The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore - General Discussion

[marceline]

38 minutes ago, attica said:

TNS: Please stop with the Bill-Clinton-as-horndog jokes. There is nothing fresh you can add to the pile; you come off like hacks. Plus: not currently relevant, so save your joke ammo for current events! Sheesh.

 

This is the first episode I've watched since they conventions and I almost shut it off after that. At this point Larry might as well crack open a Crystal Pepsi and invite Hootie and the Blowfish on as musical guest because he's clearly stuck in the past.

Edited August 11, 2016 by marceline

[ganesh]

How does this Katrina woman have a job? She's *so* bad at it!  

Holly choking Rory was funny, but the woman next to them at the laptop totally sold the bit. 

Quote

I did get a chuckle out of imagining Obama's own Suicide Squad, not because I think he wants a third term, but because the Slo-mo shoulder-to-shoulder roll down Pennsylvania Avenue, as congresscritters flee in terror, would be everything, ever.

Has anyone seen the South Park version of Ocean's 11 that they do with Obama? 

I do like the winding path Yard goes on his conspiracy rants.

I'd like to know how one goes from serving in the military to going into modeling though. 

Edited August 11, 2016 by ganesh

[brgjoe]

Loved Larry's segment on the Baltimore police.  Actually "loved" isn't really the best word to use here.  Am really just flabbergasted and livid they have been able to get away with this for so long.  A guy stopped by the police over 30 times (THIRTY!) for no apparent reason whatsoever.  Name any white guy who would put up with that sort of crap and not be pissed off about that.  Or Fox news host for that matter. 

Actually I am halfway surprised nobody at Fox or the police union tried to spin that.  Can easily imagine them saying, "See, those officers were really nice and despite some sort of violation taking place, decided out of the goodness of their hearts to not give this man a citation.  Multiple times, even!" 

It's sickening that this sort of stuff continues to happen in this day and age.

[ganesh]

I liked the mtv news woman on the panel. I've seen her on real time. Yet again, with the guys with the false equivalency between Clinton and Trump. Oh, she lies. Boo hoo Ricky. Why don't you go back and sit at the kids' table for a while until you can develop a clue. The Clintons have been investigated, testified, *impeached*, since before you were alive. Please tell me how many times they were convicted of actual crime. 

Is Clinton *really* corrupt? Has she taken money in exchange for influence? Did she have people killed? What exactly has she done that's as bad a Trump?

[attica]

In addition to the ridiculous stipulation that people make about the supposed corruption of the Clintons, which as ganesh points out has been investigated at all levels for 20 years now and: bupkes, I had to sigh in frustration with Francesca's failure to point out that hand-over-heart is only required for the pledge, not the anthem. Standing still with arms at your sides is, in fact, perfect anthem etiquette. That so few people know this is the thing she should have been correcting, not defending Gabby's patriotism.

Ricky? STFU.

[wknt3]

I think there should be a new TNS rule that the male panelists aren't allowed to talk about the campaign. They simply don't have anything worthwhile to say. As I've said before I'm willing to cut Ricky some slack for being so young and for at least having enough self awareness to realize he doesn't know much about politics. I have less time for Mike Yard and his I want everything now, sexism doesn't exist unless it's overt, spinning is the same as lying nonsense. And even less for Rory's "vote meteor strike" schtick. He is old enough to know better and should be better equipped than anyone on the show to see through the media's obsessions with nonsense and likeability. Did he learn nothing from all that time with Jon Stewart?

Edited August 14, 2016 by wknt3

[LADreamr]

Comedy Central has canceled the show. I didn't love everything about it, but I thought it had potential and Larry had some very good moments.  With some of the crap they leave on the air, I can't believe this is what gets cut. 

Edited August 15, 2016 by LADreamr

[marceline]

I'm genuinely surprised they didn't at least wait until after the election.

[attica]

I am unhappy. Forcefully unhappy.  

[BookThief]

I had no idea it was even in trouble. While I never liked this as much as The Colbert Report, I thought it has improved since its early days and was maybe not super popular but a solid enough hit with the network. Bummed to hear this. When is the final episode? 

