Move Over, White Guys: Late Night Is Evolving Fast

Fifteen years after Arsenio Hall signed off the air, late-night TV is once again making room for hosts who aren't white men.

Fox on Saturday launches a weekly showcase for African-American comic Wanda Sykes. Next week, George Lopez becomes the first Latino to host a nightly late-night comedy series on a major network when his "Lopez Tonight" premieres on TBS. And last month saw the arrival of "The Mo'Nique Show" on BET.

Is this the Obamafication of the late-night wars?

"It may have to do with the fact that we have a black president," said Eddie Feldmann, executive producer of "The Wanda Sykes Show."

In the past, "I had been out (in the TV marketplace) at different times with different comedians of color, and you'd go in and say, 'There's nobody of color on now in late night,' and it didn't get a lot of attention from the networks," Feldmann said. "I do think that it's because of President Obama, that maybe the networks started saying, 'Well, OK, we might need to get into this business.'"

Michael Wright, who heads up programming for the Turner networks (including TBS), agrees there's something happening here. But rather than looking at Obama's election as the reason for the changes in late night, he's hoping they're both signs of a broader societal evolution.

"I would like to think they're a reflection of a cultural shift that's going on," he said. "That maybe, please, we're all growing up and becoming a bit more open-minded and more inclusive."

What's surprising about the emergence of a new rainbow coaltion in late night is that it took so long for programmers to realize the logic of embracing diversity in the daypart. After all, Arsenio's smashing success in the early 1990s demonstrated audiences were more than willing to accept late-night hosts who didn't hail from the Midwest.

And yet, in the 15 years since Hall's syndicated show was canceled, there have been precious few attempts at changing the color of late night.

"You look at how groundbreaking 'The Arsenio Hall Show' was ... (and) the networks went away from that," said John Ridley, "Wanda's" head writer and co-executive producer. "It was like, 'Oh, people of color don't matter.' Hollywood is so liberal. They write the biggest, fattest checks for a guy like Obama. And yet they don't look at their own landscape and (realize) they're not reflecting the country."

The only real attempt to broaden late-night audiences between the end of the Arsenio era and today came in the late 1990s. That's when Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Keenan Ivory Wayans and VIBE magazine all jumped into the after-hours fray -- and quickly fizzled.

The trend toward diversity could prove to be short-lived again if the new shows are somehow seen as being targeted toward niche audiences. That's why producers and executives involved with the newcomers all stress the importance of crossover appeal.

"It always comes down to talent," said Jim Paratore, executive producer of "Lopez Tonight." "When Arsenio was a success in late night, it was because he crossed over and reached white women.

 

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