The turnover at CBS’s “The Late Late Show” opened the possibility for a new, non-white host to succeed Craig Ferguson, who announced his plans for departure in April. The network dashed any hope to diversify the late-night landscape when it hired white, British comedian James Corden instead.
W. Kamau Bell, an African-American comic, addressed the issue of the all-white lineup of late-night hosts in an essay called “The Unbearable Whiteness of Late Night” on Buzzfeed. His grievance came within a day of Kathy Griffin’s claim that CBS didn’t interview any women for “The Late Late Show,” an allegation the network refuted shortly after.
“Late-night TV is big business and wants the biggest audience possible. And the people who run it believe they have evidence the biggest audience comes with a white guy. And it will probably remain that way… at least until 2042,” Bell wrote (2042 refers to the year when white Americans will become the minority).
The comedian named a number of possible candidates mentioned every time an opening becomes available. He included Aisha Tyler, Maya Rudolph, Wayne Brady, Tina Fey, Margaret Cho, Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock and even himself, who did have a short-lived late-night series on FX (and later FXX).
“For a little while it is exciting to think of the possibility of these shows… until we actually hear the announcement,” he wrote.
Television, cable included, has lost nearly all of its non-white voices in late-night. Fox canceled Arsenic Hall’s second try at late-night, and Chelsea Handler left E! to start a new series at Netflix. Comedy Central will replace “The Colbert Report” with Larry Wilmore's “The Minority Report” when Stephen Colbert takes over CBS’s “The Late Show.”
Bell calls Colbert “a comedy genius,” and he’s excited to see what Letterman’s successor will do. He also has no doubts CBS will give Corden the chance to grow into his new role, an opportunity not extended to all new hosts.
“Even if Corden isn’t great right away – and this is what usually separates white guys from the rest of us – he’ll get a chance to work out the kinks and get it right. Basically the exact opposite of what happened to one of the greatest comedians of all time, the late Joan Rivers, at Fox in 1989,” Bell wrote.
The only way for minority performers to make inroads into the late-night space is through a medium other than network television, according to Bell. He also warns that innovative ideas will inevitably be stolen by the "'mainstream' (read: white and male)."
"My point is we, the audience interested in diverse voices, have to stop turning to mainstream late-night TV to service our need," he wrote. "They didn't even want Neil Patrick Harris. (WHO'S A BETTER HOST THAN NPH? HE'S ALREADY BASICALLY HOSTING PLANET EARTH!)"
Colbert and Corden will both start their new late-night roles next year. They go head-to-head with the NBC duo Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel.
