On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 5:12 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > One advantage that Pollak has over Dave and company (and this was > mentioned earlier in reference to Jon Stewart) is that he only has on > guests that he has some interest in. I would love to see Dave get to > the point where he mostly has on guests that he really cares about > (which I guess is a big part of my original motivation with this > thread - why does Dave, my favorite talk show host - have to swallow > so many shallow and trivial guests that he clearly is not interested > in?).
The big factor in celebrity TV interviews nobody has brought up yet is the increase of influence of managers, publicists, and studio marketing departments on the star side and pressure from advertisers and network suits on the host side. Each talk show is under pressure to fill guests slots and the studios and publicists are pushing their clients. I'm sure there are instances where egos have to be stroked and that takes priority over guest quality in the name of keeping a relationship with a publicist/studio going. Last night, when I saw a promo for Jimmy Fallon's show announcing his guests would be the pair who won TAR, I remember how bitter Dave was about having the losers from Survivor on. I can't imagine a circumstance where CBS would rather have TAR winners go on NBC, but Dave fought and won that battle years ago. I don't listen to Kevin Pollak's show, but I do listen to Marc Maron's podcast, and he and his standup guests talk about how liberating doing a podcast is compared to a radio or TV show. If hosts could find a way to monetize these podcasts, it would lead to the ideal situation of the host inviting only guests s/he knows will be good and the time to do longer form interviews. Regarding Charlie Rose, he's in a situation where he can't afford to offend anyone and that keeps him bland. The fact that he was willing to have the Iranian ambassador to the UN on repeatedly as a guest during the Axis of Evil days gives him points for me. Tom -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
