Right now, TV is bracing for its late-night expansion.

The networks will have Jay Leno at 9 p.m., then lots of guys — Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Craig Ferguson and two Jimmys (Kimmel and Fallon) — later. Surely, this covers the full spectrum.
Or it would, if the world were populated only by white males. “We haven't seen an urban sensibility since Arsenio left,” said Marilyn Gill, producer of the upcoming “The Mo'Nique Show.”
Arsenio Hall folded his successful show 15 years ago. Since then, with occasional exceptions, late-night has reverted to being a white man's world.
Now a new burst comes this fall, at 11 p.m. Coming are:
– Mo'Nique, weekdays on cable's BET, starting Oct. 5..
– Wanda Sykes, Saturdays on Fox, starting Nov. 7.
-- George Lopez, weekdays on cable's TBS, starting Nov. 9.
These shows differ with the styles of their hosts. “What makes me different is I wear dresses every night,” Mo'Nique said. “Now, if George wears dresses, that's his business.”
There are other key differences, however.
Music? Sykes isn't planning any, but the others are. Unlike O'Brien and Letterman (who confine music to the last five minutes), they'll sometimes go with much more.
“If we have Bruce Springsteen or Prince or Santana, … we put them out first,” Lopez said.
Mo'Nique's show also expects to use music in varied ways. “Maybe sometimes we'll have a music arc to start with,” Gill said.
Topical humor? That's not Mo'Nique's style. She'll bunch her shows, taping three days a week.
Lopez plans on a schedule similar to Leno and O'Brien. “We're not going to be live … but we will be as current as (possible) when I go on stage, which will probably be 5 o'clock (PT).”
Sykes will have the advantage of not being daily. She'll be “looking back over the week in the funniest way possible,” said John Ridley, her producer and head writer.
These shows plan to avoid many talk traditions. “I'm not going to have a desk and I don't want to use cue cards,” Lopez said.
Instead, he wants a block-party feeling. The pilot film was shot outdoors in Burbank. “We've actually re-created that outdoor set on a stage now,” said Michael Wright, TBS' programming chief.
Mo'Nique is hoping for that same party feel. “It will be a place where you want to go, because you know that you're going to have a good time,” Gill said.
It helps, of course, if you have a booming guest. Mo'Nique is an actress, comedian and author, but said that's not her goal. “From the moment I wanted to get into this business, it was doing a talk show.”
She's slimmed down lately, from 262 pounds to 220. and hopes to reach 200. Does she still stick to her stance that skinny women are evil?
“Yes, because they are hungry,” Mo'Nique said. “You can't be friendly when your stomach is growling.”
Lopez brings strong name-value, including his former situation comedy. That still does well on cable, Wright said, and only 18 per cent of its audience is Latino.
Blacks and Latinos draw large audiences , but rarely get much of a chance latenight. Sykes knows who to blame for that: “White people,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. “There are too many of you.”