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Sad news in the late-night television world. ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ has been pulled off the air for the second time in twenty years.
The news may be surprising to some, since back in February when Jay Leno appeared on the show, he told Hall that it would be renewed for a second season. Obviously, that bit of information was premature. CBS Television, which distributes the program, said it no longer made financial sense to keep it on the air.
“While there are many loyal fans of the show, the series did not grow its audience enough to continue,” said the network in a statement. “The audience, in total and among young adults, was about the same as for ‘Bethenny,’ Bethenny Frankel’s daytime show, cancelled earlier after one season. And Katie Couric’s show is also ending this year, despite a generally improved ratings for daytime.”
In typical Hall fashion he decided to use humor to deal with the bad news. “I lost my job, and The Clippers, in a 48 hour period,” he tweeted.
The cancellation of ‘The Arsenio Hall’ show is especially bad for urban music fans, because the the 58-year-old comedian brought a slew of rappers and R&B singers on as guests.
Among the performers who appeared on the show include Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ice Cube, Rick Ross, Kelly Rowland, T-Pain, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, among many others.
So there might be a void for urban acts on late-night television, although the ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ and the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Show’ do a commendable job of featuring hip-hop and R&B acts on their programs.
In the end, Hall will probably bounce back from this with a new show or project. Meanwhile, the veteran TV host seems to take the cancelation of his show in stride.
“I’m gratified for the year we’ve had and proud of the show we created,” he said.
