Women Who Need Their Own Late Night Show…Like Yesterday
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
With Late Night starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling opening this weekend the whole nation is asking itself one question. Wouldn’t it be crazy if a woman actually hosted a Late Night show? Followed by the next question. Wait, why don’t any women host a Late Night show? This fall we will have Lilly Singh come in as the first female Late Night host since The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, which dropped hastily dropped Joan as the host. There’s also Samantha Bee doing the lord’s work on her weekly show Full Frontal, and while it doesn’t fall under the same umbrella we can’t just not bring it up.
We are in a comedy golden age that is being helmed by women and Late Night should be reflecting that. Here are our nominees.
Amber Ruffin
What you know her from: Late Night With Seth Meyers (Writer), Detroiters (Writer)
The Case for Amber Ruffin: When Amber Ruffin joined the staff of Late Night With Seth Meyers she became the first black woman to write for a late-night in the US. Which is equally amazing, and way too late considering it was 2014. Ruffin quickly became a fan favorite on the show for her adorable yet lethal segments. Plus, we know that her writer’s room would be a cozy temperature.
Paula Pell
What you know her from: Wine Country, SNL (Writer), A.P. BIO
The Case for Paula Pell: Consider it the world’s most long overdue job offer. Paula Pell has been making us laugh behind the scenes since 1995, yet it’s only been the last couple of years that most people know her name. At the age of 56 she was the breakout star of the Netflix hit Wine Country. We don’t deserve, but are ready for more Pell.
Ashley Black
What you know her from: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Writer), A Black Lady Sketch Show (Writer)
The Case for Ashley Nicole Black: Hailing from the Chicago comedy scene, when Black was hired for Full Frontal she quickly became an audience favorite. She is known for incredibly intelligent and often surprising comedy. Black is currently working on the upcoming project A Black Lady Sketch Show and we can’t wait to see the results. Also, she has Elizabeth Warren’s phone number.
Ariel Dumas
What you know her from: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Writer)
The Case for Ariel Dumas: Don’t sleep on Dumas. She’s been working behind the scenes and occasionally in front of the camera for Stephen Colbert since 2015. If her Twitter is any indication, Ariel is ready to breathe a little life and potty humor into our nightly TV bingeing. Also, we can name one thing that we all already have in common with Dumas.
Lena Waithe
What you know her from: Ready Player One (Actor), Master of None (Writer & Actor), The Chi (Producer & Writer), Dear White People (Producer & Actor)
The Case for Lena Waithe: Waithe produces, writes, acts, and kills the Met Gala carpet. She’s a quadruple threat. Coming into the public eye in 2015 with Master of None, it’s now impossible to imagine the entertainment industry without Waithe in it. Most recently she took over Kimmel’s desk for a night and it was electric. It was just the inspiration we all needed to finally start our Lena for Late Night petitions.
