'The Nightly Show' Panned By Viewers As David Walliams Hosts Debut Episode

They might regret bumping 'News At 10' for this.

ITV might want to go back to the drawing board with their new series ‘The Nightly Show’, after it opened with overwhelmingly poor reviews.

The comedy chat show, which is being fronted by David Walliams until the end of this week, was panned by viewers after airing its first episode on Monday (27 February).

David Walliams is hosting 'The Nightly Show' this week
David Walliams is hosting 'The Nightly Show' this week
ITV

‘The Nightly Show’ had been billed as the UK’s answer to US series like James Corden’s hit ‘Late Late Show’, with its mix of sketches and celebrity chat.

But while James’ show debuted with guests like Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks, The Nightly Show’s line-up was decidedly less A-list, with David joined by ‘Doc Martin’ star Martin Clunes and ventriloquist Nina Conti.

And viewers picked up on the underwhelming guest list, and also slammed the unfunny sketches featuring David.

This is unbelievably poor television. #thenightlyshow

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) February 27, 2017

If you watched ITV's #TheNightlyShow - just remember THAT was the end result of months and months of development and testing and re-testing.

— Lorna Cooper (@Coops_tv) February 27, 2017

WTF #thenightlyshow

— Jamie East (@jamieeast) February 27, 2017

David Walliams & his ego are going to have to be fairly teflon coated to recover from this tripe. #thenightlyshow

— Alison Hume (@spartiscribe) February 27, 2017

Has no one at @ITV watched the Late Late show. We needed a genuine comedian to host this and some big guests. This is awful #thenightlyshow

— Darren Ruback (@Darren_Ruback) February 27, 2017

I'll be surprised if this crap lasts the week. #TheNightlyShow

— Peter Michaels (@BubbaRitter72) February 27, 2017

The funniest thing about #thenightlyshow is the despairing Tweets. Walliams was a dreadful choice as first host.

— Alex Fletcher (@alexanderfletch) February 27, 2017

Love David Walliams but this is dire. Unfunny scripts & Martin Clunes is painfully awkward. Think the news would be more fun #thenightlyshow

— George Reeves (@GeorgeReeves94) February 27, 2017

#thenightlyshow was awful, probably one of the worst shows I've watched. Never again

— elaine brown (@ElaineEBProject) February 28, 2017

Watched #TheNightlyShow last night for 7 minutes before turning over. Poor imitation of US shows. Unfunny with 75 year old jokes.

— Paul Manski (@paulm1402) February 28, 2017

Others also called for the return of ‘News At 10’, which has been pushed back by 30 minutes for the duration of The Nightly Show’s eight-week run:

They moved the news for this?! 😮 #thenightlyshow

— Holly (@holg85) February 27, 2017

I never realised how exciting 'News at 10' was 'til I watched #thenightlyshow

— What the hell?! (@_MsPip) February 27, 2017

#TheNightlyShow that was garbage bring back #newsat10 @ITV @itvnews

— Ian Ward (@63xBigger) February 27, 2017

God, this was bad. Lazy writing. Not funny. Embarrassing. Bring back News at Ten
The Nightly Show with David Walliams.

— Jude (@jude5456) February 28, 2017

However, there were some viewers urging othhers to give the show the chance to settle in:

Give it a chance. Let it grow. There are some great hosts coming up too #thenightlyshow

— Ryan Love (@RyanJL) February 27, 2017

All new formats have teething problems. I suspect ITV will make changes going forward. I'll give #TheNightlyShow a chance.

— Nick Barnes👋🏼 (@imnickbarnes) February 27, 2017

Giving the nightly show a chance, but it is awful so far #thenightlyshow

— Connie ❄ (@chase_connie) February 27, 2017

Good start for The Nightly Show, but will be more interesting to see the average viewing figures for the week.

— Paul Weatherley (@paulweatherley) February 28, 2017

I don't know what people wanted from The Nightly Show, but I thought it was an alright stab. Good host or guests in that formula could work.

— Nick Walker (@nickw84) February 27, 2017

Other names already confirmed to be fronting the show during its run include Mel and Sue, Gordon Ramsay and John Bishop, with others to be confirmed.

It’s not all bad news for ‘The Nightly Show’, though, as the series launched with 2.9 million viewers - over a million up on the figure ‘News At 10’ usually attracts in the same slot.

However, it had a big lead in from the return of ‘Broadchurch’, which had an average of 7.5m viewers.

‘The Nightly Show’ continues tonight at 10pm on ITV.

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