Three, three, three plugs in one. That’s what actor Jeremy Piven offered on a recent edition of Dave Letterman’s show. Dressed in a pin-stripped suit with a too-tight jacket, too-long tie and sporting a five-o’clock shadow, Piven carries a humbleness that belies a layer of cockiness. When asked about winning three Emmys in a row, Piven said “I need more, Dave,” but you got the sneaking suspicion that he really meant it.
I think he was there to promote his new film Rocknrolla, but he also discussed his current Broadway stint in Speed the Plow and, of course, we couldn’t forget his TV show Entourage. Wow!
Piven was enjoyable, although sometimes it felt like he wasn’t completely listening to Dave. At one point, Dave asked an admittedly confusing question and Piven answered with a semi non sequitur that was just about what he wanted to say seeming as if he was getting coaching from a certain VP candidate instead of his publicist? Dave wrapped the exchange up saying “It’s interesting because I’m not sure I understood my question and clearly you didn’t understand my question…” “I didn’t either,” Piven replied and quickly and cleverly added, “I felt like Sarah Palin. I was confused and I played through.” To which Dave said “nice job.” And it was a nice job. Not stellar, but nice.
I really wanted to like Molly Shannon on Jay Leno’s show, but she made it so difficult because, frankly, I was so exhausted after watching her. When she walked out, she brought chips and salsa to a couple at a mock Mexican restaurant table set up on stage – a bit Jay and Co. were doing. She was a good sport to participate and seemed genuinely excited to be there, waving at the crowd and grinning that huge grin. The trouble began when she sat down. From continually fixing and touching her hair, to either genuinely or playfully losing concentration, to telling uncomfortably awkward stories about her family and upbringing — Shannon was all over the place. She sensed it herself I think, when she started to drink from Jay’s cup – he stopped her – and she tried to cover, joking with “I’m a real classy guest.”
They did talk about her new show Kath and Kim and showed a clip, but by that time I was so beaten up by all of the frenetic energy, that I could hardly concentrate. Now, I’m pretty sure on some level this is all about nerves, but it just shouldn’t happen. Shannon needs someone to sit her down in a quiet place and teach her to channel her energy and focus on her direction and intent.
I think we’ve discovered why she is so talented and adept with characters. Now if she could only “play” a calm, centered talk show guest, she’d have it made. Perhaps she could add that to her repertoire.
Bill Maher is clever intelligent and insightful. He can also be smug, condescending and obnoxious. His appearance on The Daily Show was humorous and thought provoking, but he often came so close to crossing the line of decorum that the audience may have miss his message. Not that he appears to care, but if people don’t watch or stay tuned in, you can’t educate them or even get them to consider your platform. It’s ironic that as the election nears, Maher is riding the crest of his popularity among liberal audiences which would make him a perfect fit for The Daily Show’s studio audience, but at times as much as the crowed WANTED to be with him, the often rough time he game Stewart resulted in a palpable confusion in the audience.
Promoting his film Religilous, simply put, Maher even gave his host, a tough time. On several occasions, Stewart asked serious questions about religion and Maher shot him down, once just say NO! Not necessarily the wisest move as a talk show guest, even if it’s supposed to be funny. There may be a bit of a battle going on here as Maher and Stewart jockey for the position as leader of the satirical political comedy kingdom. This could account for a slight unease displayed by Maher.
The other problem I had with Maher was that his spiel wasn’t new. He had set bits that he’s used on other shows verbatim. Again, a man this smart should be able to mix it up and offer a unique visit to every show. You need to make sure you do that. He of all people, being a talk show host himself should know better.
Every time I see that Will Ferrell is booked on a show, I make an attempt watch it. Probably because I am a huge fan of his work in films like Anchorman and Blades of Glory, I just expect him to be a great guest. But like the fans of the glory years of SNL who tunes in week after week only to be let down most of the time, I find myself in the same boat when I tune in for Ferrell. I so want him to be great on talk shows, but he just isn’t.
