Lilly Singh breaks through a bunch of barriers as she will start a new late-night talk show on NBC this fall.
A Little Late with Lilly Singh starts in September and replaces Last Call with Carson Daly in the post Late Night with Seth Meyers timeslot at 1:37 am Eastern.
Singh is the first YouTube star to break through in this realm, the second woman of colour ever to host a late-night talk show on a major network, a bisexual person, and a Canadian in late-night in the United States.
Known as IISuperwomanII, Singh was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, and went to York University.
"An Indian-Canadian woman with her own late night show? Now that is a dream come true," Singh said in a press release. "I'm thrilled to bring it to life on NBC, and I hope my parents consider this to be as exciting as a grandchild."
A number of outlets have pointed out that Singh is the first woman to host a late-night talk show on one of the major networks and the first hiring of a woman on a network late-night show since Joan Rivers in the 1980s. All of these stories leave out Cynthia Garrett, who hosted Later from 2000-2001. Garrett was also the first woman of colour to host a late-night talk show on a major network in the United States.
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Samantha Bee has been a late-night Canadian pioneer on U.S. television with 12 years on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and her own late-night weekly show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS.
As we noted some time ago, the recently departed Alan Thicke paved the way for Canadians in U.S. late night with the Thicke of the Night in 1983-1984. That show aired in syndication, not on a U.S. network.
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With streaming and YouTube, the glamour of a over-the-air network show may not be as exciting as it once was. Did you honestly know Carson Daly had a late-night show on NBC? And that he has had a late-night show since 2002?
Making fun of getting one's start on YouTube feels ageist somehow. If Singh's goal was to get a late-night talk show, she wouldn't have had too much luck on Canadian television. The late-night TV shows in Canada come from the United States. Canada can find talent by running late-night shows in its own country. CBC, CTV, Global, Citytv: find some talent for a late-night TV show in Canada.
Singh will have the luxury of a very late slot and only 30 minutes to fill. A low-pressure situation without question. When NBC gave the post-Carson slot in 1982 to a young man named David Letterman, there was almost no pressure for success.
At press time, we don't know if a Canadian outlet will run the new show.
video credit: Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon/NBC
photo credit: YouTube/IISuperwomanII
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