Late Night finally gets some fresh faces and diversity. We’ve all heard of Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien (just to name a few), but not everyone has heard of Wanda Sykes and George Lopez.
George Lopez, probably more widely known for his syndicated show “George Lopez,” than stand-up, is dipping his toes in the late night talk-show waters. Starting Monday, November 9th on TBS, Mexican born, George, will bring his in-your-face candor and comedy to viewers.
“There’s a huge percentage of people not watching late-night TV at all,” Lopez said, figuring that the shows headlined by hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel draw from roughly the same audience pool.
While George takes on TBS, Wanda Sykes, the African-American stand-up comedienne and actress, who is known for her blunt and to-the-point verbiage, will be bringing not only a fresh face, but on-the-edge comic relief to Fox on Saturday nights.
“I believe all these shows are driven by the hosts, so (David) Letterman is the only one who could do the Letterman show, and it goes for all of us,” Sykes said. “Yes, George is a minority and so am I, but basically it’s not what you’re getting from a minority, it’s us.
“George has been at this for 20-plus years, and so have I. We’re seasoned comedians, so I think that’s what we’re going to bring to it. Dave Letterman brings his ‘I’m from Indiana’ point of view, and Jay (Leno) brings his, ‘I’m Italian.’
“I think that’s what it is, it’s host-driven. So it’s not, ‘Oh, now you’re finally going to get the voice of a black woman.’ Yeah, I’m a black woman, but I don’t speak for all black women.”
The time has long passed for a transformation in the late-night show line-up. George Lopez and Wanda Sykes will not only serve up great change in night time comedy, but open the door for further diversity.