What do Alec Baldwin, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Joan Rivers, Zach Galifianakis, Alan Thicke, Brian McKnight, John McEnroe, Magic Johnson, Kathy Griffin and Chevy Chase have in common?

At one point, they all got the lucky break of hosting a late night show on U.S. television. Then they all flamed out after relatively short shots at what really is the toughest job in show business.

We tell you this as Scarborough’s own Lilly Singh kicks off A Little Late With Lilly Singh at 1:35 a.m. Tuesday on NBC (and 12:37 a.m. on Global TV).

The YouTube sensation has already won by getting her chance at the slot. If she actually succeeds with it, well, then she really is Superwoman.

If anyone can do it, it’s the uniquely talented Singh, whose unorthodox background might be the reason she can find a way to make this work. Based on her online oeuvre, here’s why we think Lilly Singh can beat the late night odds.

1. She was made to do this

Take a look at the resumés of the short list of successful late night show hosts. Most come from the world of comedy, although David Letterman was a weatherman before he got the gig. Beyond being funny, you need to be knowledgeable, inquisitive and generally likeable. With the recent success of Jimmy Fallon and James Cordon, musical talent is also now part of the tool kit.

A lot is going to be made of the fact that Singh is the first person to graduate from YouTube to the coveted seat behind the desk, but her vlogs and online videos have proven that you can’t fake a winning personality. She’s done all kind of sketches and impersonations, and shown off her musical chops, with tracks like “#IVIVI” with Humble the Poet. Being a YouTube star is a weird job, but it also might be the perfect preparation for this next challenge.

“What I have done thus far has been made specifically for YouTube and that’s not to say it’s worse; it’s made for the audience that’s watching YouTube, and that’s most people watching when they’re commuting on the bus on their phones,” is what Singh told the Star earlier this summer. “I want to kind of elevate and go more premium with this, and also do a little more social commentary.”

A Little Late With Lilly Singh is going to be a mix of traditional comedic monologues, pre-recorded sketches and interviews. Those are all things she’s done before, but now she has an experienced crew and production values.

2. Because she is different

Singh is the first bisexual woman of colour to get a shot at late night and, at 30, she’s way younger than most other talk show hosts. (Hasan Minhaj of Netflix’s Patriot Act, who’s 33, is another talk show host of South Asian descent. His background is just one of the things that informs his coverage — he has tackled elections in India but also student loan debt.)

Singh’s first video was “How to tie a side Turla Bhangra Pagh (Turban)?” and she’s done plenty of others in which she has caricatured her brown parents. She has also interviewed celebrities like the Rock (whom she counts as a friend) and President Barack Obama. Late night hosts are cultural gatekeepers, and all the things that are interesting and different about the millennial Singh mean she can speak with authority — and hopefully humour — to many sectors of society in an authentic manner.

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3. Who you gonna call?

Every celebrity has a contact list of famous friends they can call on for support and it will be interesting to see who gets the call during the early days of Singh’s show. Aside from friend and mentor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, stars like Miley Cyrus, Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler have reportedly offered advice and support. She has also mingled with Hilary Duff, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Hadfield and many more through her YouTube show.

Singh also has some heavy hitters behind the scenes. According to the Hollywood Reporter, longtime NBC producer John Irwin was the one who suggested Singh as a replacement for Carson Daly, as he was impressed with her ability to balance humour with celebrity interviews.

“What I love about Lilly Singh is that she comes fresh to late night with a stellar set of skills already in place,” producer Aliyah Silverstein told the Hollywood Reporter. “Lilly’s a master of sketch comedy, an engaging conversationalist, a dancer and rapper, and she considers no topics off limit. As a showrunner, it’s a gift to have a host with so much to offer. I’m excited for a brand new audience to get to know her.”

4. The opportunity to act — and create — like no one’s watching.

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With a 1:35 a.m. start time, it’s like only the hardest of hardcore fans will stay up to see what Singh delivers. But that’s what PVRs and YouTube are for. Her history is what NBC executives hope will bring new eyes to their network, both in the time slot and online.

The best initial way to judge Singh will be if any bits manage to go viral in the first little while. After the initial rush of excitement is when we’ll see if she really has the chops for this.

We’ll really know if it’s a cold night in February and she’s still bringing her seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm to the screen, and finding ways to keep it interesting for herself, her guests and the audience. She has a chance to find herself on late night and in a time slot in which she can experiment and potentially get groomed for even bigger things.

This week really is just the beginning and, in all honesty, late night shows generally don’t start off well. Fallon is a perfect example. In his first episode as Tonight Show host he was visibly sweating from nerves and he interviewed Robert De Niro, who qualifies as a celebrity “get” but is known as a horrendous interview — a reputation he lived up to. But Fallon settled in and is now a confident master of ceremonies on his show and as good as late night gets.

Singh arrives with a tremendous amount of talent, experience and charm as she starts this new gig. Let’s hope it’s enough.

A Little Late With Lilly Singh premieres at 12:37 a.m. on Sept. 16 on Global TV.

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