Watch: ‘The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore’ Teases More About What It Isn’t Than What It Is

Previously, from Rob T. Jenkins: Watch: ‘Better Call Saul’ Reveals How Saul and Mike Met

I gotta say, I don’t really watch a lot of those late night comedy shows. Used to fall asleep watching Leno, sometimes. Leno was always good for a laugh. But Karen, she stopped liking Leno after everything that happened with Conan — you remember that? Crazy stuff. Karen tends to take that sort of thing pretty serious. Woman values loyalty, what can I say. 

So even here in the apartment, on my own, I don’t really go in for the late-night stuff much. But I dozed off on the couch last night during a “South Park” I’d already seen — sue me, I get a kick out of that show sometimes — and when I woke up Jon Stewart was talkin’ on Comedy Central about Dick Cheney and all that torture news, which was interesting. Sometimes I agree with Jon, sometimes I don’t, but he got off some funny jokes and Dick Cheney isn’t my favorite guy, so I kept watching. 

And then this ad came on for a new show called “The Nightly Show”… and what the heck is this? 

Like, I get it, it’s an ad for a TV show, and it’s a talk show, so that’s why this guy Larry Wilmore is talking to a bunch of people in a diner. And he seems funny — I liked the part where he made fun of selfies, because it’s a pretty dumb word. (Not to mention just pretty dumb — my daughter Jessie says they’re just fun, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for a 12-year-old to post that many photos of herself online.) 

But what’s this show about? Like, he says it’s not like “The Daily Show.” Sure. I get it. Then he says that it’s not just about the fact that he’s black. And that’s interesting, too. But I mean, what is it about, really? The underdog? Aren’t all these shows about the underdog? 

I think I remember hearing that this show was originally gonna be called “The Minority Report,” which at least is about something, but is also a Tom Cruise movie, and when I was looking it up on Yahoo I saw a news story about them also making a TV show about that, too. Another TV show. I know now that Larry Wilmore’s new show isn’t gonna be about any of that sci-fi stuff, it’s just gonna be Larry Wilmore talking about stuff. I guess I just wish I knew what that meant. 

Rob T. Jenkins lives in Richmond, Virginia and is definitely a real person. “The Nightly Show” premieres January 19, 2015 on Comedy Central. 

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