Author: Lacey Rose, Michael O'Connell

AP Images

Larry Wilmore

Comedy Central has found its heir for The Colbert Report.

With host Stephen Colbert departing at the end of the year in preparation for his new show at CBS, the cable network has tapped Larry Wilmore as his replacement, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The 52-year-old writer-actor, who has been with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show as its “Senior Black Correspondent” since 2006, will get the 11:30 p.m. half-hour starting in January. A twist on the former occupant’s title, the show is called The Minority Report With Larry Wilmore.

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April’s announcement that Colbert would take over David Letterman‘s vacancy at CBS’ Late Show left a huge vacancy at Comedy Central. The network had just lost Daily Show contributor John Oliver to a deal at HBO in October.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our relationship with Jon Stewart and Busboy Productions, and are looking forward to the world getting to know Larry Wilmore even better,” said Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless. “He’s a spectacular talent in front of and behind the camera. The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore follows in the Comedy Central tradition – bringing new perspectives to the day’s events and breaking ground in the world of late night television.”

The job means an East Coast move for the L.A.-based Wilmore, who will move to New York to tape his new series. “I’m beyond excited to have this chance to continue my relationships with Comedy Central and the brilliant Jon Stewart,” said Wilmore. “I love the city of New York and promise to only wear my Laker t-shirts when I’m layering.”

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Wilmore, who is repped by UTA, 3 Arts, and Tom Hoberman, created The Bernie Mac Show and The PJs and has a sprawling TV resume as an executive producer. He was to serve as showrunner of the new ABC sitcom Black-ish, picked up to series on Thursday, but his new job makes any longterm day-to-day involvement on the project unlikely.

Prior to the February launch of Jimmy Fallon as host of The Tonight Show, the buzz of which has sent the typical late-night ratings landscape spinning, both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were late-night’s top performers in the adults 18-49 demographic. Colbert also continued to gain clout over his tenure as Jon Stewart‘s lead-out, recently ending The Daily Show‘s Emmy streak as outstanding variety show.

In the wake of Colbert’s departure, it was not even clear that Comedy Central would remain in the talk space during the half-hour. But the network recently launched the Chris Hardwick-hosted @Midnight (at 12 a.m.) to strong results, so a talk bridge seemed a natural choice.

As for Minority Report executive producer Stewart, the neighboring anchor also extended a welcome to Wilmore: “While Larry Wilmore is a brilliant comic and showrunner, this is all just a complicated ruse to get him to move to New York and turn him into a Knicks fan.”

Mark Burnett

NBC is placing yet another bet on The Voice producer Mark Burnett.

Following Voice‘s monstrous ratings and an unprecedented Emmy win, the network has ordered Space Race from the producer’s One Three Media. The competition will feature everyday people vying for a trip on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, the commercial spaceline from Sir Richard Branson.

“The scope of this endeavor is so staggering, that it took these two titans to even imagine it,” said NBC Entertainment president of alternative and late night programming Paul Telegdy. “The term ‘trip of a lifetime’ has for once been delivered on!  This will be a remarkable experience for anyone who has looked at the night’s sky and dared to dream of Space Flight.”

To be sure, this isn’t Burnett’s first attempt at a show about space. The producer first sold Destination Mir, to NBC in 2000. The series, whose finalists would have been teamed up with professional cosmonauts to go through training at Russia’s Star City facility, was poised to end with an ordinary American taking a televised trip to the aging Mir space station. The pricey project, also at the center of a multi-network bidding war, was shuttered when Mir was brought down the following year.

“For the past ten years I have relentlessly pursued my dream of using a TV show to give an everyday person the chance to experience the black sky of space and look down upon mother earth,” said Burnett. “Last year I spent time in New Mexico at the state of the art facility and last week spent time in the Mojave desert with Sir Richard and his impressive team. We got to see the spaceship up close and hear of Sir Richard’s incredible vision of how Virgin Galactic is the future of private space travel. I am thrilled to be part of a series that will give the everyday person a chance to see space and that NBC has come on board to so that viewers at home will have a first class seat.”

