NBC Plans Primetime Special to Launch ‘A Little Late With Lilly Singh’

NBC is putting some marketing muscle behind new late-night entry A Little Late With Lilly Singh. 

The broadcast network is plotting an hourlong primetime special to introduce audiences to its new talk-show host. A Little Late With Lilly Singh: The Primetime Special will air Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 10 p.m. ET/PT — two days after the show’s premiere in its normal 1:35 a.m. time slot. As The Hollywood Reporter revealed in its Aug. 21 cover story on Singh, the special will follow the two-hour season finale of America’s Got Talent. 

Much like the show itself, the special will feature sketches, games, interviews and audience participation. Guests, including a music guest, will be announced at a later date. 

NBC revealed in March that it had tapped Singh, a comedian who has nearly 15 million subscribers on YouTube, to host a late-night show that would replace Last Call With Carson Daly, which ended its run in May after 17 years. The network has given A Little Late a 96-episode first-season order. New episodes will air Monday through Thursday, and a rerun of the show will air Fridays. 

Singh plans to bring her brand of honest, thought-provoking comedy to the show, in addition to her penchant for sketch comedy and music video parodies. Already, the program has attracted interest from brands including Starbucks, which has signed on as the official launch partner, and mobile app PicsArt.

“This show is not just going to be me doing what I do on YouTube and now putting it on NBC,” Singh tells THR. “It’s going to be a different skill set and a different method of storytelling. I want it to feel very relatable and personable, but I don’t think it’s going to feel like YouTube.”

A Little Late With Lilly Singh is set to premiere Monday, Sept. 16, at 1:35 a.m. on NBC. Singh is executive producing alongside John Irwin. Aliyah Silverstein has signed on as showrunner.