It’s not just the economy that’s sagging, George Lopez says — even late-night television is in a slump. But the entertainment doldrums have nothing to do with failing banks and foreclosed homes.

With David Letterman mired in scandal and Jay Leno hobbled by his new 10 p.m. slot, late night is a format the comedian and TV star calls “a little bit down and very white.”

But starting tonight, the comic dubbed “America’s Mexican” promises to bring the fiesta.

“We’re going to bump up the energy. We’re going to bump up the music,” he told reporters about Lopez Tonight, the Monday-through-Thursday program debuting at 11 p.m. on TBS.

Lopez is ditching the cue cards and carefully planned punch lines for a loose, festive atmosphere full of audience interaction. And though he’ll face stiff competition from both genre giants and fresh faces such as Fox’s Wanda Sykes and BET’s Mo’Nique, Lopez says he’s more afraid of the telenovelas.

“I want to win,” said Lopez, whose syndicated sitcom, The George Lopez Show, still thrives on the Nick at Nite channel. “I want to win big.”

Luckily, he packs a couple of secret weapons. It never hurts to get a video endorsement from President Obama, whom Lopez has called a “close friend” and expects to book as a guest. And if anyone can help him bump up the music, it’s his band leader, Michael Bearden, who was also the musical director for Michael Jackson’s planned This Is It tour.

But Lopez, Sykes and Mo’Nique agree: Not since Arsenio Hall left the airwaves in 1994 has late night featured a strong minority host with some real staying power. A few valiant efforts aside — let’s not forget The Whoopi Goldberg Show, Magic Johnson’s The Magic Hour, and The Byron Allen Show — white guys have come to embody the format.

So what’s been sucking the diversity out of late night?

“I would love to blame Bush,” Sykes quipped in a conference call last week. “Yeah, let’s stick that on him — it’s Bush.”
On Saturdays at 11 p.m., The Wanda Sykes Show offers a look back at the week’s events through canned comedy segments and live discussions with a panel of guests. Think Bill Maher without the confrontation, said Sykes, who also costars on CBS’ The New Adventures of Old Christine.

“Of course (the guests) will be opinionated, but we’ll still have our ‘beer summit,’” Sykes said just before the show’s Saturday premiere. “We can sit down, have a drink and laugh about it.”

Meanwhile, Mo’Nique, a little more than a month into her 11 p.m. Monday-through-Friday program, says she can offer only one thing: “love,” exemplified by special features such as the Big Girl Dancers and the always-empowering “Mo’Nique Moment.”

“The Mo’Nique Show is a place of safety, baby,” the comedian and Precious film star said from Atlanta. “You come and you’re safe, you’re protected. We’re not trying to break any exclusive stories. … We’re about loving each other, uplifting, and when you turn us off you feel good.”

Mo’Nique, Sykes and Lopez got their starts in stand-up comedy. But if Lopez Tonight is the well-attended party he hopes it to be, Lopez says it could mean the end of his decades-long stand-up career. He might tackle one more HBO special — but then it’s time to sit down, he says.

“I’d hate to leave it (stand-up comedy). … It isn’t a person, but it feels like somebody that’s always been with me, that always … was looking out for me,” Lopez said.