Have I Got News For You Adds Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black as Team Captains

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Have I Got News For You has officially named its captains. The new comedy news quiz show from CNN (which will also be available to stream via Max and on demand) has added Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black as heads of two competing teams. The show, which will air weekly for 10 episodes beginning on September 14, recently tapped Daily Show veteran Roy Wood Jr. as its host.

Based on the popular, long-running BBC show of the same name, Have I Got News For You will feature a rotating cast of celebrity and news-maker guests, competing on teams headed by Ruffin and Black. Episodes will feature games and panel competitions aimed to test the guests’ knowledge of current events. The BBC show, which, like its US spinoff, is produced by Hat Trick Productions, has run since 1990.

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Ruffin is an Emmy- and Tony-nominated writer and performer. An alum of Late Night with Seth Meyers and writer on Detroiters, she hosted three seasons of her own late night show, The Amber Ruffin Show, on Peacock. “It is an honor to get to work with comedy favorites Michael Ian Black and Roy Wood Jr,” Ruffin said in a press release. “It is our hope that this show will take people from saying, ‘This is CNN.’ to ‘THIS is CNN!?!?’”

Black is a writer, comedian, and actor and member of the sketch comedy troupe The State. He’s appeared in a number of television shows, including The State’s MTV series, NBC’s Ed, Viva Variety (which he co-created), Stella (which he co-created), and Michael & Michael Have Issues, which he, well, also co-created. “I’m looking forward to spreading as much disinformation as possible on America’s most trusted news network,” Black said in a news release. “My main focus has been, and will continue to be, pleasing my handlers in the Kremlin.”

Have I Got News For You will air live via CNN on September 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes will be available to stream via Max and on demand from the following day.

Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic and researcher, who first contributed to Paste in 2022. He is an assistant editor at Cineaste, a GALECA member, and since 2019 has hosted The Video Essay Podcast. You can follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter and learn more about him via his website.