On Monday night, Comedy Central’s newest late-night comedy show, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, premiered as the replacement for the recently departed Stephen Colbert.
The former Daily Show correspondent spent the entirety of his debut episode talking about race in America and even brought on Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to ask him “do you feel like you're just a hoodie away from being face down on the pavement?”
During the show’s cold opening, Wilmore previewed the episode by joking that “the Oscar nominations are out, and they're so white, a grand jury has decided not to indict them...Yeah, we talk Selma, Ferguson and Eric Garner. It's comedy central's worst nightmare! A brother finally gets a show on late night TV. But, of course, he's got to work on Martin Luther King Day. Let's do this!”
As the show began, the Comedy Central host brought up the left’s latest obsession: the lack of Academy Award nominations for the film Selma. While Wilmore expressed a small level of shock over the film’s lack of Oscar nominations, he seemed much more upset over Al Sharpton’s decision to hold a meeting with Hollywood executives:
Sharpton? Again? I mean, No one else can represent us? Look, Al, Al, AL, slow down man. You don't have to respond to every black emergency. You're not black Batman or our racial fire chief...I mean, look at yourself, Al Sharpton. I appreciate your efforts, but you're literally stretching yourself thin. Take a break, take a break man. No, seriously. They're worried about you. Al, you need to eat food. Not just air time.
Later in the broadcast, Wilmore featured his “Keep It 100" segment which hosted four panelists including Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to continue the show’s discussion on race.
Wilmore hyped Booker’s republication of an article the senator wrote after the Rodney King incident in 1992 in which he claimed to have “reposted it during Ferguson and Staten Island just to let folks know, I’m a senator now but when I was 22, 23 I wanted to let the rawness of that experience come back out.”
The Comedy Central host proceeded to awkwardly ask his guest “It’s real. I mean, the situations aren’t being made up. You look very nice in a suit. Do you feel like you're just a hoodie away from being face down on the pavement?”
The rest of Wilmore’s debut broadcast was spent discussing a variety of racial issues including asking his lone white guest “is the answer for less black people in prison maybe more white people in prison?”
From The Washington Post’s description of Wilmore’s new show:
Wilmore paused briefly before his “Keep It 100? segment to explain what the heck he was talking about: “For all you people who don’t know what the expression ‘keeping it 100' means, it means ‘keep it 100 percent real,’” Wilmore said. “I guess the white version is ‘Truth or Dare,’ except here we don’t have the dare.”
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The show felt similar to what W. Kamau Bell was trying to achieve with “Totally Biased,” but with sharper, more focused writing and a slickly-designed set that comes as a result of having the full backing and faith of Comedy Central kingmaker Jon Stewart.
See relevant transcript below.
Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
January 19, 2015
LARRY WILMORE: The Oscar nominations are out, and they're so white, a grand jury has decided not to indict them. Oprah marched on Selma this weekend. She has a dream... That "Selma" shall overcome the "Wedding Ringer" at the box office. Yeah, we talk Selma, Ferguson and Eric Garner. It's comedy central's worst nightmare! A brother finally gets a show on late night TV. But, of course, he's got to work on Martin Luther King Day. Let's do this!
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WILMORE: Bring up the lights! Bring it up! Yes, guys thank you! Thank you very much! Calm down! Calm down! Calm down! Thank you, thank you! I am, I have to say, man I am so excited to be here. This is so exciting. I feel like there's so much to talk about, you know?. Especially if I had the show a year ago! Man, all of the good bad race stuff happened already! Seriously there's none left. We're done. Happy M.L.K. Day, everybody! Actually, wait, there actually is a 2015 injustice that's bugging me. Now I'm talking, of course, about the Oscar nominations. Or lack thereof. A very powerful motion picture was snubbed. Now this film's message is as poignant today as it would have been when I was a kid.
("Everything is awesome" song from the Lego movie)
WILMORE: No, everything is not awesome! How did the Lego movie not get nominated for best picture? God, this was shocking! Well, in less shocking news, this also happened.
UNKNOWN PERSON: While the civil rights movie "Selma" earned a best picture nomination, director Ava DuVerrnay was snubbed. So was lead actor David Oyelowo.
WILMORE: Oh, black people didn't get nominated for an Oscar? Yeah, I'm mad, I guess. Now don't get me wrong. Ava DuVernay should definitely have been nominated for best director. But David Oyelowo? I mean, he's a British brother I don’t really care about them..I could care less. Alright, so what do we as a people need to do? Man, I wish there were a black Hollywood expert who could go to bat for us.
UNKNOWN PERSON: Reverend Sharpton called for an emergency meeting here in Hollywood next week to discuss possible action around the Academy Awards.
WILMORE: Sharpton? Again? I mean, No one else can represent us? Look, Al, Al, AL, slow down man. You don't have to respond to every black emergency. You're not black Batman or our racial fire chief. I'm beginning to think a typical day at Al Sharpton's office looks like this.
MOVIE CLIP: Thank you. We got one!
WILMORE: True. True. I mean, look at yourself, Al Sharpton. I appreciate your efforts, but you're literally stretching yourself thin. Take a break, take a break man. No, seriously. They're worried about you. Al, you need to eat food. Not just air time. Alright, okay.
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WILMORE: So Senator [Booker] I want to start with you. I remember after the Rodney King--
CORY BOOKER: First of all, congratulations.
WILMORE: Thank you. I appreciate it.
BOOKER: It’s an honor to be amongst your first guests. I hope we don’t mess it up for you.
WILMORE: No, just keep going. All that is good. I’m honored you would be here. It’s funny, I was reading, rereading, you wrote an article after the Rodney King riots back in ‘92 where you said I’m 6'3 I’m 230 , I don’t know how much you weighed then I’m just making it up.
BOOKER: You got it right.
WILMORE: But you were saying I’m like him, do I scare you? So 23 years later does someone like you still scare people?
BOOKER: Well, I wrote that article and I reposted it during Ferguson and Staten Island just to let folks know, I’m a senator now but when I was 22, 23 I wanted to let the rawness of that experience come back out.
WILMORE: It’s real. I mean, the situations aren’t being made up. You look very nice in a suit. Do you feel like you're just a hoodie away from being face down on the pavement?
