July 29, 2019 (2019-07-29) – March 12, 2020 (2020-03-12)
Lights Out with David Spade is an American late-night talk show that was hosted by David Spade. Premiering on Comedy Central on July 29, 2019, the series featured discussions on popular culture topics between Spade and a rotating panel of guest comedians, as well as other filmed segments. It ended on March 12, 2020. [1]
Lights Out marked the first Comedy Central program in the 11:30 timeslot to not be a news comedy program or be hosted by an alumnus of The Daily Show.[3][1] Network president Kent Alterman argued that viewers were being fatigued by the extensive focus on politics and the Trump administration on other late night shows, with Spade saying that his show would focus more on "cultural events and some Hollywood stuff, [and] weird stories in the news" rather than primarily focus on political humor.[2]
On August 14, 2019, Spade brought in comedian Lara Beitz to do the first stand-up spot on the show after watching her perform in Los Angeles, which took the place of his closing monologue. He later had her on as a guest, and as a correspondent. Other deviations from the regular format of the show included full show interviews with Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.
In March 2020, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 3, 2020, Comedy Central announced that they would not renew Lights Out, but that it was open to selling the show to another network; the program had only been able to retain roughly half of its audience from The Daily Show (which, as a partial replacement, began producing expanded 45-minute episodes beginning April 27).[4][5][6]