Roy Wood Jr. To Host ‘Have I Got News For You’ On CNN; Premiere Date Set
EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Show alum Roy Wood Jr. has been tapped to host Have I Got News For You, CNN’s adaptation of UK’s long-running comedy panel show. Produced by Hat Trick Productions, the company behind the BBC original, for CNN Originals, the ten-episode limited series will premiere Sept. 14 and will air Saturdays at 9 PM. It will be available to stream on Max the following day.
The panel comedy series features comic observations from the satirical to the surreal through the lens of a news quiz show. And Wood, who spent eight years on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and headlined the 2023 White House Correspondents dinner, did not miss the opportunity of his Have I Got News For You hosting announcement to comment on current events, taking a jab at Donald Trump’s “black jobs” remark during the June Presidential debate.
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“For far too long immigrants have been coming to America and taking black jobs, kudos to CNN and the immigrants at Hat Trick Productions for bringing a Black job to the States,” he said. “It is an honor to be a part of such a hallowed British institution to help make sense of the American institutions of chaos, name calling, disinformation, reality television and the 8-hour news cycle.”
Executive Producers for the American version of Have I Got News For You, which will have Wood joined by two team captains, are Jimmy Mulville, Richard Wilson and Jim Biederman.
Wood, a comedian, an Emmy-nominated documentary producer, and WGA nominated writer, served as a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2015 until last fall. He also guest hosted the program and was in contention to succeed Trevor Noah as host. Wood will appear alongside Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill in the upcoming Apple TV+ comedy Outcome and recently partnered with Crown Publishing to pen a memoir, The Man of Many Fathers, which will be released in 2025. Most recently seen alongside Jon Hamm in Paramount Pictures’ Confess, Fletch, Wood also has done guest appearances on Only Murders in the Building, Better Call Saul, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He is repped by Mainstay Entertainment, CAA and Del Shaw.
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