“A Little Late With Lilly Singh’s” TV tenure will be a little short: the NBC late-night series is ending after less than two years. But Singh isn’t leaving the family; she has signed a first-look deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio to develop unscripted projects through her Unicorn Island Productions.
The final original episode of “A Little Late” will air on June 3. Reruns of the two-season experiment will fill the 1:30 a.m. time slot through the summer, we’re told.
After that, NBC will move away from original talk programming in that time slot, a person with knowledge of the plans told TheWrap. Carson Daly’s “Last Call” talk show aired in the time slot from 2002 to 2019.
As you might expect, Singh and her bosses at Universal Television focused on the positive.
“We are thrilled to bring even more laughter to Universal Television Alternative Studio by partnering with Lilly Singh,” Toby Gorman, president of Universal Television Alternative Studio, said on Thursday. “Time and time again, Lilly has proven herself as a creative visionary and storyteller who captivates and engages audiences. We look forward to seeing what exciting projects come to life for everyone to enjoy.”
“I’m excited to take this next step in my relationship with NBCUniversal and launch a new partnership between my company Unicorn Island Productions and Universal Television Alternative Studio,” Singh said in a statement. “This is a career step that I could only dream of when I started out as a creator, and I look forward to working alongside their team to create projects that bring underrepresented voices to the forefront.”
Singh, who is represented by WME and Kyle Kuhns of XX Artists, wrote in a note:
Two years ago, I embarked on the wild journey of late night TV. I knew this show was about more than me, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity and support. Today, I write to you from a similar place of deep gratitude to share some news.
I’m going to focus on the slate of projects my company Unicorn Island Productions is developing, and we’re saying goodbye to A Little Late with Lilly Singh. I have a desire to make longer form content telling underrepresented stories, which is difficult to execute on a nightly show.
This leads me to two very exciting announcements!!
I’m thrilled to share that NBCUniversal and I have taken the next step in our relationship by signing a first look deal between Universal Television Alternative Studio and Unicorn Island Productions. I’m excited about bringing even more diversity to screen in an even bigger way.
I also get to share the news that I am developing a comedy project with the wonderful folks at Netflix. It will be Executive Produced by the talented Kenya Barris and his team at Khalabo Ink Society, along with writers/executive producers Nell Scovell and Diya Mishra. And ya girl is starring in it!
This is just the beginning; I can’t wait to share more with you but this is all I can tease for now. I’m beyond grateful for your support past, present and future.
And to the Late with Lilly crew, I’m so proud of the progress we made in diversifying late night. We’ve given 21 people their late night debut this season! That’s pretty incredible and it’s been a true honour.
