Freeform is stepping into the ring of late-night television with comedian Iliza Shlesinger as its champion.
Variety reports that Freeform is currently developing a late-night series which would be hosted by funny lady Iliza Shlesinger. The series hasn’t been given an official order, but if it does move forward (which we are hoping it does) Shlesinger will executive produce the untitled series alongside Jon Thoday, Richard Allen Turner, David Martin and Kara Baker from Avalon Television. And for the record, Avalon Television is the production company behind Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
“It has been my goal since I was a kid,” Shlesinger told Variety when asked about the possibility of hosting her own late-night show. “I used to take a recorder around and interview my parents and do impressions of my classmates as guests on my show. I started working on this goal in Hollywood years ago. I think comedy and the perception of women in comedy has evolved to a place where this show can finally be a reality on my own terms.”
“We were looking for a voice that speaks to and for our audience, and we have found it in Iliza,” said Karey Burke, executive vice president of programming and development for Freeform. “We weren’t just looking to get into late-night for the sake of it — it’s Iliza’s brilliantly modern take on culture, relationships, and gender politics that made her vision for a series undeniable to us.”
Should the late-night series become a reality, it would mark new territory for Shlesinger who has worked mostly as a stand-up comedian. She now has three Netflix specials, the most recent of which, Confirmed Kills, was just released yesterday. Shlesinger’s scripted web series, Forever 31, was just renewed on ABCd (ABC’s digital platform), and Iliza: The Confirmed Kills Tour launches early 2017.