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.
