Alec Baldwin: is he right for a talk show?

Alec Baldwin is in discussions with ABC about developing a talk show for the network. Whether Baldwin gets a daytime show or nighttime show has yet to be determined. Alec Baldwin may not be the right personality type to host a talk show.

Baldwin has a personal history fraught with beefs. The list of Baldwin adversaries includes quite a spectrum; from PETA-style confrontations with Central Park horse-drawn carriage drivers to a very nasty marital breakup with Kim Basinger.

In the space of just the last few months we have 3 Alec Baldwin incidents to report:

1)  Alec called a guy in a black SUV a “meatball” and for apparently driving his car down a New York City street in a manner Alec found displeasing.

2)  Alec got arrested for riding his bike the wrong way on Fifth Avenue. He got angry with the arresting officer. An Irish-American like Baldwin should know better than to denigrate New York City cops.

3)  Alec took on the #MeToo movement and got in an inflammatory email exchange with Asia Argento, Rose McGowan, and Anthony Bourdain. Any male taking on the Me Too movement in a less than supportive way reveals his masochistic tendencies. Or maybe, Alec is just argumentative….?

The “hot” side of Alec Baldwin may not work for the role of talk show host. By “hot” I don’t mean good-looking. Baldwin looks great on TV. The “hot-headed side of Baldwin hints he is not a good fit for the interviewer’s spot in the world of TV talk. The hot attributes I see in Alec Baldwin mean that his presentation style may be too intense for the talk show format.

Here is what Marshall McLuhan said on the topic of the talk:

·      The talk show host offers a “low-pressure style of presentation.”

(Understanding Media 310)

·      The talk show welcomes the viewer through the use of “spontaneous casualness.” The viewer, deeply involved in a cool medium, closes the TV image.

(Understanding Media 317)

Think about the Late Night talk show hosts through history and you get a list of low pressure presenters:

Steve Allen

Johnny Carson

Merv Griffin

David Letterman

Jay Leno

Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Fallon

Seth Meyers

Stephen Colbert is not a classic low-key presenter. On The Daily Show, Colbert developed a high-intensity persona, a faux right wing, Bill O’Reilly knock-off. Colbert got his own show. The show moved at a NASCAR pace. Doing his rapid fire interviews on the Colbert Report Colbert steam rolled guests, always going for the comedy jugular.

Alec Baldwin’s suitability as a talk show host remains to be seen. He has moved into the spotlight. Doing Donald Trump on SNL Baldwin has achieved cult status across America. Alec’s confidence is flying high, but he must come down to earth to become a skilled talk show host.

Baldwin’s personality traits will determine the outcome. Success does not hinge solely on good looks; nor  even on intelligence and a great sense of humor. Baldwin is strong in all these regards.

More important than comic brilliance, is the tone of the show emanating from the host. Baldwin goes awry if gets too opinionated and self-centered. A self-centered, grandiose host does not win the love of the audience.

The overly opinionated host brands himself as just too hot for the medium. The Rush Limbaughs of the world do not work on TV. David Letterman mastered the art of interviewing guests without pre-judging. Dave’s opinions came across subtly, especially as he matured as a performer. 

Alec Baldwin, must come across as a low key presenter. The nurturant male host supports and listens to his guests. There must be genuine interest in the other person.

Baldwin’s approach to his guests will determine his show’s ratings and success. He cannot be that guy that argues with guys in the street and gets in disputes with cops.

Time will tell. Stay tuned…

Charlie Rose interviews David Letterman

Talk Show Host as Integral Man

David Letterman’s television interview on The Charlie Rose Show on Feb. 16, 1996 begins with Rose introducing Letterman as “a broadcaster’s broadcaster,” putting guest and host in the same category. Interesting to note Charlie Rose introduced Letterman in terms other than a comedian. Yes, Letterman is a broadcaster but the late night talk show hinges on the host's sense of humor. The late night talk show depends entirely on the host. The talk show revolves entirely around the comic sensibility of the host, whether Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers, James Corden or Jimmy Fallon.

Here's the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IYekI7ldSI

Letterman begins by saying his team reviewed the Steve Allen shows done for Westinghouse as a guide for developing his late night show. 

Rose asks about Johnny Carson. Letterman marvels at Carson’s ease of presentation: “It’s so easy, it’s so smooth, it’s so measured… he’s not breaking a sweat…. It’s just Johnny…”. Letterman pointed to Carson’s skill at bringing the audience into his most minute gesture. TV is the close-up medium: 

“He’s so comfortable. Here was a guy that understood his limitations and stayed within them and exploited that part of his personality to perfection. And I think that was the appeal of the man, night in and night out; it was always going to be Johnny, you could tell if Johnny would raise an eyebrow, oh Johnny’s upset, Johnny laughs, oh Johnny’s happy.” 

