Dressed eerily similarly to Leno, Jimmy Kimmel had to take a ribbing before he even sat down, “is that the Jay Leno young men’s collection?” referring to his wardrobe.  Not to be tarried with, Kimmel launched into his own diatribe, smartly including the audience.  He said to Leno, “may we speak privately for a moment? (with a knowing glance to the crowd) You guys are cool, right?” He proceeded to express his concern for the rumor that, upon his eviction from NBC, Leno would be coming to ABC, where, in case Leno didn’t know, he has a late night talk show of his own.  Kimmel continued on his sarcastic rant for quite some time telling Jay how bad ABC was to work for and how his car kept getting keyed, as he knew all things automotive are near and dear to Leno’s heart, and finally ending the misery definitively with “so don’t come there!”

While I’m not really sure what he was there to promote, he talked about his parents, who were in the audience (perhaps that’s why he was there, his parents wanted to see the Jay Leno show!) He then jumped back on his soap box commenting about Jay having sent his Mom flowers saying, “It’s not enough to take my show, you have to take my mother from me too?”  Even when they returned from the break, Kimmel lead with his calculation of Leno’s worth ($703 billion dollars, by his most recent count) and saying he doesn’t need another job.  It was funny, but bordering on real… too real… and uncomfortably desperate.  A fine line that Kimmel continued to walk.  They went on to chat about Kimmel’s Emmy, which he said was really won by his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman and his cousin, and then ended the interview showing a clip from his own show.

Again, I really am not sure why he was there, but it was an entertaining appearance.  Certainly two people who know better than most about comic timing, pace and humor; they played well off each other, Jay teasing Jimmy like the Jedi Master joshing the Young Padawan.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds for these intergalactic stars.

It’s often hard to walk out on stage when an interviewer has just taken a serious tone, as Julia Louis-Dreyfus was forced to do after David Letterman had just paid tribute to his friend Paul Newman. Louis-Dreyfus took the right tack by not trying to lighten up the moment immediately, but by adding her own comments and complimenting the organic nature of his Newman’s Own products. A nice tip of the hat to a great man and I’m sure Letterman appreciated it.  She was then able to segued into the now infamous non-appearance by John McCain on Dave’s show and his ultimate dissing of Dave by making it to a Katie Couric interview. She found that very rude.  So, in an effort to “show my support for you and sort of set the universe straight, I also scheduled an interview for exactly this time and I’m not showing up for it!”  Dave, afraid she was going to leave, asked her with whom. With perfect timing, she said “Katie Couric, of course.” They then cut to a shot of Couric sitting alone in the studio, waiting, staring at an empty chair. A nicely set up bit that obviously pleased Dave.

Most of the rest of the interview was an entertaining recount of her family vacation in Africa. “I’d like to go,” interjected Dave. “Would you? Well, listen to this,” she warned and proceeded to regale us with all the nightmares they encountered with lions, scorpions and baby black mambos.  Clearly Dave was souring to the whole adventure as the interview progressed.

They did finally get around to talking about her show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, which is in its fourth season. She wasn’t too happy with its season premiere being against Dancing with the Stars, but she said she wasn’t worried.  And she really shouldn’t be…she and Dave had a great time, laughed a lot, as did the audience.

It’s an interesting phenomenon when a talk show guest is clearly not known by a good portion of the audience and the host of the show, in this case Craig Ferguson, is a fawning, doting obsessed fan, in this case Tim Gunn.  Such was the case when Gunn appeared on Ferguson’s post mid-night talkfest recently. Gunn, best known for his regular gig on Project Runway, and less known for his own show Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, seemed to be as enamored with Ferguson as Ferguson was with him. It was a mutual love affair that felt a little uncomfortable to the only passively interested viewer, such as myself.

It seems Ferguson has become so transfixed with Project Runway that he offered this warning to his audience: “If you haven’t seen Project Runway or know nothing about it, tonight’s the night for [you to watch] Conan.  Cuz I’m going to be talkin’ about it!” And he wasn’t kidding. The rest of the segment was devoted to discussing, in amazing detail, contestants, judges and even sewing techniques. You never saw two men more engaged and happy — at least on TV.  Gunn was so important to Ferguson that the host didn’t even try to make jokes. He just wanted to talk about the show…the true definition of the word FAN – ATIC!  As for Gunn’s demeanor, he was pleasant, respectful and entertaining. Nothing more. Nothing less. He did his job, and did it well.

I truly felt like I was overhearing two friends chatting over coffee or at the gym or, in this case, maybe a trendy West Hollywood Boutique. All in all it was entertaining to a point, but it’s obvious that this late, late night talk show chooses to offer some special exceptions when it comes to pleasing both host and audience.

