Jim McCambridge
Roy Wooden Jr., a longtime contributor to Comedy Central‘s “Day by day Present,” won’t return to the late-night program when it returns to manufacturing, the most recent wrinkle to develop on the long-running present as executives proceed to hunt for a successor to Trevor Noah.
“I can’t give you Plan B is whereas nonetheless working with Plan A,” the comedian told NPR, noting he doesn’t need to proceed as one of many present’s cadre of correspondents whereas another person is being thought-about for the highest function. “The job of correspondent…it’s probably not one the place you possibly can juggle a number of issues. [And] I believe eight years is an effective run,” he stated.
His exit spotlights problems on the venerable program as Comedy Central broadens its seek for a brand new lead determine. Noah abruptly introduced his exit in late 2022 in entrance of a dwell viewers that had come to see a the taping of a brand new episode. Comedy Central has relied on visitor hosts ever since — till the present needed to go darkish as a result of Hollywood writers strike.
The Paramount World community had settled on Hasan Minhaj as a number one candidate for the job, however then seems to have reversed its determination after that comedian — who had visitor hosted together with candidates comparable to Chelsea Handler, Marlon Wayans, Kal Penn and Sarah Silverman — after a New Yorker report described methods wherein Minhaj had embellished a few of his autobiographical comedy routines.
“Day by day Present” has been by related tumult up to now. When Jon Stewart neared the tip of his tenure on the sequence, a number of correspondents started to contemplate exterior affords. John Oliver, who had stuffed in for Stewart throughout an absence from “Day by day,” moved to HBO to launch “Final Week Tonight.” And longtime correspondent Samantha Bee jumped to launch her personal sequence at Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS.
“Day by day Present” is predicted to return to authentic manufacturing on October 16, with visitor hosts slated to steer the sequence for the remainder of the 12 months. Executives count on to have establish a brand new host within the interim and have that individual in place by 2024.
“Roy Wooden Jr is a comedic genius and beloved teammate. His insights and hilarity helped us make sense of the 2016 election, the pandemic, and numerous hours of Fox Information,” Comedy Central stated in a press release. “We thank him for his time with us and might’t wait to see what he does subsequent.”
