Talk Show Appearances--All About the Plug, But....

[retrothoughts]

Anytime someone appears on a morning show like Today or Good Morning America, a syndicated daytime show like Regis & Kelly or Ellen DeGeneres, a late-night show like Jay Leno or David Letterman, or a later-night show like Craig Ferguson or Conan O'Brien, you know it's all about the plug, but it's also a matter of how it's applied.

You ever notice how musical guests sing, but often times aren't interviewed, unlike any guest who doesn't sing? Now, the morning shows, since they're produced by the news departments, are more likely to interview musical acts than the other shows. I think the music industry is in a sad state of affairs when its kinds of acts that appear on "chat shows" aren't given time for even a quick 2-minute interview.

Do we blame the hosts and their formats, or do we blame the record industry for not pushing these hosts to interview the musical guests? Does it have to be, in the title of that new Dixie Chicks documentary, Shut up and Sing?

 

[passafistwastaken]

It depends who the artist is. If the host had an Artist worth talking to, who interviews well, then it can only help. But a lot of muscial artists are dull as dirt in interviews. They sing well, but if it's a bad interview afterword it can only hurt the television show and the artist who's plugging.

 

[retrothoughts]

Good point; some musicians could use interview coaches.

But I think that even musicians that would otherwise be good interviews also end up getting the song/no interview treatment on most shows. Consider that during a recent week, Jay Leno interviewed, on separate episodes, Elton John and Justin Timberlake, both of whom also sang. Yet on a subsequent episode, Jay had on Fergie [Stacy Ferguson, the Black Eyed Peas' female singer who debuted a solo album] to sing but [and I could be proven wrong on this] not to talk about her admitting to a crystal meth addiction in a magazine.

So the treatment of musical acts on most talk shows is rather inconsistent, at best.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Good point; some musicians could use interview coaches.

But I think that even musicians that would otherwise be good interviews also end up getting the song/no interview treatment on most shows. Consider that during a recent week, Jay Leno interviewed, on separate episodes, Elton John and Justin Timberlake, both of whom also sang. Yet on a subsequent episode, Jay had on Fergie [Stacy Ferguson, the Black Eyed Peas' female singer who debuted a solo album] to sing but [and I could be proven wrong on this] not to talk about her admitting to a crystal meth addiction in a magazine.

So the treatment of musical acts on most talk shows is rather inconsistent, at best.

Emphasis added.

Now, at first glance, you would think these were pressing issues that make an interview all the more urgent. But given the title of this thread, it does a lot to explain it, since the record company sure as hell doesn't want to distract from the plug by talking about something that's a PR problem.

 

[Ultimajock]

...problem is, there are very few celebrities who can actually carry on an interesting conversation nowadays, compared to the time when Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett were all hosting nightly talk shows. Without the product plug, most of the current-day guests have damned little to offer...

 

[Nertz!]

Woudln't having the musical guest as a regular guest save on booking guests?
This is something that would make more sense to do.

 

[Markxxx]

Part of it is in the old days you didn't have the instant celebrities you have today. People ususally worked their way into stardom, and were groomed for it.

All one has to do is look at Tom Cruise to know talent, and box office marketablity nor even good looks tranlsated into someone who should be talking unscripted.