Steven Replogle wrote to ask…
Last night, Stephen Colbert had Prince Harry on his show, and the interview touched upon some serious subjects while also, of course, including a number of jokes and witticisms. I usually find Colbert to be a good interviewer, able to shift from humor and entertainment to address more complex topics, and then back again. I thought last night's interview was a bit awkward. He and Harry seemed both too eager to establish their humorous bonafides, and just as eager to share the serious stuff — sometimes slightly at cross-purposes.
Which brings me to my question: in your opinion, are there interviews when the late night "entertainment" host did a really good job presenting a serious interview? I know Cavett often featured literary and political discussions, and Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah both would switch gears to interview politicians and authors. You recently posted David Letterman's interview with Zelenskyy. But what about the hosts whose shows aimed for friendly and fun entertainment? Johnny, Jay, Dave (pre-retirement version) — heck, maybe even Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin — have they conducted "serious" interviews worth remembering?
All those shows attempted to get serious at one time or another, especially during tumultuous times in this country. I don't think they often succeeded…although one that comes to mind is that after Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace, he avoided all kinds of interviewers. Then he (or someone under his name) wrote a couple of really awful books trying to make some dough and rehabilitate his image. He avoided tough interviews and probably didn't expect one when he went on with Merv Griffin to promote one of those books.
Merv had consulted with someone, obviously, and was prepared for the encounter. That one comes to mind and not very many others…some of Cavett's…maybe the conversation Colbert had with Joe Biden about losing a son…not very many others. I haven't liked most interviews of politicians because they're not asked tough questions. Everyone's goal seems to be to make them come across as funny and charming as the comedian who was in that guest chair before them. The format of what we now call a talk show doesn't lend itself well to spontaneous conversations because the host feels expected to get a laugh out of the front row every thirty seconds.
I sense a great difference in Mr. Colbert's interviews depending on whether he feels comfortable enough with the guest's ability to ad-lib. Often, he does not…and that's in part because if the guest is on to promote something, there may be an understanding that certain questions will be asked and certain stories will be told. The conversation is not to stray too far from what a great new movie the guest has opening next week.
The best host I've seen for serious conversations would have to be Jon Stewart. He did a lot of them, often with guests who weren't expected to be funny. I think the political bent of The Daily Show made such conversations not seem outta-place like they have on some shows that want everyone in the guest chair to get laughs. Of course, here I'm only talking about shows which have a live studio audience. Tom Snyder could do some great serious interviews because he didn't have one.
If I ponder this topic for a while, I'm sure I'll think of some other good serious interviews. The problem is this "a laugh every thirty seconds" mentality. It causes the hosts to only ask questions where they know the guest has an entertaining answer at the ready.
