A lament for Larry Wilmore

I'm not in the habit of mourning the loss of a series that lasted only 20 months and averaged about a half-million viewers. Truth be told, I came pretty close to not giving two hoots about Comedy Central's decision to ax "The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore."

For most of the low-budget talker's run, I tuned in for only the first four minutes before switching to "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" and, on days when I needed an unhealthy burst of optimism, "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon."

Then came the political conventions. For two weeks, Wil­more challenged both parties (well, mostly the Republicans) with scathing commentary, unhinged field reports and panel discussions more penetrating than the overly rehearsed remarks spewing out of talking heads on cable news.

During the Democratic National Convention, he launched a hilarious "over-celebration" of Michelle Obama's speech and imagined how an ambitious Sen. Cory Booker, who had also addressed the Philadelphia crowd, might have secretly fumed. "She didn't just steal his thunder," Wilmore said. "She pulled up in a van and straight up jacked his thunder."

Wilmore's age — 54 — was considered a detriment when he got the assignment to replace Colbert in January 2015, but it turned out to be his secret weapon.

A few miles on the treadmill and a solid backup career as a show runner (he could have been running ABC's Emmy-nominated "Black-ish") meant Wilmore didn't treat the job like a make-or-break situation. He seemed less interested than his younger competitors in how the public would react, which may explain why he continued to press the Bill Cosby assault allegations long after the mainstream had moved on, and why he pulled out the "N" word at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, a bit he resurrected to kick off his final week on the air.

Fallon has party games. Kimmel has "Mean Tweets." Wilmore's signature piece? "The Unblackening," an unvarnished, nearly nightly examination of just how little progress we've made in race relations since putting an African-American in the White House.

"Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell," an FX series with a similar agenda, had an even shorter run.

In his announcement Monday, Comedy Central President Kent Alterman said the show "never resonated," failing to capture the imagination of young males, the most sought after target in TV's never-ending version of Pokemon Go.

Still, it's hard to justify holding a public execution in the middle of a target-rich presidential campaign. Starting Monday, "Nightly" will be replaced, at least temporarily, by Chris Hardwick's "@Midnight," the loose hybrid of game show and panel discussion that's about as political as "Barney & Friends."

Wilmore was cordial after the firing, thanking fans and sipping wine courtesy of friendly rival Samantha Bee. "Our show was at its best when the news was at its worst," he said.

The state of the world between now and November is up in the air. But this is for certain: There's one fewer reason for those interested in political comedy to stay up late.