Rose presses the issue looking for a more analytical explanation for Carson’s genius. “What was the genius though?” Rose pushed Letterman further to explain the genius of Johnny Carson.  “What made him… that he could do that night after night?” 

Letterman adds little as elaboration, “He never tried to get out of what he was good at—Literally, “Here’s Johnny!” …

Letterman may be evading the question. Perhaps Letterman feels his own humor far exceeds Johnny Carson. If that's the case, I agree with Letterman. His rapier wit may be the best ever seen on the small screen. Rather than criticize Carson, Letterman attributes Johnny's long run of success to his ability to stay within himself.

                                           

Charlie Rose’s vain search for an easy explanation for Johnny Carson’s thirty year run of success highlights an interesting comparison between Charlie Rose, the interviewer, and Johnny Carson and David Letterman, the comedian/late night hosts. Charlie Rose cannot easily understand the comedian.  To use McLuhan's notions-- Charlie Rose embodies a very literate, literary, fragmented, rational style of communication versus the comedian, the integral man, the spontaneous, non-rational, intuitive, comedic style of communication.

Letterman creates Carson’s milieu, describing a minimalist world of television performance where every gesture moves mountains and the face tells everything… “Johnny raises an eyebrow, Johnny smiles…” as his explanation of the Carson magic. Dave Letterman prefaced his remarks by establishing his credentials in a modest manner,  “I know what it takes for me to get through a sixty minute effort each night.” In fact, Letterman is one of the few living humans who can speak knowledgeably about Carson's job description, the late night talk show host/comedian.

Letterman marvels at Carson’s mastery of the art of putting on the audience. The performer, as McLuhan states, must wear the audience, put them on the audience like a suit of clothes. Rose struggles to understand. Charlie Rose is a another breed of broadcaster, a documentarian, a writer of history. 

The comedy host works from the intuitive, right side of the brain. Letterman’s thoughts leap forward in a discontinuous manner, painting a picture in the cubist style without all the connections in place. Charlie Rose, on the other side of the fence, organizes his thoughts, lines them up in a, b, c order, the outlook of the literate man.

Letterman the late night host, the integral man, organic and post-literate in his outlook, responds from another perspective.

Why do legends die... so quickly

Talking to my daughter tonight. Commented how quickly people move out of the conversation, go from being household names to afterthoughts-- in the blink of an eye.

Think of Jay Leno? Remember him? Just barely right. He was The Tonight Show host. Had the best job a comedian can get. Then his tenure ended. He's forgotten. Or so it seems.

David Letterman? A comedy genius. The man who introduced irony. And that's the key to comedy performance-- a total revolution. Well, he ended a few months ago and is not completely forgotten. But almost.

Jon Stewart. You loved him. But you'll probably forget him. Can't see him every night. He doesn't exist.

Maybe if you were just the right age to savor Jon Stewart he will continue to resonate and hold a magic place in your heart and your memory bank. I didn't fall into that demographic. So Jon takes a minor role in the repertoire of characters filling the back rows of my consciousness.

Frank Gifford passed away, a football star and Monday Night Football broadcaster. The cool thing is he was immortalized in the literary annals by Frederick Exley in his incomparable A Fan's Notes-- must be read to be believed. Oxley is like Holden Caulfield, all grown up and still fucked-up as hell. A brilliant and wonderful book and with a strong Frank Gifford motif.

But I like Gifford. I was a 10 year old kid in NYC when he was a young gazelle for the NY Football Giants as they were called back then. Not to be confused by the baseball team NY Giants from up in the Polo Grounds.

And then for a kid who loved media... what could be better than The Hick, The Prick and Gif... the "irreverent county-boy" Dandy Don Meredith, "the contentious" Howard Cossell, and Frank Gifford "with his low-key persona"... calling the Monday Night football games at the behest  of Roone Arledge. Gifford was the rational one, keeping track of the ball and the flow of the game. But they're all gone now and soon to be forgotten. (Quotes are from the NY Times obituary of Frank Gifford on August 10, 2015.)

That's the nature of this beast, this thing called mortality. You have to reach a certain age to realize just how cruel it is, and how beautiful... we all dance to the tune of the Grim Reaper.... the kings, the peasants, the butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and football announcers too.

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio,
A nation turns its eyes to you (woo, woo, woo)

(Simon and Garfukel, Mrs. Robinson lyrics)

Dave Letterman-- Tense Moment with Brian Williams

Watched the Late Show with David Letterman a few nights ago. Brian Williams, the NBC Nightly News anchorman, was his lone guest. Brian knows television performance but jumped in almost too eagerly. He wanted to be funny and you cannot rush funny. And never try to compete mano a mano with Dave Letterman or even exchange volleys with David right from the get-go. But Dave stayed cool and  brought Brian back down to earth and guided him closer to his sweet spot. They got to talking in a comfortable way and Brian's humor came across.

