# Disappointing talk show interviews **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345 "2018-04-30T13:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/21 "2018-04-30T21:26:54Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Or it could’ve been he liked Letterman a lot more than Leno and saved his best stuff for him. I remember quite clearly thinking something was off with him. And he was selling a book so he wasn’t just there to bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/22 "2018-04-30T22:00:50Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > David Letterman is one of the best and most experienced talk show interviewers around. It may simply be that Jay Z is not a great interviewee but I can’t help wondering, though, had he been interviewed by someone sharing more cultural overlap if it might have been a more engaging interview. I’m wondering if other Dopers saw that interview and got a similar impression? > > More generally, can you think of any other interviews on any tv talk show where you thought there was a guest who should have had something potentially interesting or important to say but instead came off like flat ginger ale? I was never particularly impressed with Letterman as a generic interviewer. If he was interviewing about something he wasn’t personally knowledgeable about or interested in, it always came across as mocking. On the other hand, his interviews with Warren Zevon, when it was known that Zevon was dying of cancer, were incredible. He could rise to the occasion when it was someone he cared about and respected. > [@Loach](#): > > I remember Peter O’Toole giving one of the worst interviews ever. I think it was with Leno. He barely spoke. A week or so later he was charming and hilarious ok Letterman. I’m pretty sure his bad performance on Leno was due to his level of intoxication but I’m not sure if it was too high or too low. I remember an interview with O’Toole that was amazing. I even [commented](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51892) on it at the time. Don’t worry, it’s a short thread. I can think of two memorably disappointing interviews. The first was on _Later_ with Bob Costas. I liked Costas as an interviewer, even (or maybe especially) with people who weren’t sports stars. He did two episodes, back-to-back, with Paul Simon that were great. But he had Chuck Jones on once and just couldn’t really draw any real insights out of him. Kind of a shame, but I suppose Jones’s genius manifested at the point of his pen, and not out of his mouth. I can live with that. Age may have played a factor as well. I caught a rerun of an old Dick Cavett show (I think) with Jones that was pretty good, with him sharing some details about his characters and how their body language reflected their attitude. The other one was on a local Seattle show called _Almost Live_. It began as a Sunday evening talk show, with some sketch comedy and interviewing celebrities who happened to be in the city that week. The original host, Ross Shafer, moved on to Hollywood and some national hosting gigs, and the show eventually morphed into just comedy on Saturday nights.[sup]\*[/sup] But there was an awkward transition phase when the former sidekick and comedian tried to carry it on as an interview show. The one with Jackie Stewart was painful. The host, John Kiester, didn’t seem to know anything about Stewart, except to ask him to say “the dilithium crystals can’t take it anymore, captain!” - As a comedy show it launched the careers of Bill Nye and Joel McHale. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/23 "2018-04-30T23:02:06Z")
Long before Brian Williams lost his seat as the NBC anchor, he interviewed Dick Cheney. He spent the entire interview lobbing softball questions at someone who is arguably a war criminal and a giant flaming asshole. It put me off Williams forever. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/24 "2018-04-30T23:49:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > But he had Chuck Jones on once and just couldn’t really draw any real insights out of him. Kind of a shame, but I suppose Jones’s genius manifested at the point of his pen, and not out of his mouth. I can live with that. Age may have played a factor as well. I saw Conan O’Brien interview Don Martin (from Mad magazine), and it was pretty similar to what you describe: an old man who wasn’t particularly garrulous. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/25 "2018-05-01T00:00:46Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I saw Conan O’Brien interview Don Martin (from Mad magazine), and it was pretty similar to what you describe: an old man who wasn’t particularly garrulous. Did he at least have good sound effects. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/26 "2018-05-01T00:01:34Z")
Dan Rather interviewed Eddy Money a month or so ago. Is Money just stupid or what? He couldn’t answer a single question without going on a tangent. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/27 "2018-05-01T00:05:46Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Did he at least have good sound effects. They played a game where Conan would describe an event and Don Martin would say the sound effect to go with it. When I describe it, it sounds funny. But it was mostly a dud. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/28 "2018-05-01T02:21:51Z")
You had Barbara Walters lobbing softballs to Hillary Clinton over Monica Lewinsky “how do you feel when people say nasty things about you?”. Hey Hillary, since you stand by your husband the perjurer and rapist, what does that make you? Walters also sympathized with Rosario Ames, wife and helper to her husband the convicted Russian spy. Baba Wawa wasn’t interested in footage showing the Ames discussing what he was doing, she tried tp paint her as an innocent victim. Back when Howard Cosell had a Saturday night variety show, he had on F Lee Bailey who had just become Patty Hearst’s attorney for her trial. The judge gave Bailey permission to talk about the case. But the corporate ABC suits said no and Cosell and Bailey were reduced talking about what a nice woman Hearst was. As producer Roone Arledge said, we deserved the reaming the critics gave us. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/29 "2018-05-01T03:53:54Z")
