any real traction with viewers. Debuting in January 2015, The Nightly Show became the first U.S. late-night program to be hosted by an African-American, as Wilmore used the platform to showcase a number of diverse perspectives. Not a lot of people tuned in, however. Even with the November election looming, one involving two polarizing candidates, The Nightly Show only garnered a 0.2 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. Granted, ratings for The Daily Show has fallen quite a bit since Jon Stewart left, as well, creating a less popular lead-in for Wilmore. This is what Comedy Central President Kent Alterman said upon pulling The Nightly Show plug: “We just didn’t feel like we had enough traction to sign up for another year. It wasn’t about the election; it’s about another year of the show. “Sadly, we’ve been hoping against hope that it would start to resonate in any of those quarters and we just weren’t seeing evidence of it. “As much as we like Larry and the uniqueness of the show and the voices that are on the show – not just in terms of ratings – it hasn’t resonated in terms of our fans engaging with show with consuming or sharing content or having a dialogue about it on social platforms.” That is mostly true. You can’t argue with numbers or ratings. But it’s likely also a sad state of television these days that a series can’t find traction because it isn’t going after the “viral” moments. Wilmore wasn’t concerned with short segments that could be replayed for days on YouTube; he was focused on generating legitimate discussion about important issues. He’ll have one final chance to do so on Thursday night. View Slideshow: CANCELED! Which TV Shows Got the Axe in 2016? In response to the cancelation, Wilmore could not hide his disappointment. “I’m really grateful to Comedy Central, [executive producer] Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity,” Wilmore said in a statement. “But I’m also saddened and surprised we won’t be covering this crazy election, or ‘The Unblackening’ as we’ve coined it. “And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn’t counted on ‘The Unblackening’ happening to my time slot as well.” Comedy Central will air Chris Hardwick’s game show @midnight in The Nightly Show’s time slot while the network seeks a permanent replacement. “We’re totally open to women and in whatever form diversity would come,” Alterman said about said replacement. “We’re open to it for sure.” Are you sad to see Wilmore go? And who would you want to see take over a show at 11:30 on Comedy Central?
Originally posted here:
Larry Wilmore Reacts to The Nightly Show Cancelation