[possibilities]

The Variety article linked int he media thread says this Thurs is the last episode. And that they are developing a show with Jordan Klepper, but that it isn't ready to air until next year. And that they are also considering shows that are not related to news commentary. In the meanwhile, they're putting @midnight in the timeslot.

I'm disgusted.

[iMonrey]

I'm not really that surprised. I gave the show a chance but never really warmed up to it, and only tuned in occasionally. The problem is that it just doesn't have very broad appeal. I wondered how long the network would give it, considering the drastically lower ratings than Colbert was getting, but after awhile I figured maybe Comedy Central was fine with a smaller, niche audience. I guess not.

Aside from the narrow audience appeal I never warmed up to Larry himself and that's a bigger problem. I always enjoyed his contributions to The Daily Show as a correspondent but I never found him a good fit to anchor a show like this by himself. 

I'd be worried if I were Trevor Noah, I'm willing to be he's not going to be around much longer either. Frankly I'm surprised he didn't go first.

[AmandaPanda]

I'm sad, but not surprised. When they said that the ratings had been basically stagnant for a year and a half, I was kind of surprised they had given it so many chances. I'd love to see them develop a show with Francesca Ramsey. She was my favorite of the contributors. 

[stillshimpy]

I really grew to like and enjoy this show and I'll miss it.  For some reason I just have not clicked with Noah's version of TDS yet, but TNS really improved over time and I wish it wasn't going away. 

[formerlyfreedom]

I'm bummed. We're coming into the home stretch before the elections, and @Midnight just isn't going to do it for me in this slot.

Sending good vibes to Larry and all the contributors and crew - here's hoping they all find something awesome right around the corner!

[Victor the Crab]

Well that was a surprise. I didn't really watch much of the show. The times I watched it, they were a bit inconsistent. Sometimes good, and sometimes failed to hit the mark. From the sounds of it, they only gave them a year and a half, from the beginning, to make their mark. Looks like time's up for them.

[ganesh]

It's kind of their own fault. When they did shows that didn't cover mainstream stuff, like black fathers or the transgendered panel, they were stellar. But they kind of tapered off and just covered the typical stuff. How many times did we see the same news story with the same clips and largely the same jokes between this and TDS? How many times have we complained about the Clinton jokes? How many times have we heard the same stupid false equivalency between Clinton and Trump on the panel? Or Ricky being an idiot about anything?

They had a lot of good segments on the show. Something like the # bits were good because that was a unique pov. 

It certainly improved, but I get that there's only so much time you get before you need to know what your show is. A year and a half seems fair.

Maybe had they been able to keep The Minority Report as the name it might have been different. 

Edited August 15, 2016 by ganesh

[nowandlater]

The Variety article says: "Wilmore informed his staff of the cabler’s decision Monday afternoon."

But that story was posted at 7:55 am PT, and other stories were posted around the same time, meaning it was posted Monday morning on the East Coast, so I guess his staff found about the cancelation from the media.

As for the show itself, I went from consuming the whole thing, to turning it off after his opening monologue (unless the guest was good), then I stopped watching it altogether when I got rid of cable a few months ago. (I didn't try to seek out any clips or anything.)

Edited August 15, 2016 by nowandlater

[Arcadiasw]

1 minute ago, nowandlater said:

The Variety article says: "Wilmore informed his staff of the cabler’s decision Monday afternoon."

But that story was posted at 7:55 am PT, and other stories were posted around the same time, meaning it was posted Monday morning on the East Coast, so I guess his staff found about the cancelation from the media.

It wouldn't be the first time that kind of thing happened but it is possible that was an error and they meant morning? Still sucks it was cancelled so close to the election. We won't be getting any new Unblackening graphics. :(  Some contributors I won't miss seeing on TV. (Ricky and Grace's Nightly Nightly) but there are others I will and maybe their segments on TV is a good resume for something else.

 

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

The Variety article linked int he media thread says this Thurs is the last episode. And that they are developing a show with Jordan Klepper, but that it isn't ready to air until next year. And that they are also considering shows that are not related to news commentary. In the meanwhile, they're putting @midnight in the timeslot.

I'm disgusted.

