I suppose every country and region has its own local talk show legend. The more global ones I've watched a few times are Craig Ferguson, Conan O'Brien, Graham Norton, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, Carlos Mencia. Some of those aren't very good, at all. I personally love Graham Norton, the dynamic is much better than at any other show, and Conan is probably the best one for getting good (good as in funny, not necessarily interesting) interviews. Kimmel has the best non-interview bits. I can spend hours watching vids on youtube of these guys' shows, and it really is an art considering that most celebrities are not very funny at all.
In more serious interviews, I think Inside the Actor's Studio is thoroughly interesting.
The dude from Inside the Actor's Studio makes me feel uncomfortable. He's always hinting at obvious answers to his own questions, usually biographical factoids clear to him and the audience already. I find him awkward, but his guests are almost always cool and interesting.
I like Graham Norton. I think his show is funny and it's unusual to see varying world star guests interact with each other, but I don't think any of the late night show interviews are interesting or memorable at all. The usual 3-4 minute anecdotes are so lame. They're just press tours for new movies or albums.
i don't watch many talk shows, jerry springer brings all the trash out, maury povich extorts the black people for millions and dr. phil is an annoying son of a bitch.
talk shows and late night shows just plain bore me.
Graham Norton show is a definitely a lot better than the American ones when it comes to interesting conversations with the guests. Conan's my favourite of the classic late night guys. IMO, The Daily Show trumps them all, but it's not quite the same format.
not sure about talk shows in general, but Conan's the best of the current American late night bunch by a long way, IMO ... Fallon next, and Kimmel after him ...
and yeah, Fili, Stew Beef and Colbert aren't the same format, but they are awesome, and dominate in the 18 to 30 age demographic ... they are also the main news source for most of that demographic in the US ...
Graham Norton show is a definitely a lot better than the American ones when it comes to interesting conversations with the guests. Conan's my favourite of the classic late night guys. IMO, The Daily Show trumps them all, but it's not quite the same format.
not sure about talk shows in general, but Conan's the best of the current American late night bunch by a long way, IMO ... Fallon next, and Kimmel after him ...
and yeah, Fili, Stew Beef and Colbert aren't the same format, but they are awesome, and dominate in the 18 to 30 age demographic ... they are also the main news source for most of that demographic in the US ...
Used to be my main source of news. Now I just don't watch any news.
My favorite is Maury, but since none of you are talking about that genre, I enjoy Kimmel's hosting the best, think Conan is the most spontaneously funny, and consider Fallon to have the best pre-planned bits. You all probably don't think this is great, but I do
I think most modern day interviewers are absolutely terrible, just trash, really crass bad jokes, short interviews, bad guest selections - some of them still even have rimshots after jokes. Conan and Leno and Craig Ferguson I find absolutely unwatchable, they sicken me, and Letterman is almost as bad though I will watch an interview with him and someone I really like. Lipton in the actors studio is just as bad for the opposite reason, pompous, pretentious, and never gets into any depth with his interviewees despite a decent length. David Cross summed him up nicely:
Jon Stewart interviews on Daily Show can be good but are too short. Graham Norton I like as a personality, and on his british show I like the way everyone gets trashed (Mickey Rourke went through a bottle of bourbon and Graham a bottle of white wine on one show), but I feel he is drifting ever more towards the Letterman/Leno/Conan style and gets no real substance. He also sucks everyone's dick so badly and never risks anything approaching a controversial question. Piers Morgan is the opposite, tries so hard to be controversial that his interviews are usually nasty, awkward or dull, though if it's a Hollywooder he will butter them up and the show will be completely vacuous. He is an awful man.
So, who do I like? Well, the British legends Michael Parkinson and David Frost were very good in their day, Parky was boring but his interview format and guests made them often very revealing, Frost was a revelation, but both deteriorated severely as they got older and their shows by the time I grew up were bad, I just enjoy some of the classic interviews on youtube. Jonathan Ross was pretty good on the BBC, but since his show switched to ITV is has become unwatchable. I never saw that much of Johnny Carson or Larry King, but the few clips of Carson I saw did not appeal to me (one where he interviewed Peter O'Toole and was just so far out of his depth that it was embarrassing) , and I heard King was a bit belligerent though had his moments.
The legend is Dick Cavet. Take a look at this two hour interview with Richard Burton:
Imagine that. Two hours with one of the greatest actors of all time, and most interesting men, going into every detail, personal and professional, secrets exposed but nothing predatory. I think this is why I detest the current interviewers so much, because they would never allow such a lengthy interview now, so they select people who can deliver short, "funny", utterly worthless interviews that can squeeze in plenty of commercial breaks and hawk trashy movies and albums.
I think Letterman is okay, Conan can be really funny when he's on point, but he can also miss wildly. He was at his funniest when he was seeing out his NBC deal and just didn't give a shit. I haven't watched enough Kimmel or Fallon to form opinions on them. Leno is...yeah.
Ellen is funny and charming. Her show's format suits her style really well and I feel like she's better at that than she would be a late night style show. I don't know if Rachael Ray is any good, honestly, I'm just really attracted to her. Springer has been doing the same thing for about 25 years and it gets really tired, Maury has too but somehow it ages well. From the few episodes of Bethanny and Bill Cunningham I've seen I don't like them.
So, who do I like? Well, the British legends Michael Parkinson and David Frost were very good in their day, Parky was boring but his interview format and guests made them often very revealing, Frost was a revelation, but both deteriorated severely as they got older and their shows by the time I grew up were bad, I just enjoy some of the classic interviews on youtube. Jonathan Ross was pretty good on the BBC, but since his show switched to ITV is has become unwatchable. I never saw that much of Johnny Carson or Larry King, but the few clips of Carson I saw did not appeal to me (one where he interviewed Peter O'Toole and was just so far out of his depth that it was embarrassing) , and I heard King was a bit belligerent though had his moments.
Parky is great. He is much like a guy we have (had - he retired from his show too) called Andrew Denton. Very very intelligent guy, and just had the knack for getting a guest to reveal everything.
