‘Daily Show’s’ Larry Wilmore filming political comedy show pilot for Showtime

Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central) Larry Wilmore — “The Daily Show’s” “senior black correspondent” — will shoot a comedy special for premium cable network Showtime that network president David Nevins said is a springboard for a possible series. “Race, Religion & Sex” will air on Aug. 25, “in time for the political conventions,” Nevins said.

Wilmore will moderate the one-hour town-hall “meeting” with studio audience in Salt Lake City where, Showtime said, the special “seeks to enlighten viewers about the birthplace of Mormonism.”

Nevins also announced the two part finale of its longrunning drug comedy “Weeds” has been scheduled for Sept. 16; he noted the series, starring Mary-Louise Parker, is the longest running half hour in cable TV history. (Nevins says he doesn’t count HBO’s 90’s “Dream On,” which he insisted was a “clip show” and made about 35 episodes a year.)

The end also is near for the network’s “The Big C” which stars Laura Linney as a woman with cancer; it will wrap its run with four one-hour episodes, Nevins said. He did not say when the episodes would run.

Espionage drama “Homeland” — or, as Nevins likes to call it, President Obama’s favorite TV show — will debut on Sept. 30, the same night “Dexter” begins its “game-changing penultimate season.

Nevins also announced the launch of a new original documentary banner “Closeup,” which will kick off with “The World of Dick Cheney” from R.J. Cutler; “Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic” from Marina Zenovich; “Suge Knight: American Dream/American Nightmare” from Antoine Fuqua; and “Tommy Mottola” from Brett Ratner, about the music industry mogul who worked with the likes of Michael Jackson, Carly Simon, Hall & Oates, Diana Ross, John Mellencamp and Gloria Estefan.

Meanwhile, Oliver Stone’s “Untold History of the United States” will premiere on Monday, Nov. 12. Filmmaker Stone, who narrates the 10-episode series, promised in a statement it will show “the side of history we don’t learn in school” and will be “upsetting to some, but profound for those who think for themselves,” adding modestly that it’s “the deepest contribution on film I could ever make to my children and the next generation.”