Diane Lane and Richard Gere are like the favorite sweater you put on when the cold sets in – warm and comfortable. And we were privy to that coziness when they appeared on the new Bonnie Hunt Show. A show and host that are still searching for their groove, as the quick witted and often cutting host, looks cultivate to a laid-back, down-home style that she and her producers believe is more conducive to daytime talk. While Hunt seems to be trying a little too hard to be a “regular gal,” she did allow pros like Lane and Gere to fall into their own brand of an easy rapport.

There to promote their new film Nights in Rodanthe, their third film together in 25 years, Lane and Gere acted like an old married couple – and I mean this in a good way.  At times we watched them speak for each other, tease each other and tag-team seamlessly in discussing the film, which they did for quite a while and over several clips.  They were certainly a major “get” for a fledgling show, already hurting in the ratings, and Bonnie showed her gratitude by giving them major time latitude.  I did find it interesting that Gere felt the need to carry a prop – a paper coffee cup – out with him, which he held, but rarely drank from throughout the interview. Usually this is a sign of nervousness posing as informality, but in Gere’s case as a veteran of all of this, it’s hard to figure out just what was going on here.  With whatever apprehension he may have been feeling, he was still comfortable enough to play with the audience and the host, to everyone’s delight.

It’s not the easiest task to interview two people at once, or for that matter, be interviewed as a team, but all things considered, Bonnie did it well. I just wish there could have been a little less laid-back comfort and a little more excitement, but in this case, familiarity didn’t breed contempt, we just felt like we were part of the family.

While not known for his sense of humor, Bill Clinton did prove he had one when he visited The Daily Show recently. He’s been making the rounds of talk shows lately and his appearances have been rather serious. So, a touch of levity demanded by The Daily Show was a nice change of pace. He still displayed his intelligence and pit bull determination to make his points, but seeing him lean back in his chair, laughing out loud and clapping and even grabbing Stewart’s arm several times, felt at least new to the current Clinton repertoire. (Stewart couldn’t resist saying at the end of the interview “[Oh and] that really hurt my arm.”)

Interestingly, he didn’t really talk about The Clinton Global Initiative that he was ostensibly there to promote. Not that laser-focused promotion is even possible on most nights with Stewart.  The appearance was additionally crippled by the fact that there were obvious edits, that one can only guess was due to the fact that the interview must have run long, although Stewart did give an uncustomary double segment. It makes it harder to critique a guest when that occurs because you don’t really see the natural flow of conversation and whether they achieved their goals. In this instance, however, I do believe Clinton allowed himself to be lead through The Daily Show comic minefield more than he expected, as he obviously felt compelled to fully answer the questions posed.

At one point Stewart asked Clinton how much he would win by if HE was running today? “20 points… You’d pretty much crush ‘em! You’ve still got it!” And whatever “it” is, he does… and now with a bit of go-with-the-flow humor, too.

John Krasinski is pretty nearly the ideal talk-show guest. Casual, quick, dry and funny as hell. Not only did he listen during his time on screen, but he obviously was watching show from the green room (the talk show guest’s “on deck circle”) even before he was on stage. This is a sure fire way to win the respect of the host and a golden opportunity to insert humor when the comic groundwork has already been laid for the audience.  It’s a nice trick that works nine times out of ten.  On his recent visit to Craig Ferguson’s Late, Late Show, Krasinski heard Ferguson talking about the trend of actors in commercials for the new fall TV season posing in over-the-shoulder model stances. Ferguson proceeded to do several versions for the audience… as did Krasinski when he came out, immediately endearing himself to Ferguson and the crowd.

As you know, we talk about knowing your host, your audience and your show before you make an appearance. That means doing your homework… and Krasinski did his, literally, and talked about it, too. In discussing Ferguson’s spot on the Emmys where he grabbed Brooke Shields’ ass, Krasinski said “ You got a little randy in your bit, didn’t you? That’s what they say in the UK, right? Randy? I did my homework for this show!” More brownie points.

Krasinski brought a little of everything to the show – from playing with the audience to talking directly to camera (to Eric Stoltz, actually) to impressions (Brando and a Muppet). And he made them all work beautifully. The only thing he didn’t do, which is a real Guest Whisperer no-no, is talk about his role in NBC’s The Office, which he was most likely there to promote. It’s a good thing Craig showed a clip at the top of the segment. This, of course, is partly the host’s fault, but you must remember why you’re there in the first place.  If a segment is going well by the hosts standards, then it is incumbent on the guest to subtly take charge and steer the conversation to the topic at hand.  This is primarily why I can’t give him a five out of five rating for this appearance.

I wish all guests were as clever, relaxed and entertaining as John Krasinski.  Next time we hope he can hit it out of the park.