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?
Showing posts with label David Letterman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Letterman. Show all posts
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Talk Show Host turned Author
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...
Recently talk show hosts have been dabbling in writing. Many hosts, both daytime and nighttime, have released books. Oprah Winfrey has co-authored 5 books:
1. "In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah's Favorite Recipes" (1994 with Rosie Daley)
2. "A Journal of Daily Renewal: The Comparison to Make a Connection" (1996 with Bob Greene)
3. "The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey" (1997 with Bill Andler)
4. "Journey to Beloved" (1998 with Ken Regan)
5. "Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life" (1999 with Bob Greene).
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.
In May 2005, Chelsea wrote her first book, "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands." Her second book, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" was released in 2008, and her third book, "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" hit the shelves in 2010. It hit No. 1 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List the same week her first two books became No. 2 and No. 3 on the paperback list.
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?
Recently talk show hosts have been dabbling in writing. Many hosts, both daytime and nighttime, have released books. Oprah Winfrey has co-authored 5 books:
1. "In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah's Favorite Recipes" (1994 with Rosie Daley)
2. "A Journal of Daily Renewal: The Comparison to Make a Connection" (1996 with Bob Greene)
3. "The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey" (1997 with Bill Andler)
4. "Journey to Beloved" (1998 with Ken Regan)
5. "Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life" (1999 with Bob Greene).
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.
In May 2005, Chelsea wrote her first book, "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands." Her second book, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" was released in 2008, and her third book, "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" hit the shelves in 2010. It hit No. 1 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List the same week her first two books became No. 2 and No. 3 on the paperback list.
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?
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Late Night Battle
David Letterman...64-years-old
Jay Leno...61-years-old
Conan O'Brien...48-years-old
Jimmy Kimmel...43-years-old
Jimmy Fallon...37-years-old
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.
Conan O'Brien...48-years-old
Jimmy Kimmel...43-years-old
Jimmy Fallon...37-years-old
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.
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