Larry Wilmore to Replace Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central
Comedy Central has named its successor for The Colbert Report as host Stephen Colbert prepares to make the leap to The Late Show. The network announced on Friday that comedian Larry Wilmore will take over its 11:30 p.m. weeknight time slot, hosting a show called The Minority Report With Larry Wilmore, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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As Colbert did before spinning off his own show, Wilmore has made himself familiar to Comedy Central’s viewers through regular appearances on The Daily Show. Since 2006, he’s been the show’s “Senior Black Correspondent.” The 52-year-old Emmy-winning writer and producer has previously written for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color and The Jamie Foxx Show, and he co-created The Bernie Mac Show and The PJs. He is also set to executive produce a new ABC sitcom called Black-ish.
The Minority Report “will provide viewers with a distinct point of view and comedic take on the day’s news from a perspective largely missing in the current late night landscape,” according to Comedy Central.
The Minority Report is set to begin in January and will be produced by Jon Stewart‘s Busboy Productions.
“I’m beyond excited to have this chance to continue my relationships with Comedy Central and the brilliant Jon Stewart,” Wilmore said. “I love the city of New York and promise to only wear my Laker T-shirts when I’m layering.”
Stewart praised the new host in his own fashion: “While Larry Wilmore is a brilliant comic and show runner, this is all just a complicated ruse to get him to move to New York and turn him into a Knicks fan.”
David Letterman announced his retirement from The Late Show in early April, after spending more than three decades on late-night TV. A week later, CBS announced that Colbert had been chosen to take over the show, and Colbert disclosed that he would be leaving behind the mock-conservative persona that he used to anchor The Colbert Report. Another veteran Daily Show correpondent, John Oliver, announced in November that that he is leaving the series to host his own satirical news show on HBO.