On odd moment came about when Brian Williams brought up his actress daughter Allison, a star on Girls, the HBO series written, directed and acted in by Lena Dunham. Williams spoke highly of the talent of Lena Dunham in the manner of a true gentleman. He did not brag on his daughter or even speak much about his daughter until he mentioned she had an upcoming appearance on the Tonight Show. Whoops! Brian corrected himself, she actually had an upcoming appearance on Dave Letterman's show. This seemed like a genuine slip of the lip by the seasoned anchor pro. The plot thickens...

Most interesting was David's toxic reaction to Brian's mention of the Tonight Show. Dave slipped from his confident self to a bitter David. You could feel the the tension, the tears of a clown began rising from the normally unflappable Letterman. Williams tried to calm things and mentioned he was doing a documentary-style story on the promotion of Jimmy Fallon to the Tonight Show chair as a special for NBC. David mentioned that he too should be interviewed for the story. David insisted he should be part of the documentary, and referred several times to "little Jimmy Fallon" in a snide way. A bit of strained comedy ensued within the tense exchange. Jimmy is a kid-sounding name  (and coincidentally also Jimmy Kimmel's name, the other new kid on the late night schedule).  Jimmy Fallon, certainly not diminutive in a physical sense, can seem like a well-meaning child compared to the comic brilliance of Letterman. Never forget... Letterman brought the late night talk show genre back from the somnambulism of the latter part of Johnny Carson's tenure. And he worked to keep Carson relevant.

Letterman's reaction to Williams' faux pas revealed the deep pain still being felt long after he lost the Tonight Show gig to Leno. He again referred to little Jimmy Fallon. David always has had an edge, an maybe that's why the network chose Jay Leno over David Letterman.

I remember watching Beavis and Butthead once and they referred to Dave as "Letter-dude." That cracked me up. Dave's stodginess needs to be punctured from time to time. "Letter-dude" helps bring Letterman down to earth. I've always had an immense fondness for Letter-dude. For large portions of the audience he will always be a bit too acerbic...But the good news for fans is we can keep watching and enjoying Letterman, the maestro of late night.

Jimmy Fallon-- Most Cheerful Man on Late Night

Watched Howard Kurtz on his Reliable Sources show this Sunday morning on CNN. His guest Ken Tucker discussed Jay Leno's firing by NBC, for an 8 minute segment entitled  "Jay Leno, fired and smiling." Tucker was asked whether the the late night format, a 60 year old tradition,  can be revived to something different for the future.

Tucker wondered about the wisdom of NBC's second firing Leno, this time for Jimmy Fallon, a guy he predicted will draw a smaller audience than Leno. Tucker took issue with Fallon's inability to interview heavyweight guests like Barack Obama. Fallon, he added, lacks awareness of the late night tradition and history. He predicted  Fallon and NBC will swoon in the ratings like Conan did. Tucker unceremoniously called Conan O'Brien ... "a shriveled carrot of a man... pushed to the margins, there's no buzz."

Tucker feels the Johnny Carson mantle should have been passed to David Letterman rather than Jay Leno. Letterman has more gravitas than the others. Tucker said Jimmy Kimmel, Fallon's likely main competitor, understands irony, from the School of David Letterman, but reveals nothing of himself. Letterman, unlike Kimmel, understands the late night franchise, talks about his life and has interests beyond Hollywood and the world of entertainment.

"Is Jimmy Fallon just an empty, though stylish suit, bound for low ratings?" Kurtz called Fallon "the most cheerful guy on late night" and cheerful goes a long way on television. Fallon has musical chops and can do a skit as his SNL pedigree guarantees. Kurtz and Tucker pointed out Fallon's savvy regarding the internet, Twitter and his demonstrated ability to go viral with clips. Maybe the new job description for  late night TV host has becomes or devolves to to a guy with a baton in his hand-- a symphony conductor for all things electronic.

Tucker likes Stephen Colbert, playing the real Stephen Colbert and not the twisted right wing persona, as a late night host for a major network. Colbert, however, may be even smarter, kinkier and more of a cult hero than Conan-- a prescription for limited ratings. Colbert's interviews play like standup with the interviewee serving as the straight man to Colbert's virtuoso improv. Late night hosts are supposed to be modest and must always make the guest look good. Colbert's pace is frenetic, offering little of the soporific pleasures of Late Night Starring Johnny Carson. We loved the familiar tropes and Ed McMahon's big brotherly guffaws for years until we got sick of them. Colbert does not provide the needed space. He races along, not the optimum rhythm of late night which allows some room for relaxed viewer participation. Jon Stewart is better at that.

Ken Tucker never has to make decisions with unknown outcomes. He always knows everything-- the definition of a critic. A Ken Tucker endorsement probably proves Stephen Colbert makes the absolute worst choice as late night host on network television! But I did enjoy much of what Ken Tucker had to say about the latest skirmish in the Late Night Wars.