After seeing the promos for Lopez Tonight, I was scared. The fake town-hall meetings? The creepy side banners on my favorite websites? George Lopez was everywhere, and on top of that, it looked like he was going to pull a Jay Leno and stick around for awhile. I've always been a fan of his, but he's not the easiest comedian to like. The whole thing sounded like a recipe for disaster.
But it wasn't a disaster. It was actually much better than I expected. Last night, George Lopez brought a much-needed voice to the very vanilla realm of late-night TV. He debuted Lopez Tonight with incredible energy, endless enthusiasm, and just the right amount of bite in his bark. He addressed stereotypes with equal parts candor and comedy—but at the end of the night, he just wanted everyone to enjoy each other's company.
It was hard not to—he commanded his rock-concert-esque set beautifully and brought the audience in on the fun with a few risque games. Instead of isolating one race and poking fun at it (think: The Wanda Sykes Show's "Know Your Asian"), all races were fair game, including his own. He made the people-on-the-streets format his own, asking volunteers from the audience to judge the interviewees on screen. Does this Latino guy pay for his cable TV? Yes. Has this black guy been to jail? Yes. What's Lopez's point? Stereotypes are only funny if people can laugh at themselves. And with each other. If someone's not laughing, it's probably not funny. And Lopez knew where to draw the line.
He also knew who to invite to his party—Ellen DeGeneres and Derek Fisher made surprise appearances, along with regularly-scheduled guests Eva Longoria Parker, Kobe Bryant, and Carlos Santana. He had all five of 'em in stitches, straying away from the conventional tell-me-about-your-show/movie/sports team/album format and, instead, just shooting the breeze with them. He and Eva tested out a stripper pole. He and Kobe fielded questions from the audience. And he let Carlos do what he does best: jam.
If Lopez continues like this, he'll have only one obstacle in his way: the all-powerful Daily Show/Colbert Report duo. It's a tough pair of acts to compete with, and he's going head-to-head with those Comedy Central giants Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. But Lopez isn't providing the same product. He isn't speaking with the same voice, either. And that's a great thing.
Comments (1)
Eh, never heard of it.