The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore: Cancelled by Comedy Central; EP Reacts

It’s lights out at Comedy Central. The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore has been cancelled by Comedy Central. The Daily Show‘s former “Senior Black Correspondent” announced the sad news to his staff today, per The Hollywood Reporter. Check out what The Nightly Show‘s executive producer Rory Albanese had to say, after the jump.

The TV series finale episode will air Thursday, August 18, at 11:30pm ET/PT, according to the report. @midnight with Chris Hardwick will run in Wilmore’s timeslot, until a replacement is ordered. THR reports Comedy Central boss Kent Alterman says The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore did not manage to “register” with viewers.

Here is more, from THR:

“Unfortunately, it hasn’t connected with our audience in ways that we need it to,” Alterman tells The Hollywood Reporter, “both in the linear channel and in terms of multi-platform outlets and with shareable content and on social platforms as well.”

At launch, The Nightly Show had the benefit of stalwart The Daily Show With Jon Stewart as his opener, and a landscape seemingly in desperate need of a diverse voice just as the Black Lives Matter movement was taking shape. In the many months since, however, Wilmore lost Stewart as his lead-in (he remains an executive producer on The Nightly Show) and instead follows another black voice in new Daily Show host Trevor Noah.

Wilmore, who informed his staff of the network’s decision early Monday, didn’t hide his disappointment. “I’m really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity,” he says in a statement to THR, leaning on his “Keeping it 100” mantra as he continued: “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.”

[…]

“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,” Alterman adds. “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.”

The Nightly Show EP Rory Albanese has tweeted twice about the cancellation, so far, today. His first tweet reads, “Sad to say @nightlyshow has been cancelled. I’m very proud to have been a part of a show that has been funny, diverse & extremely necessary.”

https://twitter.com/RoryAlbanese/status/765203924949340160

His second tweet pleads with other shows to hire the show’s cast and crew, “I want to thank the staff, cast & crew of @nightlyshow. They are the most talented people I’ve ever had the honor to work with. #HireThem.”

https://twitter.com/RoryAlbanese/status/765204316143620096

Here is how The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore is described on the Comedy Central press site:

“The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” provides viewers with Larry Wilmore’s distinct point of view and comedic take on current events and pop culture. Hosted by Wilmore, the series features a diverse panel of voices, providing a perspective largely missing in the late night television landscape.

What do you think? Have you watched the first two seasons of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a third season on Comedy Central? Let us know, below.