Talk, talk, talk

So much for the law of supply and demand.

The last thing we need is more late-night talk shows, right? There are already more of them than gas stations on Admiral Wilson Boulevard.

Well, shove over, Jay, Dave, Conan, Jimmy, and the rest of you pasty-faced hosts. Guess who's coming to dinner? George Lopez, Wanda Sykes, and Mo'Nique are here, hoping to add some spice to the chat cuisine.

Lopez Tonight (TBS, 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday) wears its Latino flavor on its sleeve. "Orale! (Right on!)" Lopez shouts after he takes the stage. His initial guest on Monday night, Ellen DeGeneres, proclaimed, "This is an important show. Everyone needs to be represented on television."

The second night, Lopez got an enthusiastic ovation from the studio audience by identifying himself as "the first Latino late-night talk-show host."

The principal advantage of being an ethnic host is that you can make racial jokes with impunity.

In one segment, audience members were asked to guess what the responses to questions in genuine on-the-street interviews would be, based on the respondent's appearance.

So a young black male was asked if had ever been in jail. A Latino was asked, "Do you pay for cable?", and an Asian man was asked if he has a small penis.

If Craig Ferguson did that bit, ACLU lawyers would be up in his grill before he finished taping.

Lopez Tonight tries to sustain a raucous party atmosphere. So far the only guest who has fit that bill is Jamie Foxx.

Still, Lopez Tonight is off to a stronger start than most talk shows, which generally take some time to find their footing. The host is assured and manages to engage his studio audience. He also has the best band, and, judging by the roster of guests, the best booker.

But it's never a good sign when the host is too cozy with the talent. Lopez introduced Eva Longoria Parker as "my dear friend" and Marc Anthony as "my brother and my good friend."

Save it for your Christmas cards, George.

The only new broadcast entry, The Wanda Sykes Show (Fox29, 11 p.m. Saturday), features a triply distinctive host: Sykes is black, a woman, and a lesbian.

We know she's a good standup comic and sitcom actor, as she's proven on Curb Your Enthusiasm and The New Adventures of Old Christine. But talk-show host? That remains to be seen.

The show needs to establish an identity. The shakedown cruise on Saturday night was awkward and contrived, an ungainly hybrid of Real Time With Bill Maher and Chelsea Lately.

There's a transitory feeling to the whole venture, as if Fox were reluctant to commit. The tacky set looked like it was constructed from melted-down spangly hula hoops. And Sykes remained restlessly standing through the hour, as if prepared to flee at a moment's notice.

Though a good portion of her humor was politically pointed, she, too, got away with some offensive racial material.

Near the end of her show, she did a bit called "Know Your Asian," in which her panel of celebrities - Mary Lynn Rajskub, Phil Keoghan, and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell - were asked to identify the nationalities of various Asian people, based on their photographs. The implied joke: They all look the same.

There was a whiff of desperation and contrivance to Sykes' first outing. Maybe she will discover a compatible rhythm soon. She better.

Both Lopez and Sykes try to bend and fold the traditional talk-show format, as far as content, style, and pacing.
In many ways The Mo'Nique Show (BET, 11 p.m. weeknights), despite its manic and free-flowing approach, is the most conventional. It has a second banana (Rodney Perry), a couch set, and a panorama of nighttime Los Angeles as a backdrop.

Mo'Nique doesn't make a big issue of race. (Of course that would seem jarring on BET, which began airing this show last month.) She just seems comfortable and natural in who she is and what she is doing.
Mo'Nique fashions her show as a "penthouse party"; Lopez strives for a similar vibe.

We haven't seen this much late-night revelry since The Arsenio Hall Show was followed by The Party Machine With Nia Peeples.

It's an odd time to be launching a trio of talk shows. The former king of late night, Jay Leno, is going down the drain since NBC moved him to 10 p.m. His viewership has plummeted from 18.4 million when he debuted in September to less than 5 million now.

His eclipse seems to be dragging down NBC's late-night slate. The Tonight Show, which had been running neck and neck with CBS's Late Show when Conan took over on June 1, is now getting pounded - 2.4 million vs. 4 million for Letterman. Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC continues to trail both of them.

Jimmy Fallon's audience on NBC's Late Night has dropped to 1.7 million, down from 2.4 million. It has now been passed by CBS's Late Late Show, which draws an average of 1.8 million viewers.

One thing Lopez, Sykes, and Mo'Nique have going for them is that they look and sound different from the rest of the pack. Whether that's enough to let them survive in this exceedingly competitive environment, time will tell.

Until then, Orale!

Contact staff writer David Hiltbrand at 215-854-4552 or dhiltbrand@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/daveondemand