First Nightly

[ivyfic]

I watched the first episode of the Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and it was...not good? I want to like it, I really really do, but Wilmore seemed very awkward up there. He didn't really have command when he was giving his monologue. Then there was the panel--I hate unscripted panel shows. They seem to me basically to be the cheapest way a television show can fill the air. Get a bunch of unpaid guests, notecards with suggested topics, and you've filled yourself a half hour of show without having to pay any writers! The discussion is never actually worthwhile, you never get to anything interesting, everyone keeps trying to get out their talking points then gets cut off because of time constraints.

Then there was the fact that it doesn't seem like they rehearsed? Like the Indian woman, when they introduced her, turned her back to the camera. And Cory Booker! God, what are you doing here Cory Booker. Asking him if he wanted to run for president was like the most awkward thing ever.

So basically, that was kind of painful to watch. I know, it's the first night, but this didn't feel like a new Colbert Report or a new Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It felt like the kind of show they occasionally toss to up-and-coming comedians on Comedy Central, where they fill the air with unscripted panelists and maybe a few minutes of monologue, with a ton of gimmicks, and then cancel the show a month later. It felt like they gave Wilmore a show, but the tiniest budget possible to do it. I'm going to check back in to see if it gets better but gah. That was disappointing.

Comments

[newredshoes]

I haven't seen it, but I do remember having a similar reaction to the first episode of The Colbert Report, that it was desperately awkward and terribly unfunny, and that he'd left a plum post at The Daily Show only to crash and burn. We all saw how that turned out, so -- it could change.

[ivyfic]

I've seen the first episode of the Colbert Report, but only in retrospect--I didn't start watching it/the Daily Show until 2009, so it seems like the fanfare of the arrival of genius. Interesting that it didn't seem so at the time.

I'll continue to check in with the Nightly Show, though I suspect I'll only watch the monologue. I can't stand panel shows. We'll see.

What burns is I only get about a half hour of free time in the evening--it's busy season, so I get home at eleven, and then have to be in bed pretty soon to be awake the next day. And this is what I chose to do with my free time yesterday, and it sucked.

[newredshoes]

Yeah, I super, super hear that.