As you all know, George Lopez’s late night show Lopez Tonight was canceled by TBS yesterday after very dismal ratings.
On his second to last show last night, he explained why he thinks he was ousted to the audience.
Lopez exclaimed, “So today I lost some work because I’m brown, but I got some work because I’m blue!”
He was referring to his latest movie The Smurfs, in which he voiced one of the characters. Sony just announced there will be a sequel to the blockbuster smash.
STORY: George Lopez’s Talk Show Gets Canned!
Although there was some truth in George’s quip, in the history of late night comedy hosts, there hasn’t been much diversity.
From 1989 to 1994, comedian and actor Arsenio Hall was one of the first faces of color to have a late night show format like we see today.
[pagebreak]
Following suit was writer and comic Keenan Ivory Wayans, who had a short-lived Fox show from August of 1997 to March of 1998.
Former NBA great and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson even had a show amply named The Magic Hour, which ran from June to September 1998.
It seems like the life-span of most late night talk show hosts of color are temporary positions. These shows don’t get the life support of The Tonight Show or Late Show, which has a combined 75 or so years under their respective belts.
Will we ever see a late night host of color other than the familiar faces we see every night?
Or are we just used to seeing the same old white Johnny Carson-esque format of a 10 minute joke-filled monologue followed by a sit and chat with a celebrity guest?
[pagebreak]
Granted, Lopez Tonight ran for two years, was on cable and constantly had to jockey for position with the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, not to mention going up against big dogs like Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Hopefully one day the mold can be broken, where we will see a face of color that has longevity and who stays on the air more than a few years.
In the end, George probably wasn’t playing the race card with his joke and just wanted to get a few laughs in on account of his second to last show.
Let’s hope for bigger and better things in the future!
