History YMMV / TheNightlyShow

** The show's biting attacks against racism garnered greater acclaim after the June 2015 AME church mass shooting by a white supremacist, when right-wing media sources, most notably Creator/FoxNewsChannel, [[ImplausibleDeniability tried to deny that the shooter was motivated by racism]] despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

* NeverLiveItDown: The show received backlash for an infamous episode in which Bill Nye appeared and was forced to defend the concept of space exploration from a panel of comedians who cracked jokes about not caring about science. Whether fairly or not, viewers were left with the impression that the show was catering to the lowest common denominator, and it never really recovered from that impression.

* UnfortunateImplications: Wilmore's episode on Caitlyn Jenner's coming out drew [[http://tvline.com/2015/04/28/larry-wilmore-bruce-jenner-video-segment-controversy/ a lot]] [[http://gothamist.com/2015/04/28/video_larry_wilmore_does_painfully.php of controversy]] due to being perceived as awkward and not very funny ''at best'' and outright insensitive to transgender people at worst.

** When dealing with the Creator/BillCosby rape allegations, Wilmore asked, "I just have to ask: Why don't we believe these women?" A later deposition by Cosby had him admit to getting drugs for that purpose.

* ToughActToFollow: The show replaced ''Series/TheColbertReport'', which was a pop-culture phenomenon when it ended. ''The Nightly Show'' never lived up to its predecessor and was canceled after 19 months. Its replacement, ''Series/TheOppositionWithJordanKlepper'', suffered a similar fate.

** The show was originally going to be named ''The Minority Report'', which caused some backlash from viewers who thought that this indicated the show would focus only on racial topics, as opposed to ''The Colbert Report'', which tackled a wide spectrum of issues. The show was retitled to avoid conflict with ''Film/TheMinorityReport'', and Wilmore assured viewers that it wouldn't limit itself to race. While the resulting show ''did'' cover many topics, it still had an obvious preference for racial topics. Some viewers appreciated its attention to an important topic, but others would have preferred a broader focus.

** The show tends to focus a lot on inequality, and racism is of course a major topic, this has led to the complaint that the show is only about race relations. Others are more forgiving since almost no one is willing to really talk about such a powder keg topic, even though people really should, and who better than a comedian, who can at least keep the tone mostly light.

** Since the panel was reduced from 4 guest panelists to 3, and the table became an actual round table, the panel discussions have been more orderly.
** The show's biting attacks against racism have garnered greater acclaim after the June 2015 AME church mass shooting by a white supremacist, when right-wing media sources, most notably Creator/FoxNewsChannel, [[ImplausibleDeniability tried to deny that the shooter was motivated by racism]] despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

** Larry's comments on Otto Frederick Warmbier when he was first arrested, demonstrating absolutely no sympathy for, and mocking, a man who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for (allegedly; the video evidence is so indistinct it could literally have been anyone, and his "confession" was so full of broken English and ridiculous statements only a member of North Korea could take seriously that it was obvious it was forced) stealing a propaganda poster. He mocked Otto for being stupid enough to go to North Korea in the first place and described his begging for mercy from the DPRK as "crocodile tears". If the segment was ever funny to begin with, it decidedly isn't ''now'', seeing as Otto is now dead and all evidence points to him having been tortured via oxygen deprivation.

* ToughActToFollow: The show replaced ''Series/TheColbertReport'', which had become a pop-culture phenomenon upon its end. ''The Nightly Show'' never lived up to its predecessor and was canceled after 19 months. Its replacement, ''Series/TheOppositionWithJordanKlepper'', suffered a similar fate.

** Larry's comments on Otto Frederick Warmbier when he was first arrested, demonstrating absolutely no sympathy for, and mocking, a man who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for (allegedly; the video evidence is so indistinct it could literally have been anyone, and his "confession" was so full of broken english and ridiculous statements only a member of North Korea could take seriously that it was obvious it was forced) stealing a propaganda poster. He mocked Otto for being stupid enough to go to North Korea in the first place and described his begging for mercy from the DPRK as "crocodile tears". If the segment was ever funny to begin with, it decidedly isn't ''now'', seeing as Otto is now dead and all evidence points to him having been tortured via oxygen deprivation.

* ToughActToFollow: Creator/StephenColbert created [[Series/TheColbertReport a pop cultural phenomenon]]. Whether or not Wilmore lived up to that is up in the air. It probably didn't since its poor ratings lead to it being cancelled and not even lasting two years.

