Larry Wilmore thanked Comedy Central, his staff and fans at the beginning ofThe Nightly ShowMonday after learning the late-night news program had been canceled.
While Wilmore opened with a cheeky, So, how was your day? he quickly turned sincere as he expressed his appreciation to Comedy Central for giving him the rare opportunity to host his own program, as well as his staff for all their work during The Nightly Shows 20-month run.
As for The Nightly Shows passionate fanbase, Wilmore said, People come up and they never say, Hey, nice show, they always say, Thank you! Its such a cool thing.
And hearing from you guys has really been incredible even you, @Wilmore_blows666, the host cracked as the screen flashed a fake Twitter handle.
Of the show itself, Wilmore said, When we started the show, we wanted to have a conversation on some very tough subjects and weve had a lot of fun doing just that. I mean, really, our show was at its best when the news was at its worst. And Im just so proud that we were able to take on real issues and, I dont know, hopefully say something powerful while making people laugh on some very, very dark days.
Wilmore said his only regret was that The Nightly Showwouldnt be able to cover the rest of this truly insane election season. Though the host then joked with a shrug, I must say, our show going off the air has to only mean one thing: Racism is solved.
The Nightly Showdebuted in 2015 in Comedy Centrals 11:30 p.m. slot previously occupied by The Colbert Report. Like Stephen Colbert, Wilmore had previously worked on The Daily Show, serving as its Senior Black Correspondent from 2006 through 2015.