Larry Wilmore’s ‘Nightly Show’ Cancelled

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About 100 staff and crew will be out of a job as of this Friday

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Larry Wilmore’s “Nightly Show” has been canceled by Comedy Central after 18 months of relevant and important but low-rated shows.

Roughly 100 staff and crew for the “Colbert Report” replacement were given the news Monday morning.

“It is really sad for us because we not only respect and value Larry, we really have such affection for him and what he’s been doing,” Comedy Central President Kent Alterman told TheWrap. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t been translating to our audience.”

Added Wilmore, in a statement: “I’m really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity. … 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.”

Wilmore’s final “Nightly Show” will air Thursday at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. (Comedy Network in Canada).

“Larry could not have been more of a gentleman and exhibited more graciousness,” Alterman said.

Alterman’s interim plan is for Comedy Central to switch Chris Hardwick’s “@midnight” to from midnight to 11:30 p.m. (And no, the show’s name won’t change to “@eleventhirty,” but Alterman did admit, “It’s possible that ‘@midnight’ evolves a bit accordingly.”)

Alterman also said he would be surprised if Wilmore were surprised by the news because of ongoing discussions about the show not getting enough viewers, engagement, or social shares.

Wilmore is a “Daily Show” alum, the former showrunner of the hit ABC sitcom “Black-ish” and now the executive producer of the HBO series “Insecure.”

READ THE REST OF THE STORY  HERE  AT TheWrap.com

7 COMMENTS

  1. And another liberal-skewing political talk/satire show bites the dust for lack of ratings. Meanwhile, the countdown clock to cancellation begins for Full Frontal…

  2. Wilmore is obviously a smart guy, but his show just meandered. Very little punch. In fact, a good cure for insomnia most nights.

    Guess poster Late Night might be onto something. Colbert’s ratings are lacklustre. And Comedy Central issued legal warnings when he drifted into his old mock-O’Reilly persona, claiming they and not he owned the concept.

  3. Wilmore is obviously a bright guy. But his show meandered to the point of being a good cure for insomnia many nights.

    Interesting post by Late Night. I realize Colbert’s CBS ratings are uninspiring. When he recently tried to spice things up by reverting to his faux-O’Reilly persona, Comedy Central apparently threatened to sue. CC claimed it, and not Colbert, own the rights to the character. Unless it’s all a publicity stunt by Colbert and CC, it raises the possibility of CBS cutting a licensing deal with Comedy Central to allow Colbert to revive his persona. Or, as Late Night posted, Colbert leaves CBS and returns to CC.

    Time will tell.

  4. Watching Wilmore and Colbert’s first couple week’s shows, the results were obvious. Figured about a year for both. Too easy to predict.

  5. @VancouverTVGuy

    Full Frontal has been renewed for another season, plus they’ve added more episodes through the election season. Good on Canadian Sam Bee.

    John Oliver has great viewership, and has a viral hit from almost every show.

    Jon Stewart comes back to HBO this fall, just in time for the election cycle.

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