So Jordan is the next to leave The Daily Show then? If I were Trevor, with Klepper possible departure and The Nightly Show being cancelled, I'll be concern. I'm not sure if Comedy Central will cancel the Daily Show given it's history with the network. They could but it might be more likely they will oust Trevor and put someone else in his spot.

[possibilities]

I suppose if Jordan gets good ratings, they could fire Trevor and install whitey, but the Variety article did say that Trevor's ratings are second in the timeslot only to Jimmy Fallon's for their target demo. Still, it's clear the network doesn't care at all about the news slant, or about "diversity"-- and if they can get a higher rating out of someone else, they'll do it. Business decision, etc.

Of course, the change of network and show did wonders for Sam Bee, so there's always a possibility that everyone lands somewhere better, and we can all be happy and CC can be as bland as it wants and we can just stop watching it and go elsewhere to see the kind of show we want.

We don't know what % of the problems with TNS were due to network interference and what % was due to Larry's own/his team's work and popularity. It will be interesting to see where people land and what their new projects look like.

Edited August 15, 2016 by possibilities

[catrox14]

3 hours ago, LADreamr said:

Comedy Central has canceled the show. I didn't love everything about it, but I thought it had potential and Larry had some very good moments.  With some of the crap they leave on the air, I can't believe this us what gets cut. 

Well that sucks! Maybe Larry will rejoin TDS . I love his take on things.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 I'm not sure if Comedy Central will cancel the Daily Show given it's history with the network. They could but it might be more likely they will oust Trevor and put someone else in his spot.

The thing Trevor has going for him is youth and "hip-ness" if that's a word. His show probably does pretty well in the youth-oriented demographic. So the fact that the overall ratings are still much lower than Jon Stewart's may not be as big a factor.

[futurechemist]

I really like Larry as a satirist.   I thought the rest of the cast wasn't very funny, especially Ricky Velez.  Many of the cast bits were awkward. I also thought the panels weren't living up to their potential.  

I have also gotten feedback from friends who felt that TNS was "too black".  That is, they felt the show was geared toward a black audience, and they as white people didn't get the humor.  It was something specific to TNS, because they had no objections about Trevor Noah's TDS going the same way.  I appreciated Larry coming from a different perspective compared to others, but I guess it's an acquired taste.

It is amazing how much joke overlap there is if I watch TDS, TNS, and Colbert all in a row.

[simplyme]

I loved Wilmore's monologues and commentary, but the rest of the show was hit or miss for me. Then again, that's true for other shows of the same format. Even under Stewart, I often considered TDS's guest to be time filler.

[catrox14]

I definitely fall outside of that "youthful" market but I think Trevor is whipsmart and has some really interesting insights that is necessary.  I think he's terrific. If he and Larry join forces on TDS, that''d be cool. I feel like they should just expand TDS to an hour give the correspondents better pieces.

[Victor the Crab]

I'm not sure if there was ever an example of a former correspondent/contributor that returned to TDS and carried on once they left the show for good. I don't know if Larry would return in that role again. Besides, he's written and developed sitcoms in the past, so it's not like it's going to be woes him. I expect him to land on his feet again.

The one thing I do wonder is, would Larry and TNS have been given the axe if Jon were still hosting TDS?

[Cyranetta]

I remained a regular viewer and particularly appreciated his guests as voices who typically were rarely heard elsewhere. It was a pity that some of the more time-wasting nonsense of Ricky Velez in particular drowned out those voices.

[WAnglais1]

I think Wilmore is a comic genius. If he had done nothing but "The Bernie Mac Show," that would have been more than enough. Still, I hate to see anyone lose a gig...even when the show made me uncomfortable there were a few good laughs. It means a good number of folks are out of work.

Ricky was bad. Sorry, jokes about doing nothing but smoking weed don't make me laugh.

[nodorothyparker]

I'm disappointed.  I haven't loved everything about the show (false equivalency between Clinton and the Orange Menace for one, Ricky) and think it took time to find its footing but liked Larry's monologues and general take on things.  I also liked that the show provided a perspective that was sometimes completely outside of white people's wheelhouse even if as a white person I realize that some of us are never going to be comfortable with a perspective outside of our wheelhouse.  I admit I didn't always love the panel and didn't always stick around for it depending on the subject or guest, but that's been true of every one of these shows even under Stewart or Colbert.

