DESI LYDIC: Welcome to Entertainment Weekly's
"Around the Table."
But it also is such an informational show, too.
And there's been a lot with the election
and these side stories, like--
like the George Floyd case that came down
to the unrest that happened.
It's a huge, huge part of this election.
And that is a deep, deep story that I assume--
like what you were saying to your point, Dulce--
that you would want to be there with those people,
and you weren't able to.
Does that take a different toll on you guys,
having to make those connections?
I think you alluded to it, Dulce.
You have to make those connections over Zoom
in such a-- something that means so much to so many people
and is so pivotal for the whole nation.
Well, I think as a Black person,
and Trevor being a Black host, we kind of--
I was glad where he was, like, we are going
to have to-- because when all the protests started,
our show was dark.
And that was the first time we had gone dark.
Because we were supposed to be-- like, going dark meaning
we didn't produce the show.
And because there was two other dark weeks which
we were supposed to have, and we decided not to take them,
because there was so much going on in the news
that we finally were like, OK, we've been
working steady since March.
Let's take this dark week.
And then this happened.
And you know, George Floyd was murdered.
And then there was Brionna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery,
so all these things happened at the same time.
And it was us trying to go, as a show,
like, OK, these are very important.
There's not a lot of--
there's not a lot of funny here.
How do we convey this information?
How do we convey how we feel, what's
going on, in a way that doesn't take light of it
but still is informing people?
And I know that--
and people might get mad at me, and I don't care.
I was glad to see that we did take into consideration.
Because we've always been talking
about these police brutality stories
when other people weren't.
We've always been talking about things that are issues
for women and people of color, when
other people have only wanted to talk about the election.
And it's just like, there's other things
going on in people's lives.
But when Desi had her special and, you know,
that was very important.
And so I'm glad that Trevor does pay attention
to everything that's going on, and was
made sure that we portrayed--
not even portrayed, but just informed people in the best way
possible about a huge tragedy.
Because I would see news sources, and it wasn't the way
I wanted it to be told.
And I think it's because we have a Black host,
and we have a very diverse writing staff,
and we have very diverse correspondents,
that we were able to really have a real conversation, as opposed
to a roomful of white people telling the story in a way that
made themselves comfortable.
Roy?
I think, also, to what Dulce is saying--
the thing that Trevor does very well
is he's able to capture the emotion of the moment.
And so if you start from an angry place about something
that people are angry about, if you start
from an outraged place, then you're on the same level
with your audience.
And then any jokes that come after that
are less likely to be perceived as insensitive or not
of the moment.
We did a piece about the citizen's
arrest law, which ultimately led to the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
And we were able to talk to a Georgia
state representative who was working
to have the law repealed.
There aren't jokes in Mr. Arbery's death,
but there were jokes in how outrageous people are fighting
to keep this law on the books.
So you find the jokes that exist around the perimeter
of the tragedy that also capture the outrage
that everyone is feeling.
And I think for as long as you honor and respect the feelings
of what people as a nation were feeling at the time,
then I think you're able to do something that
captures the moment properly.
And I think people won't even miss the laugh
if there's fewer jokes.
When we came back after George Floyd,
those first two episodes were deep.
They were deep.
Like, Trevor even wore a black hoodie.
He ain't even worn a black hoodie since.
Like, it was deep.
So I think that for as long as we're capturing the emotion
of the moment, wherever the jokes come,
I think the jokes are interpreted as being sincere
and earnest.
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