Comedy Central‘s coveted 11:30 spot officially has a new show and a new host, with Deadline reporting that The Opposition with Jordan Klepper will fill the sacred spot following The Daily Show starting September 25th. But we’re not excited because the funny former Daily Show correspondent will get to lead his own series, we’re excited because as host Klepper won’t be playing it straight. Instead he’ll be playing an Alex Jones-style conspiracy nut.
And that means Klepper’s show might finally fill the void left by The Colbert Report.
Comedy Central’s first attempt to fill the 11:30 slot left vacant by Stephen Colbert’s departure for CBS with the now defunct The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Wilmore is brilliant, funny, and knowledgeable about the state of politics today, but his show never caught traction. In retrospect he wasn’t really set up for success, because his show was covering much of the same ground as Trevor Noah’s Daily Show. They were both comedians making light of the world by pointing out the hypocrisy of politicians and media alike, and they both did so sincerely as themselves. What did The Nightly Show offer viewers that was all that different from what they had just watched?
Compare that to the legendary late night one-two punch that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had. Stewart’s show was a satirical newscast where the Stewart we saw was just him as himself, and that made what he said sincere. But Colbert wasn’t just mocking politicians, he was satirizing modern ego-driven “news” show that are so prevalent today.
While the two shows were related, what you got from Stewart’s show was different from what you got from The Colbert Report. The complemented each other, and as a result they made each other greater in comparison. Watching the two back-to-back was like having your dinner and then your dessert. But Wilmore’s show was like having a second dinner. Yeah, it was well made, but you don’t always want seconds.
Klepper’s show, which Comedy Central says will “satirize the hyperbolic, conspiracy-laden noise machine that is the alternative-media landscape on both the right and left” won’t be a second Daily Show. It’s going to be character driven, like The Colbert Report, and that will allow it to come at the topics of the day from a totally different angle, as well as open up a whole new source of material. This sounds more like dessert.
Whether or not it works remains to be seen, because obviously not every performer is as talented as Stephen Colbert. Klepper has been a great correspondent on The Daily Show, but this is a tall order for anyone. That ability to carry 22 minutes a night as a compelling character is what made the loss of Colbert so tough in the first place. It’s impossible to think of someone replacing him, and trying to do so would be futile.
But that’s not what is happening here. They aren’t casting a new “Colbert,” they are using the Colbert model of having a character host and letting Klepper create his own kind. Bill O’Reilly, the inspiration for Colbert’s host, is a very different source for a host than Alex Jones.
The Daily Show has done what many thought was impossible and survived the departure of Jon Stewart. New host Noah is his own man, but the show still feels the same, and that’s why its important place in the worlds of comedy and politics is secure. But The Daily Show was even better when it had the absurdity of the Colbert Report following it.
That’s why it’s long overdue that Comedy Central stopped just trying to fill its 11:30 time slot and finally tried to replace the show that defined it.
But what do you make of this news? Are you excited about Kleppers new show, or do you think trying to replace The Colbert Report won’t work? Talk about it with us in the comments below.
Images: Comedy Central
