''Donnie After Dark'' is an American television

late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...

hosted by

Donnie Simpson Donnie Simpson is a longtime American radio DJ as well as a television and movie personality. He hosted ''The Donnie Simpson Morning Show'' on Washington, D.C., radio station WPGC-FM from March 1993 to January 29, 2010. Currently, he hosts ''T ...

, which premiered on TV One on February 5, 2016, and airs on Sunday's at 11:00 p.m. EST.

Overview

Season 1

The first Season of ''Donnie After Dark'' included two episodes which were taped at the Xen Lounge in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In addition to Donnie Simpson as the host, the regular cast included co-host DJ Traci Steele (of '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta''), along with the show's official

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

—the all-girl

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based group "The GGs Band". The show's debut episode aired on February 5, 2016 on TV One with guest appearances by

Jimmy Jam Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

, Terry Lewis,

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She has won two Grammy Awards, a ''Billboard'' Women in Music Award, and two BET Awards over the course of her career. In 2022, ''Time'' placed her on their ...

Lalah Hathaway Lalah Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Credited as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, First Daughter of Soul", she is the first-born daughter of musician and soul singer Donny Hathawa ...

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American Gospel music, gospel musician. One of the List of best-selling gospel music artists, best-selling gospel music artists, his accolades include 20 Grammy Awards. ''Variety (magazine), Var ...

, and

Tasha Smith Tasha Smith (born February 28, 1971) is an American actress and director. She began her career in a starring role on the NBC comedy series '' Boston Common'' (1996–97), and later appeared in numerous movies and television series. Smith has ...

. The second episode aired on June 1, 2016 with guest appearances by

Kenny Lattimore Kenny Lattimore (born April 10, 1970) is an American R&B singer known for his smooth, soulful voice and romantic ballads. He rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with the release of his self-titled album, '' Kenny Lattimore.'' Early life and ...

Tisha Campbell Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the NBC musical comedy drama ''Rags to ...

Duane Martin Duane Martin (born August 11, 1965) is an American actor. He began his career making appearances on numerous television sitcoms before starring as Robert James on the UPN/ CW sitcom '' All of Us'' (2003–2007) and as Detective Ben Baines on t ...

Danielle Nicolet Danielle Nicolet (born Danielle Diggs; November 24, 1973) is an American actress known for roles on ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' (1996–2001), '' Second Time Around'' (2004–05), '' The Starter Wife'' (2008), ''Family Tools'' (2013), '' Born Agai ...

, and Brandon T. Jackson. Donnie Simpson and Majic 102.3 held a viewing party of the second episode on June 1, 2016 at the SoBe Restaurant & Lounge in

Lanham, Maryland Lanham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, it has a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton station (the terminus of the Washington Metro's O ...

Season 2

The second season of ''Donnie After Dark'' was taped in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

with a live-

studio audience A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canne ...

in attendance, and included a total of 4 episodes. DJ Traci Steele returned as the co-host and

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

expert, along with The GGs Band as the official

. Season 2 premiered on November 24, 2016, and included guest appearances by Angela Robinson,

Pooch Hall Marion "Pooch" Hall, Jr. (born February 8, 1976) is an American television and film actor known for his role as Derwin Davis, the football player on the sitcom '' The Game'', and as Ricky in the 2011 film '' Jumping the Broom''. He also played t ...

, D.C. Young Fly, and a musical performance by

Ro James Ronnie James Tucker is an American R&B singer. He is best known for his 2015 single " Permission", which peaked at number 37 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. He signed with Mark Pitts' ByStorm Entertainment, an imprint of RCA Records to r ...

. The guest list for the remaining episodes included:

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), known professionally as David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Banner gra ...

Jamilah Lemieux Jamilah Lemieux (July 22, 1984) is an American writer, cultural critic, and editor. She rose to prominence for her blog, The Beautiful Struggler. She has worked for ''Ebony'', Cassius Magazine, and Interactive One, part of Radio One, Inc. Lemie ...

, V. Bozeman,

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

LisaRaye McCoy LisaRaye McCoy (born September 23, 1967), known as LisaRaye, is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Diana "Diamond" Armstrong in the 1998 film '' The Players Club'', Neesee James on the UPN/The CW sitcom '' All of Us'' from 20 ...

Erica Ash Erica Chantal Ash (September 19, 1977 – July 28, 2024) was an American actress, comedian, singer, and model. She was a cast member on the sketch comedy programs ''MADtv'' and ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'', and she later starred in the Starz sit ...

, R&B group 112,

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion si ...

Naturi Naughton Naturi Cora Maria Naughton-Lewis (born May 20, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Naughton is best known as one-third of the R&B group 3LW and for her acting roles in the films '' Fame'' and '' Notorious'', playing rapper Lil ...

, comedian Tony Roberts, and

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild (or simply Musiq; pronounced "music") is an American singer-songwriter. His music blends Rhythm and blues, R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, ...

References

External links

''Donnie After Dark''
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

*{{tvguide title, id=900110 2010s American late-night television series 2010s American variety television series 2010s American television talk shows 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2010s American music television series American English-language television shows TV One (American TV channel) original programming