Talk Show Perspectives
At About Talk Shows, we strive to give you the very best in top-level information about your favorite talk show - and as many other talk shows as we can imagine. We work hard to guide you through the shows, telling you about the show's history, giving you a biography of its host, telling you each week who the show's guest stars are and helping you wend your way through the ever so slightly confusing world of free talk show tickets.
But the one thing we haven't done is give you our opinion. (And really, by our, I mean my opinion.) With Talk Show Perspectives, this new monthly feature we're kicking off today, I hope to change that a bit. In Talk Show Perspectives, I'll give you my thoughts on recent talk show news. My hope is that I inspire you to talk as well, sharing your opinion with me.
With this first go around, we'll focus shifting world of NBC's late night programs, primarily The Tonight Show. True talk show tectonics, is what it all amounts to. And we start with the epicenter of it all Jay Leno.
But the world of late night television would be lessened if Leno leaves entirely. Let me explain. The Tonight Show is in desperate need of a refresh. Maybe more than a refresh. Maybe a restart altogether. While Leno's early years gave new life to a crown jewel that Johnny Carson created, the ride has been tumultuous since Leno's return and Conan O'Brien's broken-hearted break-up. Still tops in the ratings, sure. But the shine is gone. The old show is damaged (more on that in a minute). So it really is time for Leno to let go.
Just of The Tonight Show, though. Leno needs to rebound as well, finding a new home on Fox or even in basic cable. Leno should create a show that is wholly his own, that carries nothing over from Tonight save his monologue and man-on-the-street skills. It would cast him in a new light, win over new audiences and lost converts, and do a lot to repair an overall image that has cast Leno as the late night villain, quick to "steal" a show away and lord power over the past-11 p.m. crowd. Late night would truly be less with Leno gone.More »
Remember how I was talking about how The Tonight Show was in desperate need of reconstruction? Well, NBC has hired Lorne Michaels to tear the show down to its studs - still a solid foundation there; "good bones," as they say - and rebuild it from the ground up. And Michaels is just the man to do it.
Michaels owns NBC late night. It is his domain. With nearly 40 years on Saturday Night Live, give or take a sabbatical or two, two wildly successful runs on Late Night with O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, and a grasp on comedy, timing and celebrity ties like no one else, Michaels is primed to turn The Tonight Show into something special again. And just to show he's serious, he's moving the production from Los Angeles back to New York City. Doing so means the two biggest talk shows in late night - Tonight and the Late Show with David Letterman - will be just a stone's throw from one another. And that presents a bit of late night competition like we've never seen before.More »
This is going out on a limb a bit, because Seth Meyers is a great choice for Late Night. But I don't think he's the best choice. Not hiring Joel McHale is truly a missed opportunity. McHale, host of E!'s The Soup and star of NBC's Community, has all the charm, intelligence and quick wit a winning talk show host needs. He's likable, he's funny and he's just well-known enough to get people talking. Plus, McHale's humor is just near the cutting edge. Just sharp enough to provide Late Night with the bite it has always had. Whether he'd be able to bring Mankini with him is another story. But let's hope so.More »
But the one thing we haven't done is give you our opinion. (And really, by our, I mean my opinion.) With Talk Show Perspectives, this new monthly feature we're kicking off today, I hope to change that a bit. In Talk Show Perspectives, I'll give you my thoughts on recent talk show news. My hope is that I inspire you to talk as well, sharing your opinion with me.
With this first go around, we'll focus shifting world of NBC's late night programs, primarily The Tonight Show. True talk show tectonics, is what it all amounts to. And we start with the epicenter of it all Jay Leno.
1. Jay Leno’s Departure is a Good Thing for 'Tonight'
But the world of late night television would be lessened if Leno leaves entirely. Let me explain. The Tonight Show is in desperate need of a refresh. Maybe more than a refresh. Maybe a restart altogether. While Leno's early years gave new life to a crown jewel that Johnny Carson created, the ride has been tumultuous since Leno's return and Conan O'Brien's broken-hearted break-up. Still tops in the ratings, sure. But the shine is gone. The old show is damaged (more on that in a minute). So it really is time for Leno to let go.
Just of The Tonight Show, though. Leno needs to rebound as well, finding a new home on Fox or even in basic cable. Leno should create a show that is wholly his own, that carries nothing over from Tonight save his monologue and man-on-the-street skills. It would cast him in a new light, win over new audiences and lost converts, and do a lot to repair an overall image that has cast Leno as the late night villain, quick to "steal" a show away and lord power over the past-11 p.m. crowd. Late night would truly be less with Leno gone.More »
2. Lorne Michaels is an Even Better Thing for ‘Tonight’
Remember how I was talking about how The Tonight Show was in desperate need of reconstruction? Well, NBC has hired Lorne Michaels to tear the show down to its studs - still a solid foundation there; "good bones," as they say - and rebuild it from the ground up. And Michaels is just the man to do it.
Michaels owns NBC late night. It is his domain. With nearly 40 years on Saturday Night Live, give or take a sabbatical or two, two wildly successful runs on Late Night with O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, and a grasp on comedy, timing and celebrity ties like no one else, Michaels is primed to turn The Tonight Show into something special again. And just to show he's serious, he's moving the production from Los Angeles back to New York City. Doing so means the two biggest talk shows in late night - Tonight and the Late Show with David Letterman - will be just a stone's throw from one another. And that presents a bit of late night competition like we've never seen before.More »
3. Seth Meyers Isn’t the Best Choice for ‘Late Night’
This is going out on a limb a bit, because Seth Meyers is a great choice for Late Night. But I don't think he's the best choice. Not hiring Joel McHale is truly a missed opportunity. McHale, host of E!'s The Soup and star of NBC's Community, has all the charm, intelligence and quick wit a winning talk show host needs. He's likable, he's funny and he's just well-known enough to get people talking. Plus, McHale's humor is just near the cutting edge. Just sharp enough to provide Late Night with the bite it has always had. Whether he'd be able to bring Mankini with him is another story. But let's hope so.More »
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