After a sudden cancellation from Comedy Central with only four days’ notice, Larry Wilmore and his team wrapped up The Nightly Show with the show’s final episode last night, which included appearances from all the contributors as well as a very special visit from Jon Stewart, who had some encouraging words for Wilmore. “What you, my friend, were tasked to do, you have done, and done beautifully,†Stewart said. “You gave voice to underserved voices in the media arena, and it was a show that was raw and poignant and funny and smart and all of those things, and you did it from scratch … You took something and got better every f*cking day.â€
At the end of the show, Larry Wilmore signed off by explaining Nightly Show’s mission statement, which is illustrated by the upside-down world map on the show’s set:
Before each show I have a Q&A with the audience, and the #1 question I get is “Why is your map upside down?†And I always say “Well, I disagree with your premise.†You see, upside down is just an opinion. If you’re floating in space, the earth can take on any orientation. But as a culture, we’ve all agreed with the opinion that the world should be seen in a certain way. So at The Nightly Show, our chief mission was to disagree with that premise, and to see the world in a way that may not make everybody comfortable, and to present it with a cast of people who don’t always get to have a voice on that. So on that front, I feel that we’ve been very successful, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished.
Watch some more clips from the finale below: