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@midnight with Chris Hardwick to air live episodes for a week in February

By Hector Cruz

NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 16: @Midnight w/Chris Hardwick featuring Comedian Chris Hardwick performs as part of the Wild West Comedy Festival - Chris Hardwick presented by Bud Light at TPAC Polk Theater on May 16, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Bud Light)
NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 16: @Midnight w/Chris Hardwick featuring Comedian Chris Hardwick performs as part of the Wild West Comedy Festival - Chris Hardwick presented by Bud Light at TPAC Polk Theater on May 16, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Bud Light) /
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@midnight with Chris Hardwick is set to once again go live for one week in mid-February.

Both The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and @midnight with Chris Hardwick went live on election night to cover the results of the presidential election. Though the episodes took on a somber tone given most of the participants’ liberal leanings, Comedy Central deemed the move enough of a success that it has decided to schedule of a week-long stint of live episodes for @midnight beginning on Feb. 13.

While The Daily Show went live several times throughout election season, including after the debates, Election Day marked the first time the late-night panel show had taken on a live format, though it previously broadcast a live episode from the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX exclusively via Periscope last March.

The move, which was announced at the network’s TCA panel earlier this month, is likely part of an effort to boost the improv game show’s middling ratings. For the week of Jan. 16, @midnight averaged only a 0.16 rating among adults 18-49, which was a slight improvement over the week before. But that’s quite a bit below the 0.3 rating for its lead-in, making it one of the least-watched late-night programs, behind Conan and Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.

It also comes as Comedy Central has yet to reveal whether the show will be replaced by a new show or permanently stay in its current time slot despite its name. @midnight moved up half an hour to replace The Nightly Show after it was cancelled in August. The cable net is also testing out a four-episode week of Barstool Rundown starting tonight in anticipation of Sunday’s Super Bowl. It will feature the popular podcasters reporting live from a Houston sports bar.

The panelists competing for points on @midnight during the week of live episodes include such regulars as Kyle Kinane, Jen Kirkman, Tom Lennon, Wil Wheaton, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Weird Al Yankovic. Here’s the full schedule:

  • Monday, Feb. 13: Kyle Kinane, Jen Kirkman and Tom Lennon
  • Tuesday, Feb. 14: Mary Lynn Rajsku, Al Jackson and Weird Al Yankovic
  • Wednesday, Feb. 15: Wil Wheaton, Janey Varney and Colton Dunn
  • Thursday, Feb. 16: Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart

@midnight with Chris Hardwick airs weeknights at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.

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