I LOVE Amber Ruffin! The host of the breakout "Amber Ruffin Show," she is brilliant, hilarious, incisive and caring.

Page down and watch her excellent "How Did We Get Here?" on the rise in anti-Asian violence.

"When the first episode of NBC's "Tonight" show debuted in 1954, it had only one job: Be more interesting than watching nothing at all.

"In those days, "network television shows all ended around 11 o'clock," explains veteran comedy writer David Pollock in CNN Original Series "The Story of Late Night." Soon a flag would wave, a test pattern would emerge, and by the time the network went to static you knew it was time for bed.

"There was so much room for experimentation in late-night programming, Entertainment Weekly editor Sarah Rodman adds, "they literally could have done anything."

"Except, it seems, hire a woman or person of color to host. Fast forward 67 years, and not a whole lot has changed. Late-night is still known as a "boys club" of White men -- so much so that one of the women now successfully breaking into that club never imagined she could.

"I never gave late-night one half of an ounce of thought, because it just never occurred to me that might become available to me," says Amber Ruffin, the host of the breakout "The Amber Ruffin Show," on Bill Carter's "Behind the Desk: The Story of Late Night" podcast. "It wasn't even like there were different kinds of White guys."

"And five years later, Ruffin now hosts her eponymous late-night program on NBC's streaming service, Peacock. Launched in September 2020, the network has confirmed "The Amber Ruffin Show's" popularity by extending its run through September of this year.
"Every time you perform, you stretch out everyone's expectations," Ruffin says. "And now we are really just doing whatever the rip we want."

"That includes everything from original songs, to the viewer-supplied "Question Party," to analysis segments like "How Did We Get Here?" in which Ruffin breaks down systemic issues like police brutality and the rise in anti-Asian violence."

[cnn.com]