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Like the pro comedian he is, George Lopez joked about his own show's cancellation during Wednesday night's monologue, just hours after the announcement.
"I'm taking it good, but my goddesses are a wreck," he cracked about TBS's decision not to renew Lopez Tonight for a third season. "They left me. And I'm losing teeth." Watch his monologue below!
His tone may have been lighthearted during the monologue, but it's hard to completely gloss over the implication that he felt the network's decision to drop his show had to do with his race. "Big news!" he said. "Sony just announced they're doing a sequel to The Smurfs movie, so today I lost some work because I'm brown, but also I got some work because I'm blue."
No doubt, TBS would beg to differ. Ratings dropped by nearly half last season, when the show was moved from 11 P.M. to midnight in order to make room for Conan.
It's entirely possible that Lopez wasn't trying to pick a fight. Racial inequality has long fueled his comedy, and the Smurfs joke may have been too tempting to pass up. (He voiced Grouchy in this year's film.) Plus, race hasn't proved much of an obstacle for TV forces like Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry!
In any case, a little biting wit and projects in the pipeline are not the only things that are going to get him through this time of transition -- he continues to have the support of good friend Sandra Bullock, who he credits with standing by him for the last decade.
During a Dodgers game on Aug. 10, Lopez gushed to People about Bullock, saying "If it wasn't for her involvement in me, or her belief in me, I would have had a very different last 10 years. She invested in me, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. And with that, and just who she is, she has my undying loyalty. Every day I thank her for believing in me."
His show might be over, but Lopez sounds like he's well-equipped to move on to the next project after the final episode of Lopez Tonight airs on Thursday, Aug. 11. We wish him luck!
