Skip to main content

Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show is getting a second season

Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show is getting a second season

/

Comedy Central's Colbert replacement premiered back in January

Share this story

Stephen Lovekin

Larry Wilmore's going to remain at the desk of The Nightly Show for another full year. According to The Wrap, Wilmore has signed a deal with Comedy Central that'll keep the show on the air through January 2017. When it premiered earlier this year, it filled the slot previously held by Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report; Colbert, of course, has moved onto a bigger stage as the new host of The Late Show on CBS.

Wilmore's won rave reviews for his thoughtful treatment of race and class on the show, but it hasn't exactly turned into a ratings juggernaut. Three months after The Nightly Show's debut, it was pulling in 40 percent less viewers than The Colbert Report. The show's ratings were goosed by Jon Stewart's last week on The Daily Show, but that temporary boost has all but evaporated. Trevor Noah is going to take over the latter show's desk at the end of the month, and Comedy Central executives must have their fingers crossed that Noah's version of the show will become a powerful lead-in for Wilmore. The network's new late night pair may be able to match Stewart and Colbert's intelligence and humor, but a failure to keep up with their ratings will quickly become a problem.