News / TV

Please rise, “The High Court” with Doug Benson will be in session late-nights on Comedy Central in 2017

Comedy Central has figured out part of its late-night lineup solution for 2017, and it involves getting high.

Paging Doug Benson!

Comedy Central announced today it has ordered a 15-minute weeknight late-night series from Benson, The High Court, which will see the comedian smoke up marijuana to get high before ruling on real-life small claims court cases. Just like other court shows in syndicated television, the two parties (complainant and defendant) will agree to have the comedian rule on their cases for TV.

“Got a f-ed up legal problem? Who better to solve it than someone who is super f-ed up?” Benson said.

The late-nighter, to debut in early 2017, is based in part on Benson’s podcast series, Getting High with Doug.

The High Court will help fill the late-night hole left behind after Comedy Central abruptly cancelled The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore over the summer. It’s unclear as of now whether Comedy Central already has one or more additional series to fill the other 15-minute hole in the timeslot. For now, @midnight has been pushed up a half-hour to 11:30 p.m. ET/PT Mondays-Thursdays.

The High Court (THC) is executive produced by  Benson, Bruce Smith, JASH’s Daniel Kellison and Propagate’s Ben Silverman, Howard Owens and Kevin Healey. JASH and Propagate will co-produce the series.

“I never knew Doug got high, until one time I saw him, and he wasn’t,” said Kent Alterman, President, Comedy Central.

Comedian, actor and marijuana advocate Benson already hosts the podcasts, Getting Doug with High and Doug Loves Movies. He is a regular guest on Comedy Central’s late-night series @midnight with Chris Hardwick and has appeared on Comedy Central series The Benson Interruption, Comedy Central Presents, and Live at Gotham. He has released four Comedy Central Records including, “Unbalanced Load,” “Hypocritical Oaf,” “Potty Mouth,” and “Smug Life.” Benson has also appeared in his documentary film Super High Me, as well as in VH1’s Best Week Ever, and the fifth season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.

 

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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