FX is continuing its aggressive experimentation with late night programming, ordering six episodes of a comedy from Chris Rock and W. Kamau Bell for the summer.
Currently called “Untitled Chris Rock/W. Kamau Bell Late Night Show” — we suspect that will change — the program will be executive produced by Rock and will star standup veteran Bell, talking about… whatever he wants to talk about, it sounds like. FX lists “politics, pop culture, race, religion, the media and sex” in its press release.
“I think Kamau is one of the funniest guys out there and I can’t wait to work with the good people at FX,” Rock states.
Adds Bell, “Clearly this is a great opportunity. I’m going to do my best to make the most of it. I feel lucky to be working with one of the greatest comedians of all time, Chris Rock, and the most forward-thinking network, FX.”
FX also has Russell Brand’s “Strangely Uplifting” set to premiere at 11 p.m. on Thursday, June 28 as the network makes its first push into late night since the first season of “Louie” aired at 11 p.m. A better FX late night touchstone would, of course, be “The Orlando Jones Show” back in the day.
“The presentation pilot that Chris and Kamau shot was terrific,” states FX Programming EVP Nick Grad. “Kamau is a tremendous young comedian who has a very smart and sharp take on life. Working with Chris will only bring out the best of his talents. This series, along with Russell Brand’s ‘Strangely Uplifting,’ puts FX on really solid footing in the latenight arena.”