Hi, friends. This is it.
This is the final rant ever
for "A Little Late with Lilly Singh."
Unless, of course, you count the lifetime
of ranting about Desi aunties that's ahead of me.
Just wait until I become one. Hello.
To close things out, I want to talk
about what I'm most proud of during making two seasons
of late night TV, or as I like to call it,
getting to second base with broadcast.
Giggity. And I get it.
Two seasons may not sound a lot in TV terms,
but two seasons is still more season
than most NBC execs put in their food.
[chuckles] You get it?
Because they're white. Aren't you gonna miss this?
This season was really special to me for a lot of reasons.
I mean, it was the first time I ever got to comment
on current events happening in the news,
and I'm proud that we did it unapologetically.
We had research-backed opinions,
and we really didn't pull any punches,
like our rant about the farmer's protest in India
or defunding the police,
or why the U.S. should accept more refugees,
or lawmakers targeting trans youth,
or what emojis Gen Z use. I won't lie.
This one required the most research.
What are y'all even talking about?
I really liked that some days we could make
thought-provoking commentary through comedy,
and then the very next day, we would do the opposite
and do something silly and dumb.
I'm talking, like, one night, we would release a sketch
about holding the police accountable
for racist tactics, and then the very next day,
we would do a sketch about a doctor
who uses cabbages for butt implants.
Balance!
But I can honestly say,
after two seasons of late night,
the single most rewarding thing for me
was giving some long overdue exposure
to voices that deserved to be on late night.
In our 80 episodes of season two,
in over 21 of them,
we had someone make their late night debut
That's right, 21 people made their late night debut
on "A Little Late with Lilly Singh" season two.
That's over a quarter of all of our guests.
It makes me so happy but low key also so salty
because a lot of them were over Zoom,
which means that these people never went through
the rite of passage of having to figure out
how to sit down on a couch
and not have their underwear show.
Mm, milestone moment.
People like Alok whose words and activism
are changing the world.
Real talk, after interviewing Alok,
I'm pretty sure that they could change every Republican's mind
and convince them to wear a skirt.
Or Machel Montano who is, like,
one of the biggest soca artists of all time.
He legit helped revolutionize an entire genre of music,
and this was his late night debut.
Honestly, it was probably for the best though
that he wasn't here in person because I don't think
I could "Slow Wine" for 22 full minutes.
I don't have the quad strength.
Or my sister from another mister,
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
Of course, she's the star of "Never Have I Ever,"
which debuted as number one
across, like, 30 different countries
on Netflix, and she made her late night debut
on this show on a swing set drinking a virgin margarita.
Special shoutout to her parents for letting her stay up late
to be on the show. What up?
Aside from being epic, another thing
all of these people have in common
is that they don't look like the traditional
late night guest we're used to seeing,
and I don't think it's a coincidence
that the person who invited them on the show
also doesn't look like a traditional late night host.
I mean, I'm just saying.
I'm pretty sure
none of the Jimmys
have rocked a paint splattered sweater before.
I'm so proud of what this team has accomplished.
I could get emotional about it
because people have worked so hard
on this show and given it their all,
and we legit broke the mold of late night TV.
I mean, I still have the sledgehammer to prove it.
And, you know, in a lot of ways,
I followed the legacy of late night hosts before me.
I learned from them, I was inspired by them,
and my hope is that part of my legacy
and what I'm leaving behind is this--
giving a voice to people who deserve to have a platform,
bringing diversity in its truest sense,
not just performatively,
betting on people that deserve it,
taking chances, taking risks, doing things differently,
and showing people real, authentic people
even if that means waxing your lip on TV.
It has been an honor to be on your screens
for two seasons.
Thank you so much
for all of your love and support
and for betting on this crazy girl.
I can't wait to see what we do together next.
Until then, it's been fun.
One love Lilly. That is a wrap.
And swoop.