Ferrell’s appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson for some kind of late-in-the-day promotion for Step Brothers is a case in point. As usual, the segment kicked off with a clip from the movie, in contrast to most shows displaying a clip near the end of the interview. After some amusing interplay over their respective wrist bracelets – Ferrell’s promoting global warming and Craig’s a gift from his son – the comedy advanced in fits and starts. Ferrell kept trying to ride the Ferguson tidal wave, but his attempts to connect seemed off the mark and scattershot most of the time. He summoned up his father in the audience. He let Craig feel his butt. But mostly, he somewhat timidly (for him) followed Craig’s lead, with both of them finally getting in harmony near the end with a wacky image of a Lord of the Dance extravaganza with Stairmasters on the stage in Las Vegas.
Was it entertaining? Pretty much so. But this gets only 3 Whispers because Ferrell came off as a hesitant second banana. There seems to be only two ways to shine in the Ferguson maelstrom: aggressively take charge and compel Craig’s respect (see our Archives for Kathy Griffin’s star turn on his show) or lay back, feed Craig opportunities and watch for the perfect opening to get in your own comic shot (ditto the Archives for Thandie Newton on The Late Late Show.) The only certain thing: your standard approach will fail, because this show never depends on old talk show traditions – it’s a pacesetter.
As for Ferrell himself, I’ll keep watching and praying.
It’s not often that we would review the talk show appearance of a star so recently. But in the case of Brendan Fraser, he has spent the Summer of ‘08 is the desirable position of having to promote two potential blockbusters released within 30 days of each other. As I was admittedly critical of his early Summer appearances, I thought it fair to give him another look. Unfortunately, things haven’t gotten much better.
While he was hawking Journey to the Center of the Earth, I mentioned that Fraser may have taken his movie promotion role a little too seriously, foregoing the fun his personality usually promises. On his recent outing on The Tonight Show for Mummy 3, he seemed to be over-correcting and trying too hard. His appearance felt engineered and too rehearsed, with lots of props and plenty of energy, but little genuine connection between him and Jay and even less with the audience.
Things did not get off to a promising start. There’s an old adage in show business: never work with animals or small children. Now, if you’d think if anyone could handle this situation, you’d think it would be Brendan Fraser with his vast experience of working with animate and inanimate objects. Yet he apparently met his match as his appearance was preceded by a contingent of animals that included a woodpecker, jungle cat, raccoons and a massive anteater, and every one of them seemed more at ease in the Guest Seat than Fraser did.
He started out promisingly, trotting through the curtains and acknowledging the band, the audience and even a hey-howdy gesture right into the camera. But even when he launched into his own animal-related escapades, he seemed curiously forced, with a hint of flop sweat.
What would have helped? Maybe a touch of the dry humor he exhibited in the first Mummy movie, the kind of wry self-composure that serves the likes of George Clooney and Gillian Anderson so well when they hit the talk show circuit. Even the action clip from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor felt full of frenzy rather than fun. Fraser introduced it with “As you know, I work with animals frequently…” Maybe they should have kept the anteater on past the commercial!
We have to hand it to James Franco – he did warn us right from the start. He did his best to lower our expectations. “I did one other talk show before this [that scintillating talkmeister] Tony Danza…I’m really nervous.” But even that failed to prepare us for his scattered performance during an appearance to promote his new movie, Pineapple Express.
The ingredients were there. He had a pocketful of great stories:
• His grandmother named her dog Dave and decided to teach it Stupid Pet Tricks.
• His parents hated the idea of him being an actor – now the whole family is in show business
• In his struggling actor days, he worked at McDonalds and used to pick up girls by doing a fake Italian accents
All terrific stuff, but here was the BIG mistake: these stories were woefully under-rehearsed. Even the best actors (and James Franco is a real pro) often fail to realize being a talk show guest is about performing. It takes prep, people! It’s hard work being naturally you, and just dredging up a few stories (however cute or funny) doesn’t cut it unless you rehearse. And don’t depend on the show’s producers to get you up to speed – this is a task that should be tackled well in advance.
