TVision: Lopez to stretch late-night envelope?

It was a little more than 20 years ago (actually Jan. 2, 1989) when The Arsenio Hall Show debuted in late night. At the time it was hailed as a landmark event, a program that would forever alter and change the environment of what hosts could do in that time slot and expand the roster of performers and styles that could be introduced on those shows.

Over Hall’s five-year run, he did feature his share of unusual guests and previously unseen acts, even as it also became apparent rather early that he was still doing a topical entertainment program, not a predominantly political or issues-oriented one.

Still, the show was definitely ahead of its time in many respects, from having a black host to offering exposure to rap and rock acts deemed too loud and outrageous for other late-night shows.

Monday night another show begins with the potential to, it not radically change late night’s landscape, at least stretch it in other ways.

“Lopez Tonight,” a one-hour weeknight program hosted by comic George Lopez, debuts at 10 p.m. on TBS. It is the first show of this type hosted by a Latino. In various interviews and stories, Lopez easily embraces his groundbreaking status, saying on one show: “I’ll be the guy who talks about his golf game in Spanish.”

Ironically, reruns of his former self-titled ABC sitcom air at 9 and 9:30 nightly on Nickelodeon (plus dozens of independent stations), making him both among the most publicized figures in current TV and a possible forthcoming victim of overexposure.

But Lopez’s strengths as a comedian, especially in his HBO shows, has been his ability to simultaneously cite, poke fun and highlight cultural differences, even as he also revels in his own emergence as a celebrity and embraces both the positive and negative aspects of that status.

Tonight’s guests are Eva Longoria-Parker and Kobe Bryant, giving the show a pronounced NBA flavor. Coming later in the week will be Jamie Foxx, Marc Anthony, Queen Latifah, Oscar De La Hoya, Lisa Lampanelli, Larry David, and Kelly Osbourne.