I’ll never forget the night Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino were both on Letterman. It was clear neither of them wanted to be there and didn’t give a shit as to how they came on. They sleepwalked through the Top Ten list and gave monosyllabic answers to Dave’s questions when he interviewed them. I think they were probably stoned to the gills. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/30 "2018-05-01T04:15:35Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Dan Rather interviewed Eddy Money a month or so ago. Is Money just stupid or what? He couldn’t answer a single question without going on a tangent. I recall that Eddie Money drank and did a lot of drugs, and had a stroke at one point. Takes a toll, I imagine. \ Nope, I don’t see a stroke, just an overdose wherein he damaged his sciatic nerve and needed therapy to walk again. Ahh, what fun. . . He joined a 12-step program in 2001, seems mostly or entirely sober. I just went to wikipedia. Got lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/31 "2018-05-01T15:27:06Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > You had Barbara Walters lobbing softballs to Hillary Clinton over Monica Lewinsky “how do you feel when people say nasty things about you?”. Hey Hillary, since you stand by your husband the perjurer and rapist, what does that make you? Walters also sympathized with Rosario Ames, wife and helper to her husband the convicted Russian spy. Baba Wawa wasn’t interested in footage showing the Ames discussing what he was doing, she tried tp paint her as an innocent victim. > Back when Howard Cosell had a Saturday night variety show, he had on F Lee Bailey who had just become Patty Hearst’s attorney for her trial. The judge gave Bailey permission to talk about the case. But the corporate ABC suits said no and Cosell and Bailey were reduced talking about what a nice woman Hearst was. As producer Roone Arledge said, we deserved the reaming the critics gave us. The Cosell show was called Saturday Night live with Howard Cosell , it started 3 weeks before the more famous SNL show. It only lasted 18 shows. > **[Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_with_Howard_Cosell)** > > Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell was an American television variety show that aired on ABC from September 20, 1975, to January 17, 1976, hosted by Howard Cosell and executive-produced by Roone Arledge. The series ran for 18 episodes before being cancelled. The show was later remembered by its director Don Mischer as "one of the greatest disasters in the history of television", largely because Cosell and Arledge—both veterans of sports broadcasting—did not have any experience with comedy De... ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/32 "2018-05-01T18:00:16Z")
I heard Terry Gross interview Frank Oz recently. That was disappointing. He came off as unfunny, pedantic, and petty. At one point, Terry misspoke and called Jim Henson “John Henson,” and Oz wouldn’t let it go. Ten minutes later and he’s still gong on about how Terry Gross doesn’t respect Henson blah blah blah… ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/33 "2018-05-01T19:11:14Z")
I saw an interview of Phillipe Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau’s son) by Oprah that was painful. All about plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Phillipe had no where near the ability of his father to communicate. Oprah was trying to drag some information and animation out, but it was useless. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345/34 "2018-05-01T19:32:47Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I watched an episode of “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” where Letterman interviewed rapper-businessman Jay Z. It wasn’t a terrible interview, but it definitely felt more than a little awkward. Letterman freely admitted he previously knew next to nothing about hip hop music or culture, and it felt like much of the interview consisted of Jay Z and Letterman lurching towards trying to find some kind – _any kind_- of common ground with meagre results. Jay Z revealed a few interesting things that might not be general knowledge (e.g. his mother is gay) but otherwise spoke largely in platitudes and I think at some point Letterman could see the interview wasn’t going to go far beyond that level and just let things run their course and mailed in the latter half of the interview. > > David Letterman is one of the best and most experienced talk show interviewers around. It may simply be that Jay Z is not a great interviewee but I can’t help wondering, though, had he been interviewed by someone sharing more cultural overlap if it might have been a more engaging interview. I’m wondering if other Dopers saw that interview and got a similar impression? > > More generally, can you think of any other interviews on any tv talk show where you thought there was a guest who should have had something potentially interesting or important to say but instead came off like flat ginger ale? Of the two or three of these episodes of Letterman’s new show that I have seen…eh, his interviewing chops are pretty lame. He’s not nearly as engaging, provacative and funny as he was on LNWDL back in the day. Mostly I see an old guy being sentimental. And honestly, I don’t think his new show is bad, per se…it’s just kinda there. A little boring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappointing-talk-show-interviews/813345.md?page=1)