Comedy Central taps Wilmore of ‘The Daily Show’ for Colbert’s time slot

When comedian and satirist Stephen Colbert takes over for David Letterman next year, his 11:30 p.m. time slot on Comedy Central will go to longtime "Daily Show" correspondent Larry Wilmore.

His new program, "The Minority Report," will tackle the issues of the day as "The Colbert Report" did and will "feature a diverse panel of voices currently underrepresented in comedy and television," Comedy Central said in a release announcing Wilmore's new gig, starting in January 2015.

Wilmore's show is continuing a tradition at Comedy Central. Colbert was a correspondent on "The Daily Show" before spinning his character off into a separate show.

Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show," will serve as an executive producer of "The Minority Report." No word yet on its writing team.

As the "senior black correspondent" on "The Daily Show," Wilmore often provides satirical takes on race-related hypocrisies and inequalities in culture and media to highlight serious issues.

Currently working as a writer and producer on "Black-ish," an upcoming ABC sitcom about a modern African-American family, Wilmore brings decades of comedy experience, with writing credits on 1990s hits "In Living Color" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Wilmore also helped create "The Bernie Mac Show" and the animated series "The PJs" and worked as a consultant on NBC's "The Office." He started with "The Daily Show" in 2006.

The Emmy-winning Wilmore has also received nominations for a Peabody Award and an NAACP Image Award.

"'The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore' follows in the Comedy Central tradition — bringing new perspectives to the day's events and breaking ground in the world of late night television," Comedy Central's president, Michele Ganeless, said in a press release.

In the announcement, Stewart and Wilmore engaged in banter about basketball and the grim chill of New York City, where the show will be based.

"While Larry Wilmore is a brilliant comic and showrunner, this is all just a complicated ruse to get him to move to New York and turn him into a Knicks fan," the release quotes Stewart as saying.

To which Wilmore replied, "I'm beyond excited to have this chance to continue my relationships with Comedy Central and the brilliant Jon Stewart. I love the city of New York and promise to only wear my Lakers T-shirts when I'm layering."

Wilmore's appointment comes amid significant changes in late-night comedy. In addition to Letterman's departure, Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno earlier this year as host of "The Tonight Show," a post once held by late-night luminary Johnny Carson.

So far, the changing of the guard has been peaceful, without a reprise of the 2010 bitter back and forth between "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien and NBC, when the network gave O'Brien "The Tonight Show" before yanking it away again when Leno's new prime-time show underperformed. O'Brien landed a new show, "Conan," on TBS.