D.L. Hughley Headlines a New Political Comedy Show on CNN
by Latoya Peterson
Please Note: This is NOT a D.L. Hughley fansite. You cannot contact him directly through this site, or leave feedback about his show.
Before I sat down to watch D. L. Hughley Breaks the News, I was skeptical of the whole project. D.L. Hughley doesn’t immediately come to mind when I think of a comedian that is well versed in politics and current events. The author of the NY Times article seems to concur, noting:
For the last week Mr. Hughley, 45, has had to arrive every morning at his office at CNN in Manhattan at the ungodly (for a comedian) hour of 11 a.m. to digest reams of information from newspapers, Web sites, television and talk radio. He has no time to goof off during the 8-to-12-hour days; only the occasional moment to glance at his new profile in the CNN company directory that lists him as an anchor.
“I’m like, ‘Come on, man,’ ” an incredulous Mr. Hughley said in a recent interview. “I barely even know how to read. I’ve got a G.E.D.”
Just 10 days ago CNN announced that Mr. Hughley would be the host of a new comedy-news show, “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News,” which has its premiere Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
AverageBro already laid down his thoughts on the show, writing:
I’m not saying Hughley isn’t funny. His early days of Comic View were classic. And for the record, his standup career is far more successful than anything Stewart did pre-Daily Show.
But DL just doesn’t seem to have the gravitas to pull this off. His shortlived Comedy Central talk show, Weekends At The DL, was atrocious. His appearances on shows like Real Time With Bill Maher and The Glenn Beck Show don’t give me the impression that this cat is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to politricks.
He also brings up another large elephant in the room when it comes to D.L. Hughley’s idea of comedy:
Is it wrong for me to still be upset about that “nappy headed hoes” comment more than a year after the fact? Prolly not, but I’m sorry, I just cannot get over that. That sh*t was a straight up James T. Harris b*tch move in my book.
I wonder how dude could go home and look his wife and daughter in the eyes after that bullsh*t.
I prolly won’t watch this show, so I guess I shouldn’t bash it. Could it possibly be any worse than Chocolate News or The Tony Rock Project? Even though I wished CNN’s affirmative action hire had been Roland Martin instead, I guess I should just be happy to see black men working, no matter how mediocre the product.
Nah. Bump that.
If you wanna support a black man on TeeVee, peep BET’s slept on Somebodies. Now that’s comedy.
Screw DL Hughley. A true Nappy Headed Hoe!
Melissa Harris Lacewell was also enraged, but for a different reason:
I don’t have words to express my irritation with this development. CNN has been nearly lily white. Black commentators, guests, and hosts have been the rare exception rather than the rule. This is a network that responded to Hurricane Katrina, the most visible class and race disaster of our age, by promoting the blond, blue-eyed, Vanderbilt heir Anderson Cooper to a two-hour nightly show. They have now decided that the appropriate response to a likely Obama administration is to have a black comedian host a farcical news show. Hmmm. [...]
CNN is purportedly the most respected source for news. We are sliding into an economic recession rivaling the Great Depression. We are fighting wars on multiple fronts. Trust in our political system is at an all time low. This is not really a funny moment. In today’s NYTimes, recent Nobel winner Paul Krugman even opined that American support for Barack Obama represented our nation “desperately seeking seriousness.” So why does CNN think that black people have to serve as the court jesters just as we are moving into the White House?
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