It had a rocky rollout, but I think The Nightly Show has pretty much figured out what works and what doesn't.
They largely ditched the "Keeping It 100" shtick; and when they do occasionally allude to it during panel discussion, it's done much more subtly/sensibly/intelligently.
And the produced pieces are very high quality; informative, smart, funny, eminently watchable. The only reason I give the show an '8' is because... well, that's high for a political presentation/talk show, in my book.
I continued watching it because Wilmore is obviously a theater nerd, and I dig that, and I had a hunch we'd see the show evolve; and it has.
Good work!
(& btw, this is an amended review. Below is the original review I posted two or three episodes into the original launch of the show:)
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Original title: "'Keeping It 100'" doesn't keep it 100"
Loved it when it first came on, had high hopes. I'm just starting to get the impression that it's turning out to be (hard to believe) no better than Realtime with Bill Maher. I've sort of gotten objective on the Maher show, and realize that he's a bit of a blowhard and too often tends not to do his job (as moderator) so as to truly maximize his assets.
Well, I'm starting to get the impression that Larry, bless his heart, isn't going to score much higher than Bill on these counts. He's a very funny guy, his opening monologue material rocks, and he delivers it with aplomb... fairly reminiscent of the late departed Mr. Colbert, IMHO. But 50%+ of the show is taken up with the panel. He picks great people, often sitting on opposite ends of sundry sociopolitical spectra... and then he well nigh squanders them. At least with Bill you sometimes get genuine fireworks of repartee. Here, that gets blunted/shortshrifted by Larry, with the icing on the cake being his "Keep it 100" capper that dumps rather insulting loaded questions/scenarios onto his hapless guests. Frankly, I'm more than a little surprised; after Colbert's writers set such a high bar, it's hard to believe this stuff squeaks through.
I give the show a six due to the fine production values, and Larry's wonderful, informative presentations. His guest panel robs away the rest.
