It's now been two weeks of Live With Kelly's search for former co-host Regis Philbin's replacement. For the first 5 days, Jerry Seinfeld sat on Kelly's left, which was weird in itself--Kelly was in Regis' seat.
vs.
Seinfeld is a very famous and talented actor, but that's what he is--an actor. It was very evident his experience in front of a live audience was limited, no matter how much stand-up he's done, the Live setup is just not the same. He was awkward, but even worse than he didn't seem to have any on-camera connection with Kelly Ripa.
The usually bubbly, silly, and animated co-host is now the top dog on the show, but the first week was just wrong. She seemed very uncomfortable, even unhappy and it made me change channel.
The second week was a lot better. It's still weird to see Kelly in Regis' seat (see how it's still Regis' seat...not Kelly's yet), but Neil Patrick Harris really came through. I think it's what the show needed--someone that was comfortable on camera, goofy with Kelly, but smart all the while. But then he says a transgender slur on Friday's show, using a word that the transgender community considers has negative associations. He apologized to Twitter fans later than day.
I love the show, I always have so I'm pulling for it. I truly think that Kelly can pull it off and make it very successful, I just think it will take a little time for us fans to get use to having the lovable Regis gone.
Up next is Dancing with the StarsDerek Hough for the first two days this week, then singer Josh Groban will finish off the rest of the week.
Yesterday was Regis Philbin's last day with Live with Regis and Kelly. It was very sad day, but the show did a wonderful job of revealing the best moments he had on the show throughout the past few decades.
It made really think though, after Kathy Lee Gifford left (Live with Regis and Kathy Lee) in 2000, Kelly Ripa became Regis' co-host, but were they really co-hosts or sidekicks? When I think back on the show, at times it seemed as though Kelly truly was just a sidekick (a very entertaining and involved one though). But then again, they played equal roles.
I find these questions to be interesting while they begin the search for a new co-host [sidekick] for Kelly. What do you think? Were Kelly a sidekick in a way? And who do you think the new "Regis" should be?
Even though it's been a few weeks since Halloween, I don't think we should stop talking about it quite yet. In the last post I briefly discussed DJ Tony Okungbowa and the importance of the music he plays on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But I think it's important to note, that DJ Tony is more than a disc jokey, he is a very vital part of Ellen's show.
This brings us back to Halloween.
Ellen's Halloween show is always a big hit, and this year she decided to be Sophia Grace, the infamous 8-year-old that blessed Ellen's stage with her great voice (by singing "Super Bass" by Nikki Minaj) and unwavering sass. And of course she had a writer be her "hype girl" aka Sophia's cousin Rosie (who doesn't speak the entire episode, just air-drums when Ellen starts singing). What is missing from her costume you ask? But of course, Nikki Minaj herself. That's when we are fortunate enough to see with Tony wearing very high heels and a blueish/blonde wig.
DJ Tony wears his costume proud the entire episode--dancing when necessary and laughing all the while. Ellen even surprised him with an appropriate scare.
The rest of the episode is filled with scared audience members, a frightened mermaid, Neil Patrick Harris, and Betheny Frankel's last minute Halloween tips. But for our purpose, let's focus on one of our favorite sidekicks.
Tony is truly willing to do anything to support the show, even if that means getting laughed at. He's a great sport.
Ok great, he can dress in a woman's outfit, he's a great dancer, and he laughs at all of Ellen's jokes....but who is Tony really? He first started DJing with celebrity photographer Andrew McPhearson. He played music while on set of McPhearson's photo shoots. He met Ellen DeGeneres in 2003 during a "TV Guide" photo shoot. She told him a joke about a dream she had about 50 Cent and offered him a job. That year he started DJing for her. He's also an actor, and in 2006 he took some time away from the show to focus on that (but came back full time in 2008). Tony has guest-starred in The X-Files, NYPD Blue, Arli$$, and Law & Order: SVU. He also has released a compilation album of all his favorite songs, "Hollywood Sessions."
I like to hear more from sidekicks, I like when they have their own personality, and I haven't seen Tony's developed as much as some others. So moving forward, I'd like to hear more from Tony, get to know him a bit more. For now, I'll admire he's sweet moves and ability to pull off Nikki Minaj garb. But what do you love most about DJ Tony?
