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The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore has been one of television’s pleasant new surprises. And after devoting airtime to topics like vaccines, fatherhood, and Bill Cosby, Wednesday found Wilmore tackling privatized space travel.

A self-proclaimed “blerd” (black nerd), Wilmore pondered why 200,000 citizens would sign up for a one-way ticket to join the controversial Mars One Mission. For a show that led off with a fairly innocuous theme, panelists Don Cheadle and Lee Daniels were yanked out of their native atmosphere of softball questions rather quickly. And watching them squirm through what appeared to be a reformatted version of Wilmore’s “Keep It 100” segment was prime time viewing. Here are the top highlights from Wednesday’s episode, which featured Wilmore asking guests to explain the concepts of racism, homophobia and colonization as if they were talking to a Martian.

Lee Daniels Took His Mom To A Gay Parade

Another person enjoying a great 2015 is Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, who is watching his show pull in over 11 million viewers each week. Daniels was in rare form, joking about bringing liquor and cigarettes to Mars. Tasked with explaining a gay pride parade to a Martian, Daniels basically said it couldn’t be much harder than attending a pride parade with his mother. A surprised Wilmore broke character, and Daniels turned it into a teachable moment. “She thought I was the only one,” Daniels explained.

Don Cheadle Isn’t Messing Up His Acting Checks

In case you haven’t seen his IMDB page, Don Cheadle is putting in work. It would be a shame to mess that up by creating a scandal over a bit about explaining racism to Martians. So Cheadle kept it 1,000 instead, saying, “I’m not doing it. I have to act and do movies after this.”

A Suge Knight Joke Happened, And It Was Hilarious

What do space travel and jailed, former Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight have in common? Well nothing until Wilmore starts throwing comedic shade. After an MIT study determined the first casualty would strike Earth’s Martian colony within 68 days, Wilmore quipped, “68 days? That’s shorter than the life expectancy of a Suge Knight business partner.”

Watch The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore weeknights at 11:30/10:30c on Comedy Central or on the Comedy Central app. #KeepIt100