Archive for category talk show
Letterman on Regis’ Farewell Week
Posted by admin in comedy, streaming video, talk show on November 16, 2011
David Letterman was on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly today, and here is part of the fun.
Conan O’Brien Visits NBC’s Jimmy Fallon
Posted by admin in late night TV, streaming video, talk show, Uncategorized on October 8, 2011
Article first published as Conan O’Brien Visits NBC’s Jimmy Fallon on Technorati.
Wednesday night viewers of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon were witness to the brief return of Conan O’Brien to NBC. O’Brien, temporarily back in New York, is prepping for a week-long run of his TBS show at the Beacon Theater, starting on October 31.
While barely two minutes in length, the short visit made for a great TV moment, along the lines of Paul Newman’s “Where the hell are the singing cats?” bit (shown in this YouTube clip at the 6:55 mark) from David Letterman’s first CBS show back in 1993. Wednesday night’s Conan appearance clearly took the audience by surprise. But he and Fallon were savvy enough to interact for so brief a time, it did not become awkward for the audience.
The visit ended with Conan retrieving Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, from behind one of Jimmy’s sofa cushions. Judging by the comments section at the TeamCoco blog many Conan fans hope that this is a sign that Triumph might be returning to the show’s comedic team. (Oddly enough, TeamCoco fans seemed divided on the fact that Conan had grown a beard again while on vacation).
When Conan left NBC in early 2010, NBC forbid Conan from using certain characters (The Masturbating Bear, for example) in his post-NBC creative pursuits, as the network claimed intellectual ownership of characters and sketches developed as part of the show. In terms of intellectual property, however, there is some question if NBC actually owned Triumph, given that the character was developed by Robert Smigel.
Back when I saw Conan in the final Atlanta stop of his 2010 Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, I was surprised to see a taped Triumph bit, as well as a Walker, Texas Ranger clip montage (though the Lever was renamed the Chuck Norris, Rural Policeman Handle). Of course, this was not on television. But I still hold out hope (along with many other Conan fans) that the physical retrieval of Triumph might be a precursor to his comedic return on Conan. Time will tell.
Documentary on the Horizon: Évocateur
Thanks to a tip from Whitney Matheson’s Pop Candy today, I learned about Ironbound Films‘ upcoming documentary regarding (the late) Morton Downey Jr., Évocateur.
Ironbound describes itself as “Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger are Ironbound Films. Headquartered in an old inn on the Hudson River opposite West Point, Ironbound crafts video for theaters, television, museums, and the web.”
Here’s a preview:
The blog, Nothing But the Doc, noted that the project “will feature interviews with Sally Jesse Raphael, Chris Elliott, Al Sharpton and Pat Buchanan”. Some sites say it will be ready in 2011, others say 2012. Either way, given how much Downey fascinated me many years ago, I would be curious to hear the perspective from his former friends and associates.
Stephen Battaglio on David Susskind Biography
Posted by admin in episodic TV, Film, talk show on March 16, 2011
David Susskind: A Televised Life
Very rarely a great interview opportunity lands in my comments section. Such was the case when Stephen Battaglio, author of David Susskind: A Televised Life, posted a comment in a recent Susskind post of mine. From there, I contacted Battaglio and he agreed to do an email interview about the book (here’s its official description): “David Susskind was the first TV producer to become a TV star. His freewheeling discussion program, Open End, later known as The David Susskind Show, brought the turbulent issues of the 1960s and the wild and often wacky social trends of the 1970s into the nation’s living rooms at a time when viewing choices were scant. Susskind grilled everyone from a Mafia hit man to transsexuals to a famously hilarious Mel Brooks. His legendary interview with Nikita Khrushchev at the height of the Cold War inflamed both the political and media establishments and would have made his name if nothing else did … David Susskind: A Televised Life is as much a chronicle of a glamorous time in the entertainment industry as it is a biography of one of its most colorful, important and influential players.” My thanks to Battaglio for an immensely enjoyable and insightful discussion about Susskind.