I like Klepper but I think he works best where he is, filling the smarmy white guy slot.  I'm not convinced I'd want to watch a whole show centered around him.

[Muffyn]

The show was all over the place for  me.  There were times when it was excellent.  As pointed out above, when they did specialty panels there was excellent conversation and a chance to hear little heard, well-informed view points.  Unfortunately there were more often wasted panels with ill-informed people giving opinions on subjects in which they were only marginally interested.  Also, the show never quite settled into a focus.  With Nightly Nightly they were skewering the commercialization and infotainment version of news.  Many of the openings used the same items as similar shows, not elevating this show beyond the rest.  As many have mentioned, the stale Clinton jokes were annoying but they also showed a lack of willingness to go deeper.  The new graphic for the presidential campaign was juvenile and, frankly, just another sexist attack.  The show feels like a wasted opportunity.  There were glimmers of excellence that were overwhelmed by mediocrity (and Ricky).

I am sad that I won't be seeing Holly Walker and Francesca Ramsey.  I hope they each get picked up by another show. 

[ganesh]

57 minutes ago, futurechemist said:

I have also gotten feedback from friends who felt that TNS was "too black".  That is, they felt the show was geared toward a black audience, and they as white people didn't get the humor.

I'm a white guy, and I don't think the show did nearly as much as it could or should have in terms of a "black pov." That's what I was hoping for. I found it way too bland at times. Clinton horny joke, Yard rambling about Clinton 'lying' so he thinks she's as bad as Trump. That's just stupid. 

31 minutes ago, WAnglais1 said:

If he had done nothing but "The Bernie Mac Show," that would have been more than enough.

He did Bernie Mac's show? #mindblown. That show was criminally underrated and should have been the flagship sitcom for Fox. Oh wait, it's Fox. Sorry. 

15 minutes ago, Muffyn said:

As pointed out above, when they did specialty panels there was excellent conversation and a chance to hear little heard, well-informed view points.

That was me. These panels were stellar and woefully rare. I don't know if it was network interference or what, but 2-3 of those a week should have been going imo. The panel was probably the riskiest element with having only 20 minutes of actual show to work with. 

I don't know how much creative control Larry had, though. 

[wknt3]

I'm really sad to see this show cancelled. I have been very critical of it for failing to live up to it's potential at times, but when it did it was one of the funniest and best things on television. And it did keep me watching long after TDS started piling up unwatched on the DVR. I'm a little surprised that it was so sudden and that they wouldn't wait until after the election since the quality is much better after a slow start and they could use the time to see if they get a boost and try to develop some contingency plans in case Jordan Klepper isn't a breakout success either. Hopefully some of the talent they found goes on to future success.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Arcadiasw said:

The Variety article linked int he media thread says this Thurs is the last episode. And that they are developing a show with Jordan Klepper, but that it isn't ready to air until next year. And that they are also considering shows that are not related to news commentary.

UGH. Please don't let it be as awful as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

I adore Larry Wilmore and, while I watched this show most every night, it was more out of laziness to change the channel after TDS ended than it was, "Wow, this is a great show and I can't wait to watch it." I found his cohorts unfunny (especially Rory Albanese who's probably way better off staying behind the scenes) and the panels, while oftentimes engaging, just more of the standard cable news "hey look we have a really big table and people are sitting at it having a raucous discussion." Meh. I always felt Larry could do better than this.

[LJonEarth]

I have always had a problem with Larry's tone on this show and others. But, the show had it's place. Jordan Klepper's character is my least favorite of the TDS crew. I hope that's not what they're developing. I'm betting CC will end going in a different direction overall sooner rather than later.

[Arcadiasw]

3 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

I'm not sure if there was ever an example of a former correspondent/contributor that returned to TDS and carried on once they left the show for good. I don't know if Larry would return in that role again. Besides, he's written and developed sitcoms in the past, so it's not like it's going to be woes him. I expect him to land on his feet again.

The one thing I do wonder is, would Larry and TNS have been given the axe if Jon were still hosting TDS?

