I can’t think of a harder situation for a guest than being best known primarily as a comedic actor or actress and having to go on a national talk show to sell a drama.  Such was the plight of the always-entertaining Cameron Diaz, as she paid a visit to The Daily Show to promote “My Sister’s Keeper.”
Getting your “message” across in a Daily Show interview is always a risky proposition.  No matter what your agenda, the only guarantee that you will get the right promotion, is the giant poster of your film or book that adorns the back of the set.  Beyond that, any publicist who tells you different simply doesn’t watch the show.  The reality is, Jon goes where Jon wants to go, and that’s usually to the benefit of the show and the guest.  Now I’m not saying that getting your message through is impossible, especially if you are an attractive woman that would have rejected Jon in high school, or is an undeniable Shixa Goddess — credits that both could be attributed to Ms. Diaz.
The problem was, she just wasn’t properly prepared.  If you don’t know, in “My Sister’s Keeper” Cameron Diaz plays the mother of one child who is a leukemia victim and the other who was ostensibly born to be a compatible blood, marrow and organ donor to help keep her other sister alive.  When the second sister begins to resent that role, a legal battle ensues.  For any guest this would be a tough sell knowing that you are competing in the summer theaters with the likes of “Transformers” and “Harry Potter.”  Not that this type of film won’t find an audience as alternative fare, but Ms. Diaz couldn’t keep from harping on the fact that she and everyone who saw it were crying for days.  An admirable compliment for the cast’s performances, but deadly to those who a looking to pay money for a break this summer in the theaters.
Whatever happened to descriptions like “heartwarming,” “beautiful,” “moving,” and “honest?”  And you can never go wrong praising the acting of your fellow actors to fill time – something at least Jon Stewart took the lead on in mentioning Alec Baldwin’s performance.  Although he couldn’t resist commenting that the clip looked like the “saddest episode of ‘30 Rock’ ever.”
All in all some concerted prep was in order here and at the end of the day I can’t blame the performer, I blame the publicist or studio executive who booked her on the show and simply hoped for the best.  They got the worst.

It’s fun to see Jon Stewart matched or even bested. And he didn’t even know it himself for a few seconds. The guest was Tim Robbins, a smart, political and extremely quick witted actor/activist. But let me begin at the beginning. The interview started with some brief, humorous chat about Tim being the first person to sit in the chair since Clint Eastwood. Then Stewart asked Robbins how he is and Robbins replied, “I’m doing great other than, you know, the fact that the world is collapsing” referring to the financial world. They furthered the conversation discussing the “talking dog” movie being the top-grossing film of the weekend (“a sign of the apocalypse”) and that, because they have kids, they’ve had to sacrifice and suffer through years of “shitty movies”… “That’s why I did City of Ember, because it’s a really good film, the kind of film an adult can take a child to and actually enjoy the film.” Even Stewart knows brilliance when he sees it, responding “That was maybe the finest segway I’ve ever heard in my life!” They continued to talk about Robbins’ film and its indomitable spirit. An intelligent, well done promotion.

There’s a part of Robbins that still looks and seems18 years old. His spirit is certainly young and his presence is casual and strong. All that plus his awareness of current events and ability to discuss them intelligently lead to a most enjoyable appearance. Kudos to a job well done.

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.

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.

Ben Stiller is the perfect mix of quick-witted dry humor and goof ball nervousness, as evidenced by his recent entrance on The Daily Show. When Stiller attempted to sit down and pull his chair closer to the desk, he couldn’t.  He was subtly caught in a personal awkward moment, which caused him, finally, to just lean in to address Stewart’s first comments. It was affective, funny and almost seemed like a bit from a Ben Stiller movie.

As far as the verbal part of the interview went, it was clever and cozy. Cozy because here were two dads talking about their kids’ total lack of interest in their work. Stories were flying back and forth and male bonding was at its zenith. They concluded the lamenting with the following exchange:
Stiller: “They’re difficult. Children are difficult.”
Stewart: “I tell ya they’re too much. I want them out”
Funny stuff.

There was much discussion about Stiller’s new film Tropic Thunder, including Stewart asking how Stiller was to work with, as he was both director and star.  Stiller replied “I find myself uncommunicative and distant.”

Interestingly, the way the show is shot there is not a lot of opportunity for much visual intimacy as there is in most TV interviews.  The dominant camera two-shot, doesn’t offer the immediate reactions that viewers are used to seeing.  But, with that in mind, and Stewart’s ever-present own agenda to deal with, I must say Stiller did a very good job at keeping the interview personal and lively. He piqued viewer’s interest in his film, got laughs from the host and stayed humble to boot. Well done.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino took the day off from being the butt of Jon Stewart’s jokes to help make her own, with a rare appearance on The Daily Show. Complete with permanent, pasted on smile and wearing overly perky pink, she did the best she could to keep up with the rapid fire Stewart, in what can best be described as yet another fruitless attempt to show that the current administration is “hip????”

Wound as tight as a drum, Perino remained mostly unflappable during the five minute sit down, impressing Stewart with her almost robot-like resolve to hold the company line. Only when Stewart moved on to the hypothetical, “what if you were Spitzer’s Press Secretary” line of questioning, did Perino, almost breathless at this point, begin to show wear. All in all an entertaining interview with some laugh out loud moments that ultimately served everyone well.