It’s all so hard on TGW because Franco is just so damn likeable! He has the potential to be a great guest, once he focuses his anecdotes and gets some feedback (are you listening, managers, agents and publicists?) to help him gauge how his stories work. We’ll certainly watch for him on his next outing.
On yet another visit to The View, Sarah Jessica Parker lived up to her high expectations as a fashion plate, as demonstrated by the beautifully striking extremely tight dress and excessively high heels. But the dress was so tight that apparently she forgot to bring the “fun” out with her. While in the past she was all about being the gracious and charming star of “Sex and the City” film, this appearance was all Parker the producer. No giddy, girlish laughter here, she was serious and forthright. She discussed the daunting difficulties of taking on such a “long and wonderfully laborious” project two years earlier — think booking sound stages and securing production teams is fun? The thrill of getting the over-40 female audience to come to the film — 41% hadn’t even been to the movies in the two months prior to the release of SATC. There was a discussion of the 81 costume changes for her character in the film, only 60 or so that made the final cut. All interesting, but this wasn’t exactly The Actors Workshop, it’s still the gab-fest known as The View.
Now, I’m not faulting her for her earnestness, I’m just saying that the fun factor was missing…and that’s a shame. Could it be that ever Parker has run out of amusing things to say about the two and a half-hour film?
On a recent David Letterman show, Adam Sandler reaffirmed his ability to create memorable characters – not the guy sitting in the chair opposite Dave, but the guy in the clip from his new movie “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” The guy in the chair was kinda schlumpy – dressed in faded, loose-fitting jeans and a t-shirt, nervous – shaking his foot a-mile-a-minute, and rehearsed – telling preplanned jokes, several of which were scribbled on his left palm as a reminder “in case I don’t know what I’m doin’ here tonight…gotta get it in there, you know.”
Sandler does have an every guy quality and his self-effacing humor is funny – he talked about his need to be careful because his two-year-old daughter is now repeating anything she hears…” I’m the biggest star in the world,” “The critics just don’t get me.” Funny, but even Sandler knew his “routine” was obvious saying “that was terrible, stupid” after one particularly bad one-liner.
Sandler rarely made eye contact when he was telling a story, although mercifully did look at Dave when he was asking him a question. It’s an odd brand of nervousness from a star who is at the top of his game, but appears look at public appearances like this one as a chore rather than an opportunity to connect with his audience. Even Dave commented that he hadn’t been on the show for over a year and by the end of the interview we all knew why.
Helen Hunt received a standing ovation when she joined Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show recently. Probably a good thing the audience gave it to her upon arrival. I won’t say she was bad, she wasn’t, but she just wasn’t great. She did take control and dominate the conversation (not always easy with Ellen)… which was ok. She did talk a lot about her new film, Then She found Me,… good. She even joked about her old boyfriend, Matthew Broderick, playing her husband in the new film… funny. And her timing and delivery are strong (she did win and Oscar, after all!). But something about her overall demeanor is plaintive and whiney and even a bit condescending. She always looked pained. It’s off-putting and makes for a less-than-satisfying experience. It may be what got her where she is in her career, but I wish she didn’t bring it with her to interviews… not good!
Watching Marisa Tomei on Conan O’Brien’s show was like being at Kitty Hawk with the Wright Brothers – you thought something good was going to happen, but it never really got off the ground. Not only did she dress in a nondescript frock, but the tone of the whole interview was, dare I say it, boring.
There to promote her new movie War Inc., Tomei actually spent more time talking about the film she’s making now with Micky Rourke, The Wrestler, in which she plays a stripper. Now, you would think, and hope, that would lead to some fun, provocative conversation… not so much. She did manage to laugh and giggle a lot (which is often all one can do when dealing with Conan O’Brien), but not much else. She didn’t even know what clip to set up.
It’s a shame, really, because you get the sense she has so much more to offer. Oh yes, she also plugged the play she’s currently doing on Broadway, Top Girls. Come to think of it, maybe she was just tired.
