In the thread about “worst interview subjects” someone noted that Bob Hope used to go through his Carson interviews before the show. How common is this? I’ve noticed especially with late night hosts there is a tendancy for guests to fit the host’s schtick (such as Letterman’s sarcasm or Conan’s goofyness). Are guests ever told beforehand what to say? Are there any talk show hosts that don’t prep their guests at all?
I’m sure there’s not a single answer for this, but in general, yes, there’s a fair amount of preparation. Most guests appear for a specific purpose of their own – they have a new movie or book or… something … they want to sell. So they will arrange in advance what they want to talk about.
This even happens in news interviews. Not so much the “selling” part, but arranging in advance what is going to be discussed, or not discussed. Once on a while you hear about a guest walking out of an interview because they claim the questions violated the terms agreed to by both parties ahead of time.
don’t know the factual answer to this but, i can picture Craig Ferguson going, "prep for the show? as in doing extra work beforehand? yeah sure. :rolleyes:
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ime from watching his shows however, it’s quite apparent that there’s little or no prepping involved. his not shy about constantly repeating his material or having awkward pauses. guests of course, often appear to plug their shows but he is seldom interested in actually talking about them. sometimes, they skip the plug altogether except for playing a short clip.
I think Craig Ferguson is the exception, though I’m not certain. There may be preparation that he then ignores, or there may be none at all.
In any case, most of the other talk shows have what is known as a “pre-interview” where a researcher chats with the guest or their representative, usually on the phone, to eke out a few stories, shtick, or events to talk about on the show.
I’m pretty sure Craig does an interview, because he doesn’t always ignore it. Sure, he always tears up the cards on air, but sometimes he asks stock questions that he obviously already knows the answers to. I’ve even seen him do the flub where the pre-interview notes aren’t quite accurate.
Jim Bouton in “I’m Glad You Didn’t Take it Personally” has some notes on going on the talk show circuit of 1970.
Merv Griffin. Five minutes before air time, Merv says to Bouton that he didn’t read the book and what would he want to ask him. Bouton didn’t like that.
Dick Cavett. He had a reputation for reading books of his interviewees but it was clear early on he hadn’t and asked superficial questions.
David Frost. Probably didn’t read book but his producer briefed him well, asked the right questions, and put Bouton at ease.
Best was Chicago radio host Studs Terkel who read the book, made notes and asked good questions.
Bouton wasn’t on Johnny Carson because he didn’t do the show first.
I can tell when Dave is asking a set up question so a quest can tell a particular story.