I think Jon would've convinced the network to give it a little longer or gone back to Larry and tell him to make changes to save the show. They revamped a few months after it's premiere going from four panels to three and cutting out the Keepin' it 100 segment from daily, to weekly, to having it at the end, to completely gone.  If Jon Stewart was still on, more changes would've been made. Some of the segments would've been gone and some of the contributors would have limited screen time to none at all. Off the top of my head, the Nightly Nightly segment would've been scrapped, Ricky would've been let go and Mike Yard would've been limited to segments and kept off the panel unless the topic of the evening isn't political.

3 hours ago, futurechemist said:

I really like Larry as a satirist.   I thought the rest of the cast wasn't very funny, especially Ricky Velez.  Many of the cast bits were awkward. I also thought the panels weren't living up to their potential.  

I have also gotten feedback from friends who felt that TNS was "too black".  That is, they felt the show was geared toward a black audience, and they as white people didn't get the humor.  It was something specific to TNS, because they had no objections about Trevor Noah's TDS going the same way.  I appreciated Larry coming from a different perspective compared to others, but I guess it's an acquired taste.

It is amazing how much joke overlap there is if I watch TDS, TNS, and Colbert all in a row.

Really? I haven't seen many segments that would make one think the show was "too black" or targeting a black audience. Other than the BLM stuff, most of the things I've seen just over the summer alone has been about the presidential election. 

[briochetwist]

I love Larry Wilmore, but I bailed on this show after the Bill Nye incident, where the panel admitted that they didn't care at all about science or education, and were proud to be woefully ignorant. Maybe I should have given it another chance, but if this was the direction they were going in, I can see why it got cancelled.

Edited August 16, 2016 by briochetwist
Panel discussion??? What was I thinking there...

[wknt3]

42 minutes ago, Arcadiasw said:

I think Jon would've convinced the network to give it a little longer or gone back to Larry and tell him to make changes to save the show. They revamped a few months after it's premiere going from four panels to three and cutting out the Keepin' it 100 segment from daily, to weekly, to having it at the end, to completely gone.  If Jon Stewart was still on, more changes would've been made. Some of the segments would've been gone and some of the contributors would have limited screen time to none at all. Off the top of my head, the Nightly Nightly segment would've been scrapped, Ricky would've been let go and Mike Yard would've been limited to segments and kept off the panel unless the topic of the evening isn't political.

If Jon Stewart was still there it wouldn't have been cancelled. It's not just a matter of the juice or his creative input although both are important, especially the clout he had with CC. If he was still there TDS ratings would not have declined so the lead in would stronger and TNS would have better ratings as a result. A higher rated show being backed by your biggest star simply doesn't get cancelled.

[AmandaPanda]

Even when Jon was still on, though, Larry was only retaining about half of the TDS audience. That number got cut in half after Trevor took over TDS. The Deadline article said that they had hoped the show might see a ratings spike after the WHCD or after the conventions, but the ratings stayed flat. More importantly for a show with an already small audience, though, there weren't any clips from it getting traction on the Internet. When a show stays flat at only about 500K viewers each night and doesn't really have anyone talking about it online, the network really doesn't have any other choice. Honestly, I think Larry is better behind the camera or used in small doses. He's a great comedic writer, but I don't think he could have anchored this show forever. Even if Jon was still on the air, I think this would still be happening. 

[nowandlater]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

He did Bernie Mac's show? #mindblown. That show was criminally underrated and should have been the flagship sitcom for Fox. Oh wait, it's Fox. Sorry.

Yeah, he was the sole creator of the show, but Fox fired him in its 2nd season despite the critical acclaim and awards.

Jon, by the way, is still a producer on The Nightly Show, as he is on the similarly troubled Colbert Late Show.

Edited August 16, 2016 by nowandlater

[Paws]

I've stopped watching both TDS and TNS and neither is delivering for me, but TDS is savageable  while Wilmores show was not.  Trevor is an able and  funny host, and Larry Wilmore never was. I wanted to like the show so much, but except for those few stellar episodes mentioned above, it was rarely worth watching at all. Larrys mush mouth delivery and laughing at his own jokes really put me off, and I often felt like the show just wasn't professionally done, like they all slapped it together last minute or had the B production team or something. 

