Talking Head

johnkerwin01

I talk a lot about talk shows here and it's time I talked about John Kerwin's talk show. You may or may not get it on your TV and it may or may not be where this listing says it is. It says I should be viewing it on Channel 177 but I find it on Jewish Life TV, which is 469 on my cable lineup. (177 is the Pacific feed of GSN, which they ought to just rename The All-Family-Feud Network.)

John is a stand-up comic who I've never met but I used to see him up at the Improv and I think other local comedy clubs. He's a clever, personable guy who knows how to interview people — a skill not evident in everyone who's ever starred in a talk show. He does his with no pre-interviews or semi-scripted exchanges…you know, the way talk shows used to be. Some of his guests are folks you've heard of — I just watched an old, funny interview he did with Jonathan Winters — and some are, quite honestly, people unknown to me. Kerwin is pretty good at making them interesting so I've learned not to not watch just because I don't recognize the guest's name.

He does this show on a budget which I would guess is about the same as what Jimmy Fallon's program spends on bottled water for its green room. Given what he has to work with, he does a nice job. Tune him in sometime. That is, assuming he's tunable on your TV. You might enjoy what he does there.