Entertainment

This Is the New Stephen Colbert

by Kate Ward

Minority Report is relevant again. No, the Tom Cruise-led 2002 sci-fi feature isn't getting a reboot. Instead, Larry Wilmore just secured the 11:30PM spot on Comedy Central with his new daily show, The Minority Report With Larry Wilmore. The network confirmed the news Friday night, announcing it was "pulling from the ranks of 'The Best F*&#ing News Team Ever!,'" for the its show, referring to The Daily Show's correspondents, a team that has included Wilmore since 2006. And, not surprisingly, the show will be produced by Jon Stewart. Said Stewart, “While Larry Wilmore is a brilliant comic and showrunner, this is all just a complicated ruse to get him to move to New York and turn him into a Knicks fan.”

In response, The Minority Report host said, "I love the city of New York and promise to only wear my Laker t-shirts when I’m layering."

That means, of course, that Wilmore is replacing Stephen Colbert, who helmed the extremely successful (and influential) Colbert Report since 2005. Ever since the comedian announced he was headed to CBS to replace David Letterman at Late Night — a move that will happen at some point after Letterman's retirement in 2015 — press speculated exactly who would fill in his shoes. (John Oliver, who had a successful run filling in for Stewart in summer 2013 while the Daily Show host filmed Rosewater, seemed the obvious choice — had he already not committed to HBO with Last Week Tonight .)

Though it's disappointing that the spot failed to go to a woman (particularly with Chelsea Handler leaving E!), it's good to see that Comedy Central has a commitment to diversifying the white man-dominating late night market. In fact, the network seemed to hint at a more progressive spin on late night, saying The Minority Report will feature panelists that "are currently underrepresented in comedy and television." The more we can get of this on late night, the better:

Image: Comedy Central