[wknt3]

1 hour ago, AmandaPanda said:

Even when Jon was still on, though, Larry was only retaining about half of the TDS audience. That number got cut in half after Trevor took over TDS. The Deadline article said that they had hoped the show might see a ratings spike after the WHCD or after the conventions, but the ratings stayed flat. More importantly for a show with an already small audience, though, there weren't any clips from it getting traction on the Internet. When a show stays flat at only about 500K viewers each night and doesn't really have anyone talking about it online, the network really doesn't have any other choice. Honestly, I think Larry is better behind the camera or used in small doses. He's a great comedic writer, but I don't think he could have anchored this show forever. Even if Jon was still on the air, I think this would still be happening. 

I don't doubt it could still be cancelled, but it would have had more time. They might not have been happy with retention/demos/etc., but they probably could have lived with it until they convinced him that they needed to go in a different direction and had something else he backed ready to go. I believe it would have been a better show if he was actively involved too, but the more important thing is that it would have had more viewers and value in keeping their biggest star happy.

[Arcadiasw]

It would take the show's cancellation for Mike to win PTI. :P 

Larry should have made that opening speech about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump months ago. 

I will miss Robin. 

[Victor the Crab]

BWAH! Larry has shown he has no more fucks to give, as a result of his differentiating between Drumph and Hillary Clinton. And because Mike wins a PTI!

[attica]

"Here, I have this in my bra!" made me laugh pretty hard. That's what we're reduced to when they don't make ladyclothes with motherfucking POCKETS!

Very happy for Mike's winning PTI. Good argument to end on.

They still played the 'get tickets' bumper out to commercial. I don't know if that's a mistake, or commentary.

[DXD526]

Quote

I am sad that I won't be seeing Holly Walker and Francesca Ramsey.  I hope they each get picked up by another show. 

And Grace Parra and Robin Thede. Have to give Larry credit for finding some great female talent for his show. However, he also foisted Ricky Velez on us, and way too often, so there is that...

[DrSparkles]

Bummed. I love Larry & the show. Mike Yard almost always made me LOL once/episode. BUMMED.

[stillshimpy]

Yeah, poor Ricky Velez, his schtick just did not fit with the entire vibe of the show, or the audience they were trying to reach.  Disaffected stoner with ill-informed views just had no real place on the show and they could never figure out how to tweak his presentation and character to fill a need on the panel.  

Really? I haven't seen many segments that would make one think the show was "too black" or targeting a black audience. Other than the BLM stuff, most of the things I've seen just over the summer alone has been about the presidential election.

I think the thing with Larry's show is that he seemed to target the viewpoint of the marginalized and minority people in terms of the news cycle in way that was not solely related to race, but just anyone regularly disregarded or stereotyped: women, people of color, women of color, anyone that the political establishment was likely to pigeon-hole and incorrectly at that.  

Then it seemed like his panel tried their best to emulate the viewpoints of various traditional mindsets.  This worked better in some instances than others: witness Ricky Velez and quite frequently Mike Yard just came off as a sexist.  Rory never hit with me.  I liked all the women correspondents, though.  

I'm going to miss seeing Larry on my TV.   

[ganesh]

Yeah, so Larry finally calls out the false equivalency on Clinton and Trump in the final week. Where was that the last 20 months? 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I love Larry Wilmore, but I bailed on this show after the Bill Nye incident, where the panel admitted that they didn't care at all about science or education, and were proud to be woefully ignorant. Maybe I should have given it another chance, but if this was the direction they were going in, I can see why it got cancelled.

And part of me can't help but feel maybe it's better TNS isn't on the air during the election season if they're going to (even passively) validate ignorance. Larry has admitted, repeatedly and proudly, that he voted for Obama because he's a black man. Which is fine but now he's got black panelists saying they won't vote for Hilary because she's no better than Trump and I hate to think of fans watching this and agreeing. 

[ganesh]

Yard's detriment to the panel was on display. This isn't the first time Robin came out with something written down that she wanted to talk about on the panel. He's talking about how he's out of a job and can help build the wall. 

So are they all endorsing Clinton now because the show is over?