Branson’s partnership in the project is quite important, as seats on Virgin Galactic are currently being sold for $250,000 a pop.

“Virgin Galactic’s mission is to democratize space, eventually making commercial space travel affordable and accessible to all,” said Branson. “Space Race allows us to extend this opportunity of a lifetime to as many people as possible right at the start of our commercial service – through direct experience and television viewing. All of us at Virgin Galactic and our partner aabar Investments are delighted to be collaborating with NBC and Mark, who is a true pioneer and creative force in television programming.”

These days, Burnett is often credited as a key piece of NBC’s hoped for turn-around. Already, two nights of Voice, coupled with Sunday Night Football, enabled the network to notch its second straight premiere-week victory, averaging a 3.1 rating in primetime for its best kickoff showing in five years and the widest victory margin for any net since 1997.

The news comes the same week as Burnett’s Shark Tank, on ABC, announced an off-net syndication deal with NBC corporate cousin, CNBC. Over at NBC, Burnett is also prepping a sequel to History’s ultra successful Bible miniseries. A.D., as the follow-up is currently titled, is expected to begin in the days after Jesus’ death as his disciples look to survive. Burnett’s other credits include CBS’ Survivor and NBC’s The Apprentice franchise.

One Three Media will start shopping Space Race at MIPCOM TV in Cannes.

Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com

Twitter: @LaceyVRose

Mike Kelley on the set of “Revenge”

Following an uneven second season of ABC’s Revenge, showrunner Mike Kelley has stepped down.

The executive producer of the network’s primetime soap, a darling during its freshman season, had been with the series since it debuted to strong reviews and solid ratings in the fall of 2011. Its sophomore run has been greeted more tepidly by both measures. Current executive producer Sunil Nayar is expected to take over during the series’ anticipated third season.

“Mike Kelley created a distinctive series for our studio and network with tremendous passion and dedication,” said ABC Studios executive vp of creative and production Barry Jossen. “We wish him all the best as he moves on to his next television achievement.”

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Added Kelley: “In a difficult mutual decision between myself and ABC studios, the end of my current contract will mark my final season as showrunner for Revenge. Helming this series has been the ride of a lifetime, and my producing partner, Melissa Loy, and I will look back on our Revenge time with deep gratitude and respect for Emily [VanCamp] and Madeleine [Stowe] and the rest of the incredible cast, our heroic crew, the dedicated and imaginative producing and writing team, and the tireless post production department. I would also like to thank Paul Lee, his marketing team, and the creative executives at ABC and ABC studios for their profound support throughout this journey. I’m excited about finishing post production on the season two finale, which I hope will stand among the best episodes of the series thus far. Continued success to all.”

Though it started the 2012-13 season as one of the few sophomore series to actually improve in ratings, Revenge‘s current season is now tracking shy of its freshman run after suffering a light dip after the winter hiatus. Upon moving from 10 p.m. on Wednesdays to ABC’s 9 p.m. Sundays slot, Revenge is averaging a 2.3 rating with adults 18-49 in Live+Same Day viewership. That’s a 12 percent dip, season-to-date. The show is down 10 percent in total viewers to 7.3 million viewers.

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DVR viewership has fallen by a smaller measure, with the current season averaging a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49 in Live+Seven Day returns. That makes it the tenth highest-rated drama on the broadcast networks. It’s been a relatively steady Sunday performer for ABC, which has seen a bigger drops for anchor Once Upon a Time and continued troubles in the 10 p.m. hour.

For their part, critics have been far less kind to the show in its sophomore year, with a recent Daily Beast headline reading, Revenge: What Went Wrong With ABC’s Once Darling Thriller? Sources close to the show suggest writers involved have been posing the same question.

Kelley, a former producer on The O.C. who created CBS’ brief but well-received 1960s-set drama Swingtown, had a blind script deal with ABC only two years ago when the network expressed interest in updating Alexandre Dumas‘ tale of vengeance The Count of Monte Cristo with a female protagonist. Nayar boarded Revenge at the start of its second season, having previously worked on ABC Studios’ Body of Proof — as well as CSI: Miami CBS’ short-lived Three Rivers.