While late-night hosts like Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O’Brien had zero interest in pursuing an acting career, Chris Rock was being actively wooed by Hollywood to bring his spiky sense of humor to the big screen. As the comedian told Oprah Winfrey in 2002, he was open to the studios’ overtures, so, rather than half-assing the show, he up and quit. “Only if you’re Oprah can you say, ‘I will shoot between July and September,'” he said. “And let me tell you — if I’m ever Oprah, I’m going to say, ‘Can we shoot for one hour a day?'”
While Rock was able to address the state of the world via his stand-up, there was an up-to-the-minute immediacy with “The Chris Rock Show” that he hated to surrender. Here’s what else he had to say:
“It probably sounds crazy, but I may eventually go back to my show. I miss informing people and being an immediate part of the culture. I miss being able to do a whole piece on reparations. I miss the mix of having Adam Sandler on to sing some nasty song and then talking with Cornel West.”