Spade heads back to late-night TV
Comedian launching show analyzing pop culture
LOS ANGELES — David Spade is returning to latenight TV in a bid from Comedy Central that will shake up the way the network does business around midnight.
Spade, the comedian once famous for delivering the Hollywood Minute during the Weekend Update segment on Saturday Night Live, will later this year launch the series, which will follow the network’s flagship The Daily Show. At 11:30 p.m., he will go head-to-head with opening monologues from NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, CBS’s Stephen Colbert and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.
The series marks the first time in years the network hasn’t sought to follow The Daily Show with talent that broke out from that landmark program. In recent years, Comedy Central has stocked 11:30 with Colbert, Larry Wilmore and Jordan Klepper, all of whom first rose to greater renown interacting with either former Daily host Jon Stewart or current one, Trevor Noah.
It’s also the first time Comedy Central won’t deliberately set out to focus on political themes and national affairs in the time slot. The network found great success with the long-running The Colbert Report, which aired after Stewart’s Daily Show between 2005 and 2014. Since that time, however, Comedy Central has had less luck.
Two other programs, The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore and The Opposition With Jordan Klepper, did not prove sustainable despite positive reviews for each.
In Canada, much of Comedy Central’s current and past programming airs on the Comedy channel.
Spade is expected to focus on other areas, offering a “signature take on the pop culture news of the day,” according to the network. The program is yet to be titled, and will include a rotating group of celebrities and comedians. With this choice, Spade and Comedy Central will be moving against the current grain.
Many of the newest offerings in late night tend to centre on national news and a news cycle driven by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The most-watched latenight show on TV, CBS’s The Late Show, has seen its viewership surge as its host tilts nightly at the Trump administration’s latest feints and foibles. TBS’s Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (which airs on Comedy in Canada) trades heavily in political satire, as does HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
It’s not Spade’s first time with Comedy Central.
The Showbiz Show With David Spade was a weekly program that made fun of celebrity news programs like Access Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight, and lasted for three seasons between 2005 and 2007.
Spade has worked steadily since leaving SNL in 1996.