That's DJ Tony Okungbowa dancing for Ellen on birthday earlier this year. As we saw with Sophia Grace and Rosie singing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, music a big part of Ellen's show. Her sidekick is a DJ if that helps my point, and she is very well known for liking to dance. We haven't talked about DJ Tony much, and I think it's important to bring him up. He's an integral part of her show, and a very supportive "partner in crime." He not only is the in-house DJ who plays music that Ellen dances to, but also a bounce board for Ellen throughout her show. They interact a lot, and Tony, British accent and all, brings some extra entertainment.
But he's not the only sidekick enjoying the tunes, the Late Show with David Letterman sidekick and musical director Paul Shaffer does it all live. Just like DJ Tony, Shaffer also does his job being a great sidekick for David Letterman. The two seem to have a great, supportive relationship, both in bits and also beyond the jokes.
The music these two choose adds an unique soundtrack to the shows they are on. They establish the mood for both how the audience feels and the overall format of the show. Ellen acknowledges and comments on the music DJ Tony plays, whereas Letterman seems to use it as transitions.
DJ Tony and Paul Shaffer have been able to establish their own style of sidekicking, but music is the focal point for both. Do you find the music adds to these talk shows? And if so, in what way? How would be they different without it?
I fell in love with Sophia Grace and Rosie the moment I knew they were headed to the United States. These two girls have become the new YouTube sensation, mainly thanks to The Ellen DeGeneres Show(and their talent, may have had something to do with it too).
The story in short: A video was posted online of the 8-year-old Sophia Grace and her 5-year-old cousin Rosie singing a super sassy version of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass," Ellen's team saw it, Ellen liked it, they invited Sophia Grace, Rosie, and their parents to L.A. The girls performed on The Ellen Show, and then they were given a [few] big surprises.
Beyond that it's just so cute and entertaining, it relates to what we are doing here. What would you call her beautiful drumming cousin Rosie? Well Nicki calls her Sophia's "hype man." I'd call her a sidekick.
What makes Rosie a successful sidekick? Let's look at the criteria we have decided on already:
-Someone you can trust--
Rosie is always RIGHT next to her cousin, watching every move she makes.
-Someone who makes you look good (or even better)--
I have to admit it, she's gorgeous.
-Someone who works with you for a greater goal--
She's knows the dance pretty well.
-Someone who is ok with taking a back seat--
I don't think her microphone is even on.
-Someone who brings some fun once in awhile--
Well, she's down with dancing in tutu and she really gets into the drumming parts.
In the new comedy "Up All Night," Maya Rudolph plays a character that is getting recent attention. In the show, Ava (Rudolph) is a successful, but vulnerable talk show host. Reagan Brinkley (Christina Applegate) is the producer of Ava's show, and a new mom. Reagan and her stay-at-home husband, Chris (Will Arnett) are trying to join their once-young-partying selves with their new-exhausted-baby-centric selves. Ava is the overwhelming and needy friend who plays an entertaining and hilarious supporting role.
In the show, Applegate and Arnett have a very compatible and believable relationship. Their humor works well together--witty and realistic. Rudolph becomes Applegate's sidekick, she supports and complements her character without taking the spotlight...too much. On the other hand, on "Up All Night," Reagan is Ava's sidekick. As the producer, Reagan has to affirm and lift-up Ava constantly. She has to tackle all of the host's ambitious endeavors, as well as console her during very vulnerable times. Both on and off screen, the two are extremely successful partners.
"Up All Night" was created by Emily Spivey who also has worked on "Parks and Recreation" and "Saturday Night Live." The show has been a big success, often doing the best out of all of NBC's 8p.m. weeknight shows. It's entertaining, while still being relatable to any working mom, new parents, or people who just like to look at cute babies. But recently, it's been getting a bit of attention, specifically, Ava (or Rudolph's character of Ava).
For most its air-time, Rudolph has been defending her character as an unique person. The Chicago Tribune's reporter, Christopher Borrelli was determined to find out if this egotistical self-promoting daytime talk show host, was based off of the famous Oprah Winfrey. During the interview, many pointed questions about her similarity to Oprah were asked and Rudolph seemed to give pithy responses. Basically, after a question relating Rudolph's portrayal of Oprah on SNL and the way she plays Ava, she responds with, "I think everybody wants me to say yes, but she is a made-up character."
But in a phone interview with Borrelli, Spivey gives him a little more, "We wanted Ava to be her own thing, but, yes, sure, it is fair to say she is Oprah-esque."
