The Wanda Sykes Show

Changes are abound in the realm of late night TV. Jay Leno is now the biggest squatter in all of TV Land as has gobbled up five hours at NBC's not so late night schedule. Meanwhile, Conan O'Brien is out in LA, and David Letterman is suddenly making sex scandal headlines instead of just laughing at them. Into that topsy-turvy environment walks this story, one the uncreative media has feasted upon: Two non-Caucasians, George Lopez and Wanda Sykes, have been given their own talk shows.

Never mind that back in 2003 Orlando Jones had his own on FX, the media would much rather disregard that and make this look like a historical event worthy of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" references (David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer). All that free, somewhat demeaning, publicity being dumped on them will only get them so far, Sykes has shown that she is hear to play. She has brought a wide variety of segment types to her hour long show, some of which have a distinctly recycled taste to them. But she poaches from the best and has proven adept at generating real laughs from her audience.

One might think that the best way to survive the late night jungle is to simply provide the most laughs per minute. Sadly that is not true, as the host also has to play pleasant, benign friend to the audience. It is something Jay Leno excels at and is the reason why he has been around for 22-years despite having no discernable talent and not one person alive who will fess up to being a fan. Sykes does seem a little toned down but doesn't completely sell out as she does find a way to stuff a lot of her anti-PC schtick into the show- asking her guests to join her in a guessing game of "Bro fro or Jewish fro?- something she will need to maintain if she hopes to remain relevant. Her choices in celebrities seem a little desperate, but nobody really cares that it's been nearly a decade since John Salley was an NBA star so long as he is an engaging guest, and he is.

The format is a grab bag of institutions from other similar shows. She opens the show with a monologue because who in the history of time hasn't? Also, she stays trendy with a Daily Show-ish fake news segment in which the week's events are turned into fodder for one-liners. There is also a Real Time rip off with a nearly identical set where Sykes and her three panel members talk seriously (sort of) about the goings-on in the media. The show definitely has an inclination to slant towards stories that will appeal to an African American audience and hopefully she can parlay that gamble into some good ratings. Early on her and her cohort Keith Robinson riff together on anything they damn well feel like, which is hands down the best part of the show. Robinson, unknown to us before this, has burst onto the scene with this role and demands that he be taken seriously as a comedian.

Sykes' dilemma, as it stands now, is not the quality of her own show but the unfortunate reality that she is going toe to toe with a surprisingly robust season of Saturday Night Live. Both shows are wading knee deep through a political/cultural landscape that is comatose right now, meaning that she will be trying to siphon viewers from them in a weak market. No matter how passionate you and your friends are about healthcare it simply will never be good comedy and therefore anchors and comics must wait around for another Sarah Palin to come down the pike. That of course didn't stop both shows from engaging the health care debate on November 14th, and Sykes' extended rant on the issue was sadly nowhere near as funny as Jason Sudeikis hamming it up as Joe Biden across the dial. Is the Wanda Sykes Show the funniest thing ever? No, but she is funny enough to justify keeping it around. And if she were able to step up her game it would give us reason to consider changing our Saturday night viewing habits.