The departure of Stephen Colbert and his decade long satirical news program, The Colbert Report, left a void in the hearts of many. The Colbert Report appealed to the same type of audience as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—snarky, college-educated progressives under the age of 40. But Colbert was unique in that his unprecedented brand of humor appealed to those who were perhaps disenchanted by Jon Stewart’s more direct variety of satire.
Colbert covered the most pressing issues of our time with a fake conservative-pundit persona that was intended to reveal the inadequacies and moral shortcomings of the right-wing agenda. This was something that television had never seen before—a groundbreaking method of getting a socio-political message across. Say the opposite of what you intend to convey. Use your opponent’s own arguments against them. Colbert fought fire with fire—and he did it with such tact that, unlike Stewart, he was seemingly impervious to outside criticism.
But Colbert has moved on. The final Colbert Report aired last December. Presumably, the entertainer yearns to be himself after playing a mock conservative character in jest for so long. The idea of The Colbert Report was revolutionary, but the character he played for four nights a week was limiting.
Colbert will now be filling the shoes of the legendary David Letterman, and is slotted to host The Late Show beginning this May.
John Oliver, who now hosts Last Week Tonight on HBO, would have been the obvious choice to replace Colbert or to fill Stewart’s The Daily Show throne. However, he seems to be very happy at HBO. After all, he can swear now.
So who is attempting the lofty goal of filling Colbert’s shoes in his coveted 11:30 EST time slot on Comedy Central? None other than Larry Wilmore—comedian, actor and former contributor on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
So far Wilmore is doing a great job. The first portion of his show is reminiscent of the news-based comedic rants of Jon Stewart. In that aspect, he is up to par. He has already found his voice, which is essentially, keeping it real—or as he says on his show, “keeping it 100.”
The main issue that The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore will have to overcome is that the second half of his program is at the mercy of his four-member guest panel. On every show, Wilmore invites four people to be a part of his round table discussion. They are usually journalists, bloggers or comedians. Some of them are funny and interesting, and some are, well, not.
This is the main obstacle to the entertainment value of Wilmore’s show. With just one interviewee, the host has the ability to control the discussion and keep the audience engaged. This is a much greater challenge when the guests are multiplied by four.
The talk-show style, multi-person panel gives the show a unique dynamic—reminiscent of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO—but it is both a blessing and a curse. A double-edged sword. On one hand, it has the potential to prevent the show from succumbing to monotony, and bring unique and conflicting perspectives to topical issues.
On the other hand, in a 22-minute program, words count. To have an ineloquent and unentertaining guest consume a significant portion of a show’s time is a problem.
Colbert has some big shoes to fill, but Larry Wilmore is certainly worthy of filling them. Soon Wilmore will master his voice as a political satirist, and become a standard in Comedy Central’s late-night repertoire.