Whether or not Ava is Oprah..."Up All Night" has given us yet another look into the different world of sitcoms that can be related and compared to our beloved talk shows. Even beyond the Ava-Oprah connection, we can look deeper into the relationship of another "Partner in Primetime."
As we have started to see, sidekicks are important to television, but not limited to it. I recently went to see "The Ides of March." An idealistic young (not to mention attractive) Stephen Meyers, played by Ryan Gosling, is working on a campaign for a new presidential candidate, Governor Mike Morris, played by George Clooney. Without giving too much away, there is a lot of filthy politics that Meyers has to sort out and either try to avoid or take part in. Paul Giamatti's character Tom Duffy plays a campaign manager for a candidate apposing Morris. To sum it up, Duffy wants something, so he uses Marisa Tomei's character Ida Horowicz, a successful journalist, to get what he wants. Horowicz becomes his sidekick. She gets the scoop she wants while aiding and supporting Duffy.
"The Ides of March" sheds a new light on sidekicks, even beyond the movie screen. It shows and represents the close and important relationships between politicians and the many sidekicks they recruit, particularly the press. Politics, like television, thrives on teamwork. But whether it's one or the other, or something in between, it makes me think: What are some characteristics that define a sidekick?
-Someone you can trust
-Someone who makes you look good (or even better)
-Someone who works with you for a greater goal
-Someone who is ok with taking a back seat
-Someone who brings some fun once in awhile
As we explore more sidekicks, we will be able to unravel more secrets to a good one. For now, do you have anything I should add?
I compiled a few videos to give a look into how some of our favorite talk show hosts' view hair.
-Conan O'Brien is known for his signature red front wave, and now we know how keeps it intact.
-Sherry Shepherd, from The View (a talk show we have yet to discuss but will soon) gave up on her own locks and now sticks to wigs.
-Oprah clearly can't make up her mind, but at least we know its hers.
Of course we need a sidekick!
-Even though we never really see Chuy Bravo's hair under the hats he wears, we know he can whip it into shape.
If you were a talk show host, or even a sidekick, what would be your signature hair-do?
Every once in awhile I will do a random facts page on a talk show host sidekick, whether he/she is known, loved, despised, or forgot-about. It's important to know the facts.
Name: Chuy Bravo Sidekick of: Chelsea Handler Height: 4'3" Hometown: Tangancicuaro, Michoacan Mexico Catch phrase: Nugget Family: He's the youngest of 7 and came from Mexico to the United States when he was 15 First TV role: “Austin Powers 3: Goldmember" Ways he/she helps society: He heads the "Little Nugget Foundation" (2009 launch) addresses drug and alcohol addiction and plans on opening a rehab center in his hometown. Other: On April 1, 2010 he released a book titled, "Little Nuggets of Wisdom"
Tomorrow starts Rosie O'Donnell's new show, The Rosie Show. Don't get it confused with her previous show that ended in 2002, The Rosie O'Donnell Show. If you lost track of her since that show ended, Rosie co-hosted The View for a short while and got into some controversial discussions.
Oprah Winfrey has given Rosie life a "part two" (in her words). The new OWN Network show will debut tomorrow (Monday) at 7pm. The new talk show will focus on a single topic for the entire hour, dealing with real every day issues like relationships, weight, and education.
I'm curious to see if she has sidekick or not. Who do you think would be the best sidekick for Rosie O'Donnell?
Actors turn singers, singers become producers, and musicians turn into talk show sidekicks. How do you feel about the constant crossover? People spend years perfecting their craft, and then here comes someone who is already successful that jumps right in and takes the spotlight. I'm seeing a trend...
But we'll just skip over Oprah because she has crossed over to every medium...I wouldn't be surprised if she introduced a new medium...but let's come back to recent book releases.
Last week Ellen DeGeneres released her third book, "Seriously... I'm Kidding."
It's a journey of Ellen's life. Her first book was published in 1995, titled, "My Point... And I Do Have One," and the second was published ten years later in 2005 and was titled, "The Funny Thing Is..." She has done so much work in television--currently "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is its 9th season. The previous 8 seasons won 35 Daytime Emmy Awards...but clearly that's not enough. Ellen's first two books hit the New York Times Best Seller List, and the first one ("My Point... And I Do Have One") became No. 1.
Last November, Chelsea Handler signed with Grand Central Publishing for her own imprint, "Borderline Amazing/A Chelsea Handler Book." In May 2011, she released "Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me," where her friends and family tell the untruthful tales she spread throughout the years. It is one of the three books she is signed on to write for the imprint.
