Subway Takes host Kareem Rahma is trading public transportation for a studio set in his latest YouTube talk show. The catch? It’s a branded program that Rahma is hosting for Toyota: Pit Stop Tonight.
Rahma, of course, is no stranger to conducting hot-button interviews: Subway Takes has attracted the likes of Cate Blanchett, Woody Harrelson and Halsey. His latest original series Keep the Meter Running sees him hop into a cab, ask the cabbie to take him to their favorite place, and, yes, keep the meter running in the process.
Pit Stop Tonight shares some connective tissue with those shows, but it is also its own thing (and, Rahma notes, it is the only talk show with a pit crew, who build the set each episode in mere seconds). Each episode features Rahma interviewing and playing games with Toyota drivers like Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Jade Avedisian, and Chase Briscoe.
“When they asked me to do it, I said, respectfully, ‘I know nothing about NASCAR,’ and they were like, that’s actually great, because we’re looking for someone who can be the conduit to people that aren’t necessarily interested in NASCAR,” Rahma says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It just sounded like a fun, interesting idea that I would actually be good at, I hadn’t ever had the chance to sit behind a desk and do my job, I’m always in the backseat of a car or on a literal subway bench,” Rahma adds. “So doing it in a studio, I said, ‘you know, this will be nice to get a feel for what it feels like to be a late-night host.'”
