2016 Honda Civic Sponsoring ‘Daily Show’, ‘Nightly Show’, ‘@midnight’ Crossover [VIDEO]
Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper double-fists hoagies in a new 2016 Honda Civic promo (below)
These are lean times for Comedy Central’s late night shows.
Despite the fact that there is ample material for political satire this primary season, The Daily Show, now hosted by comedy newcomer Trevor Noah, is down 30% in the ratings since Jon Stewart retired from the program back in August. The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which replaced Stephen Colbert’s Colbert Report in January of last year, is doing even worse, with ratings down 55% compared to its predecessor. Only Chris Hardwick’s @midnight, the internet-themed comedy game show that airs midnights after Daily and Nightly, can be seen as an unqualified success, with a young, decent-sized audience and a respectable social media presence.
So in an effort to help its two flailing late night shows ride @midnight’s coattails, the cable channel is staging a Battle of the Network Stars-inspired television event called Comedy Central’s Late Night Showdown. The crossover will see Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper facing off against Nightly Show correspondent Mike Yard and @midnight regular Ron Funches on a very special episode of @midnight that will air Monday night.
And the whole thing is sponsored by Honda, which means we get some (mildly) funny promos involving Klepper and Yard doing things in brand new 2016 Civics—like drag-racing!
In the promo, Klepper and Yard engage in some humorous intimidation tactics as they prepare to drag race each other in tenth-generation 2016 Honda Civics. Alas, before we get to see the new 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo engine in action, Comedy Central’s legal department calls Klepper to tell him he can’t race the Civics, after which he suggests taking a bus to go get some beignets (somehow, he’s still hungry after two sandwiches).
In the second video, Klepper and Yard team up, driving their Civic to a stakeout of @midnight host Chris Hardwick:
It’s kind of telling that Comedy Central is sending Daily Show and Nightly Show correspondents to compete on @midnight, rather than the hosts of those respective programs, who are clearly the ones more responsible for the ratings slide. Perhaps the network, like a sizeable portion of television viewers, worries that Trevor Noah and Larry Wilmore aren’t particularly funny when trying to carry a late night program.
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