The Amber Ruffin Show will move to NBC for a limited run

The Amber Ruffin Show is set to make the jump from streaming to network. It was announced that the late night talk show, currently airing on Peacock, will get a limited run on NBC.

NBC will air the Feb. 26 and March 5 episodes of The Amber Ruffin Show at 1:30 a.m., replacing repeat episodes of A Little Late with Lilly Singh. Singh’s show will broadcast original episodes during the weeks of Feb. 22 and Mar. 1 in its normal timeslot.

This exciting news comes in addition to the recent announcement that Ruffin, a four-time Emmy nominee for her work on Late Night with Seth Meyers, is also attached to co-write the upcoming Broadway musical  Some Like it Hot. Ruffin also recently released a book she co-wrote with her sister called You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism.

For The Amber Ruffin Show, it means that the late night show’s stock continues to rise. Despite airing weekly instead of nightly and running on Peacock, it has quickly become one of the genre’s best shows.

What does The Amber Ruffin Show’s move mean for A Little Late With Lilly Singh?

Looks like this is news to Lilly Singh who just returned to TV after taking an eight-month hiatus. Season two of A Little Late premiered on Jan. 11.

Singh’s late-night variety show replaced the longtime 1:30 slot holder, Last Call with Carson Daly, back in 2019. She is the first openly bisexual woman of color to host a late-night show. Her segment “Lilly Is Struggling to Date Women” was nominated for Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode at the 31st GLAAD Media Awards and “Lilly Responds to Comments About Her Sexuality” was nominated for the same award at the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards.

Even with these awards to help bring credibility to the show, it seems like A Little Late has not gained as much traction as expected. With a 1:30 a.m. timeslot, Singh was destined to suffer from low ratings, but for the past year, its audience hasn’t necessarily grown.  Even though her show was renewed for a new season, there are definitely elements that need improvement if Singh wants to maintain her presence in late night television, especially with The Amber Ruffin Show gaining steam.

After watching a few episodes, there are few aspects of the show that stood out to me. I’ve noticed that Singh still posts occasionally on her Youtube channel and even pays homage to her YouTuber roots by having characters from sketches that originated on her channel appear on A Little Late. Her channel currently has almost 15 million subscribers, so there is a clear audience for that type of content.

When the show first took off, Singh made it clear that she wouldn’t be discussing politics so that the show can focus on Singh’s personal life experiences. I agree that there should be more late night shows that have the host be more vulnerable but she seems to only focus on mostly evergreen topics. Singh admitting that she doesn’t want to mix personal experience and politics has long been the backbone of The Amber Ruffin Show since its inception. I’ve noticed Singh’s only recent musings on topical issues have been her comments on the Britney Spears controversy.

I feel like her monologues are more like elongated stand-up sets where she’s trying out a little too much material. To be seen as an established figure in late night, I think it’s important to define your show’s content from the get-go. I’m still unsure how this show reads. Singh does seem to have a good rapport with most of her guests but because of her background as a solo performer, you can tell that she’s itching to just tell her own material.

It seems like the plan is to have the show switch platforms.  This would definitely help Amber Ruffin expand her audience and snag her an Emmy nomination as the Television Academy has decided to maintain separate categories for variety talk series and variety sketch series. The future may look promising for Singh if she’s able to zero in on her weaknesses and enhance parts of her show so that it can have a long-lasting impact in the world of late-night.

What did you think of Amber Ruffin’s switch to network TV as well as your thoughts on the longevity of A Little Late with Lilly Singh? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.