Comedy Central has decided to cancel "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" after just a year and a half. The news, which had been stirring at the network for some time, still surprised and saddened Larry Wilmore.
The decision to cancel "The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore" has come amid the show's struggle to resonate with the audience, according to Comedy Central president Kent Alterman. "We stuck with it for a year and a half but ultimately we didn't feel that we see enough traction to justify doing another year," Alterman said via Deadline. The show's cancellation has also come just two months before the United States election, and a few weeks before Comedy Central has to renew Wilmore's contract, as well as that of around 15 creative contributors.
Larry Wilmore said, "I'm really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity, 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."
According to Vox, one of the reasons that the show has not gained enough traction was because it was made for TV, and not for YouTube. Simply put, its contents don't seem to be that shareable on social media platforms. Despite the struggle, Alterman still praised Wilmore and "The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore" team for "a great work," particularly in creative contributions. However, the decision boils down to business.
"The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore" still has one more week on the air and the last episode will be aired on Thursday, Aug. 18, 11:30 p.m. The show's time slot will be taken over by "@midnight" temporarily while the network looks for a replacement.