Tim O’Shea: This book grew out of a piece you wrote for the NY Times back in 2001, what motivated you to grow it into a book?
Stephen Battaglio: I had wanted to write a book about the history of television. When I researched the story about Susskind, I realized that he was a great vehicle to tell the story of the medium in its early years. What I didn’t realize until I researched the book, was that his personal story was so dramatic. I think it will surprise readers who thought they knew him.
Worth Watching: Tom Hanks on Jimmy Kimmel
Posted by admin in comedy, late night TV, streaming video, talk show on February 28, 2011
I rarely praise Jimmy Kimmel on this blog. Partially it’s due to a bias I formed against Kimmel from his days on Comedy Central’s The Man Show. But I really started warming up to Kimmel when he supremely zinged Jay Leno in last year’s NBC Late Night Schedule Waffling. So after mocking the Oscars last night, I stuck around to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s Oscar late night show edition. And boy am I glad I did. Kimmel scored everyone’s dream late night guest, Tom Hanks. As usual, Hanks delivered. Be sure to stick around to the end for a surprise cameo.
I really hope “Don’t be a hooch!” becomes a popular phrase.
Conan’s First TBS Opening Sketch
Posted by admin in late night TV, streaming video, talk show on November 9, 2010
It’s good to have you back Conan. Here’s how his first show opened.
I wonder if Larry King could become the Tony Randall for this incarnation of Conan’s show.
Bonus Elvis Costello on Letterman
Posted by admin in late night TV, Music, streaming video, talk show on November 1, 2010
CBS Late Show with David Letterman is offering bonus web-only content from tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman: “Elvis Costello presents an exclusive web-only bonus performance of Jimmie Standing in the Rain from his new release, National Ransom.”
Understandably the Late Show is not allowing folks to embed this web exclusive content, but I am able to embed Dave’s 2010 Halloween costume sketch instead. This sketch is one of those rare ones that Letterman does every year where he gets to work with kids. I love when Letterman works with kids.
Team Coco Launches Show Zero
Posted by admin in late night TV, streaming video, talk show on November 1, 2010
A week before his show starts on TBS (premiering at 11 PM on November 8), Conan O’Brien offers folks a teaser, Show Zero.
Robert Sellers on Hellraisers
Posted by admin in Film, late night TV, pop culture, talk show, theater on September 29, 2010
Hellraisers
Some people like to raise hell, some people like to document the hellraising. Fortunately for this interview, writer Robert Sellers is a member of the latter group. Sellers is the author of Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed, as well as Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson and An A-Z of Hellraisers: A Comprehensive Compendium of Outrageous Insobriety. In this email interview we discuss both books and more. My thanks to Sellers for his time, as well as John Karle of St. Martin’s Press for helping to arrange the interview.
Tim O’Shea: Would you say with the 24/7 news cycle mixed with the fact PR people can no longer sweep heavy drinking under the table as easily, is the era of celebrity hellraising done to a certain extent?
Robert Sellers: I think so. Our hellraisers were lucky in that their misbehaviour was only witnessed by a select few, so tales of their debauchery have become almost mythologized. Today celebrities’ every involuntary movement is recorded on some tosser’s mobile phone and then put on You Tube in a time span that’s shorter than their dick.
O’Shea: What attracted you to documenting the partying ways of these four actors (Burton, O’Toole, Harris & Reed) in particular?
Sellers: These guy’s bad behaviour was laced with a bit of style and humour. Take the time O’Toole was refused a drink after hours so he simply pulled out his cheque book and bought the pub. There was a jaw dropping audacity about their pranks and a twinkle in their eyes that made the public forgive them almost anything, which you just don’t have with today’s celebrity yobs. Also, back in those wilder and better days drinking was very much a macho culture; a chap could hold his booze and all of these hellraisers could drink each other under the table. Today it’s almost a prerequisite to appear everywhere completely out of your head and hopeless. The new breed of bad boy is not terribly sophisticated. Burton et al could always turn on the charm, pissed or not; this new lot can hardly string a sentence together.
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