* InternetBackdraft:
** Wilmore's episode on [[http://tvline.com/2015/04/28/larry-wilmore-bruce-jenner-video-segment-controversy/ Bruce]] [[http://gothamist.com/2015/04/28/video_larry_wilmore_does_painfully.php Jenner]] coming out as UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} drew a lot of ire for being at best awkward and not very funny or worse outright insensitive to transgender people.
** There was a backdraft when the panel had on an Anti-Vacciner who was largely allowed to voice their views unchallenged - the reaction was bad enough that a producer for the show had to come on and explain that they wanted to get both sides of every story, which for many wasn't good enough.
** On April 14, 2015, Larry Wilmore not only revealed that he's all for the death penalty but the panel also made several jokes about how prisoners deserve to be raped in prison and should have a sex change operation forced on them beforehand. Panel Guest Alex Wagner, the only voice of reason, walked out a this point. Internet reaction was rather cool, to put it mildly.
** When they invited beloved scientist Bill Nye to discuss water on Mars (calling this the discovery of the decade might be putting it lightly), viewers weren't happy with the panelists constant shouting of how Americans don't care, and that the only way this could be relevant was if we got [[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters Mars porn out of it]]. While, to his credit, Wilmore is clearly on Bill's side and tries to get the conversation on track, it's still mainly just his two panelists shouting at Nye. Viewers were ''not'' happy with their treatment of the subject matter and their guest.
*** Larry's not-apology a couple weeks later didn't help matters either.
*** [[http://www.adweek.com/news/television/was-moment-larry-wilmore-lost-stephen-colberts-intellectual-appeal-169712 Some]] believe that this, combined with Jon Stewart's departure from the Daily Show the previous month, resulted in a drop in viewership so severe that it ultimately lead to the show's cancellation in August of 2016.

* HarsherInHindsight: When dealing with the Creator/BillCosby rape allegations, Wilmore asked, "I just have to ask: Why don't we believe these women?" A recent deposition by Cosby had him admit to getting drugs for that purpose.

** The show's biting attacks against racism have garnered greater acclaim after the June 2015 AME church mass shooting by a white supremacist, when right-wing media sources, most notably FoxNews, [[ImplausibleDeniability tried to deny that the shooter was motivated by racism]] despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

** Larry's comments on Otto Frederick Warmbier when he was first arrested, demonstrating absolutely no sympathy for, and mocking, a man who had been sentenced to 15 year's hard labor in North Korea for (allegedly; the video evidence is so indistinct it could literally have been anyone, and his "confession" was so full of broken english and ridiculous statements only a member of North Korea could take seriously that it was obvious it was forced) stealing a propaganda poster. He mocked Otto for being stupid enough to go to North Korea in the first place and described his begging for mercy from the DPRK as "crocodile tears". If the segment was ever funny to begin with, it decidedly isn't ''now'', seeing as Otto is now dead and all evidence points to him having been tortured via oxygen deprivation.

** Larry's comments on Otto Frederick Warmbier when he was first arrested, demonstrating absolutely no sympathy for, and mocking, a man who had been sentenced to 15 year's hard labor in North Korea for (allegedly; the video evidence is so indistinct it could literally have been anyone) stealing a propaganda poster. He mocked Otto for being stupid enough to go to North Korea in the first place and described his begging for mercy from the DPRK as "crocodile tears". If the segment was ever funny to begin with, it decidedly isn't ''now'', seeing as Otto is now dead and all evidence points to him having been tortured via oxygen deprivation.

** Larry's comments on Otto Frederick Warmbier when he was first arrested, demonstrating absolutely no sympathy for, and mocking, a man who had been sentenced to 15 year's hard labor in North Korea for (allegedly; the video evidence is so indistinct it could literally have been anyone) stealing a propaganda poster. If the segment was ever funny to begin with, it decidedly isn't ''now'', seeing as Otto is now dead and all evidence points to him having been tortured via oxygen deprivation.

* DontShootTheMessage: Some viewers don't like the fact that Larry wears his opinion on his sleeve much more than either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert generally did, making the show often come off as operating on a very aggressive case of BlackAndWhiteMorality (no pun intended), even if they agree with a lot of what he's saying.

* HarsherInHindsight: When dealing with the Bill Cosby rape allegations, Wilmore asked, "I just have to ask: Why don't we believe these women?" A recent deposition by Cosby had him admit to getting drugs for that purpose.

* ToughActToFollow: Creator/StephenColbert created [[Series/TheColbertReport a pop cultural phenomenon]]. Whether or not Wilmore lived up to that is up in the air. It probably didn't since it's recent poor ratings lead to it being cancelled and not even lasting two years.

* ToughActToFollow: Creator/StephenColbert created [[Series/TheColbertReport a pop cultural phenomenon]]. Whether or not Wilmore lived up to that is up in the air.

* ToughActToFollow: Creator/StephenColbert created [[Series/TheColbertReport a pop cultural phenomenon]]. Whether or not Wilmore can live up to that is still up in the air.

** The show tends to focus a lot on inequality, and racism is of course a major topic, this has led to the complaint that the show is only about race relations. Others are more forgiving since almost no one is willing to really talk about such a powder keg topic, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped even though people really should]], and who better than a comedian, who can at least keep the tone mostly light.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Regarding things like PoliceBrutality disproportionately happening to black people. In Larry's own words:
-->'''Larry''': I'll stop talking about it when it stops happening.

* {{Anvilicious}} The show's large, some might say excessive focus on racism. Such anvils that may need to be dropped on the subject are eschewed in favor of larger, [[BuffySpeak more anvil-y]] anvils.

* BizarroEpisode: As part of 2015's "March Madness" dare competition, Larry hosted the April 7, 2016 episode playing his [[SoulBrotha 70s alter-ego Soul Daddy]].