The second book with the imprint is in preliminary stages, but will apparently be written through the eyes of her dog, Chunk. And the third is currently undecided.
Hosts aren't the only ones who can write a book. Chelsea's very own sidekick, Chuy Bravo also released a book in one month after "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang," in April 2010. In his first book, "Little Nuggets of Wisdom," Chuy gives tidbits of advice across many topics including friendship, food, family, and finances.
David Letterman's sidekick and musical director, Paul Shaffer wrote a memoir of his life in the music business, which was released it in October 2009 titled, "We'll Be Here For The Rest of Our Lives."
There are many more instances where television personalities have become authors on the side. As we've seen there has been a lot of crossover throughout the industry. How do you feel about that? Do you think it's fair that a book is awarded a very prestigious best selling award just because the author is successful already, while millions of people are trying to make a living waiting for a company to even purchase their material? Or do you believe if a person's talented, they have the right to do whatever they want?
Premiere Week:
Letterman lost 560,000 viewers from last year.
Leno lost 160,000 from last year.
Emmy-nominated Fallon (the host of the youngest late night show) came in with 1.7 million viewers.
There has been a lot of articles recently explaining the decline of late night talk shows. But the question isn't, "Are viewers losing interest in these shows?" but rather, "In general, why has the viewership been decreasing?"
Is it the the hosts themselves? Some people think so. Is it the length of the shows? The DVR and Internet capabilities? Possibly. Or maybe people are just going to bed earlier?
I think it's a mixture of all of them...except maybe the nation's bedtime (I still need to do some research on that.) There is something to be said for viewers wanting to see new and younger faces (Jimmy Fallon). And they also want entertaining ones (sorry George Lopez).
Due to many reasons, primarily the Internet, the attention span across the nation has decreased, so an hour-long segment sometimes seems a lot longer than a half hour one. For me, it depends on the show. But for a talk show the format is very consistent and that can get really old.
Then comes the question of DVR and Internet programming options. If I'm interested in a talk show, I have no problem recording it to watch at a later (or earlier for that matter) time. The "Live" aspect doesn't do much for me anymore. It's an overused word...but that's a discussion for another time. Viewers, especially the coveted young people, often times only watch TV shows online. TBS is trying to get the advertisers for O'Brien's show to focus on his online presence rather than his declining television ratings. Howard Stern doesn't think this is going to be very successful though.
Either way things are clearly changing across the late night platform, even across the entire television medium. These questions may need to be directed more broadly to all talk shows--late night, daytime, and primetime. Over the next few weeks let's start paying attention what shows are successful.
What ever happened to letting fate handle things? Ok, fine. I guess Oprah Winfrey's sidekick and best friend, Gayle King has a hard time (probably no time) to just go out and pass her number around. So she wants to play the new dating game? Then play it fair, Gayle! While most people are now going to match.com or eharmony.com, a lot of rich people ask Patti Stanger to be "in the club."
But Gayle has to go to a Guinness Book of World Records holder (for match making) Orly Hadida. "She wants to find love, who cares how she gets it," you say. But the apparent issue now is, Miss Orly set Gayle up, but Gayle never held up her of the compensation deal. Not a big deal? It's $500,000 big. Orly the Matchmaker said she'd be totally cool with just guess-starring on Oprah...oh that's no big deal. Oprah doesn't have her guests booked months, maybe years, in advance or anything...It's so weird how they couldn't just through her on TV!
Either way, apparently nothing was set in writing. Now Gayle is man-less and getting sued. But at least she has one of the most powerful women on her side--I wouldn't be too worried.
Jokester David Letterman will take on a serious topic this evening. Check out a sneak peak here, but make sure to watch the Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm tonight!
Welcome to Partner in Primetime! As many of you may have noticed, almost every successful talk show host has some form of "partner in crime" that supports the show--a sidekick of sort. This blog will be an exploration to find out more about these TV companions. I will sometimes focus on certain partners--giving a biography-style report. While other weeks, I will be giving a historical lesson on monumental sidekicks.
Either way, it's a journey I am beginning with you, my readers. We are going to explore the second, lesser-known, half of these TV personalities, and we are going to do it together. The red light is officially on, which means we have started rolling.
To get started. Check out this video with Conan O'Brien and his former sidekick Andy Richter (and of course we will hear about Andy some more later).
