Late-night comedy is getting a new female face, but, from the looks of it, she will be repeating the same liberal tropes as her fellow veteran hosts.
On Tuesday, Freeform aired the inaugural episode of Truth & Iliza, hosted by 34-year-old comedian Iliza Shlesinger. Immediately, women’s media were all over it, celebrating late night’s increasing gender diversity.
“For years—decades, actually–we've been begging for more women to infiltrate the boys' club that is late-night talk television,” Glamour’s Anna Moeslein rejoiced, while Refinery29’s Ariana Romero cheered that Shlesinger was here “to balance the scales.”
Bustle writer Sabienna Bowman went further, declaring that the host is “changing the late night rules for women.”
Yet, while Shlesinger may bring more estrogen to a lineup formerly featuring only one female voice (Full Frontal’s Samantha Bee), she won’t change the ideological uniformity.
Talking with Moeslein, Shlesinger called Truth & Iliza a “social commentary show” that will steer clear from the political approach taken by Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Bee and the other late night hosts.
“There's a feminist point of view,” she admitted, “but I’m trying to create a show that lives between the space of politics and pop culture that’s funny and intelligent."
"It's less focused on ripping apart Donald Trump and more focused on saying, 'Here’s what’s going on in the world and our country, and here’s how it actually affects you,’” she continued.
Even still, in the first two minutes of episode one, the comedian managed to throw in two barbs at the president.
Next week’s episode – “How Do You Get Woke?” – will focus on racism and sexism. And Shlesinger’s comments on her dream guests, drag-queen icon RuPaul and progressive politician Elizabeth Warren, reveal much about the host's personal slant.
Ultimately, Shlesinger revealed she won’t be “shying away” from anything. Apparently, as she’s having a “$4,000 vagina costume” created for the last of her season’s six episodes, she means that in an Amy Schumer kind of way.
Truth & Iliza airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform. But, hey, if you like female comedians, maybe replay an old episode of I Love Lucy instead.
