Wilmore opened the show noting that “it’s never easy when your television show gets cancelled, but I have to tell you there’s a silver lining you guys: all the free booze”.
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Stewart also addressed The Nightly Show’s resonance with audiences, given its low ratings, arguing that it did resonate even though Wilmore and others might not see it right now. “We’ve been been hoping it would grow”. It was proof that the people of the The Nightly Show did not care who you were.
Wilmore said he’s frequently asked about a map on the show’s set that’s hung upside down.
Stewart ended his heartfelt valedictory with an intentionally awkward reference to Wilmore’s N-word gaffe at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner: “And so, in closing, I want to say to you this – you did it, my…my… my mishpocha!” In a amusing way, it feels nearly like Jon appears exclusively on his former correspondents’ late-night shows and few others.
Wilmore spent a lot of time giving kudos to his staff of contributors, including head producer Rory Albanese and other frequent performers such as Robin Thede, Holly Walker, Jordan Carlos, Ricky Velez, Mike Yard, Grace Parra, and Franchesca Ramsey. Comedy Central announced on Monday that the show was canceled, and its last episode would be Thursday, Aug. 18. If you did something inappropriate they were going to get you.
Wilmore did get a bit of a finale bump, retaining an unusually strong 95% of its The Daily Show lead-in in total viewers (625,000 vs. 660,000). Stewart tried to steal a magnum of champagne and run off at first, but instead chose to sit down and chat with Wilmore about his cancellation.
Each person deserves to be mentioned by name, as they all brought different elements of understanding. Soon as the conversation became the heaviest, it was time for everyone to depart.
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The end of “The Nightly Show” represented a mixture of those second and third versions of endings. It is a sad thought. And, of course, when “The Daily Show” premiered that’s where all the promotion was, and it felt like we were a little forgotten by that point. That is a legacy which can not be cancelled.
