Busy Philipps, the queen of Instagram stories, will be arriving in the world of late night television this October. E! just released the official premiere date for her series Busy Tonight, E!'s first late night venture since Chelsea Lately went off the air in 2014. Busy Tonight will premiere October 28 at 10 p.m. ET. The show will follow a traditional late night format, with celebrity interviews and, per the press release, "original comedic segments." Caissie St. Onge, the erstwhile co-executive producer of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, will be showrunner.
"Busy’s singular point of view which is beloved by so many on her Instagram stories will be on full display in Busy Tonight," said E! executive vice president of development and production Amy Introcas-Davis via a press release.
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October will be a big month for Philipps, who starred in the film I Feel Pretty earlier this year. That same month, she'll be releasing her debut book This Will Only Hurt a Little.
Philipps arrives in late night amid a changing landscape. Netflix recently stepped in with weekly streaming shows The Joel Mchale Show with Joel McHale, The Break with Michelle Wolf, and The Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, which will also debut in October. Hulu added its voice to the mix last year with Sarah Silverman's weekly show I Love You, America. Meanwhile, Conan, a late night pantry staple, is scaling back its production efforts, reducing each episode to only 30 minutes. Even Refinery29 joined the crowd: This week, Facebook Watch debuted After After Party, a daily web show with comedian Sonia Denis that examines pop culture.
Philipps' show will air Sunday through Wednesday, a choice that perhaps reflects the need for a less-traditional late night schedule. Sunday is increasingly the Day Of Good TV, with HBO and Showtime delivering their premium content, and the "Sunday scaries" knocking at the door. Philipps' show will also be 30 minutes. Short, sweet, and kind enough not to interrupt your Thursday plans. That's what we call good TV.
??????ITS ALL HAPPENING! https://t.co/zzE3lxmoPx
— Busy Philipps (@BusyPhilipps) August 16, 2018
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