Arsenio Hall comes back with a new Late Night Show

[Hero1]

Arsenio Hall says 'there's a space' for his new late-night show

Arsenio Hall, who will return as a late-night host, discusses coming back on 'Celebrity Apprentice' and starting a new show. Can he regain the woof woof woof?

By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2012
The Dog Pound will woof again: Arsenio Hall is returning to late-night TV.
Two decades after his self-titled show rebuilt the talk genre for a new generation, the 56-year-old comic and recent"Celebrity Apprentice"winner will attempt a major comeback with a nightly syndicated offering starting in September 2013.
Hall is partnering with syndicator CBS Television Distribution and Tribune Co., which will broadcast the 11 p.m. show on 17 of its TV stations, including WGN-TV in Chicago and KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Those stations, plus six major-market CBS-owned outlets and seven from station group Local TV LLC, will give Hall instant access to more than half the country. Tribune — which hopes to emerge from 31/2-year bankruptcy proceedings later this year — also owns or is a partner in scores of websites and operates eight daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times.
"In the end I'm a comic, and nothing fits the talk-show mode like a stand-up comic," Hall said in an interview Monday. Referring to the crowded field in late-night TV — which includes "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" as well as traditional venues such as "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" — he added: "I know there are a lot of shows, but I think there's a space for my show."
Hall's earlier show was a surprise smash when it premiered in 1989, bringing a youthful energy and diversity to a format that had been dominated by Johnny Carson on NBC's "Tonight" for nearly 30 years. His studio audience greeted the host by pumping their fists and barking, with the most devoted among them coming to be known as "The Dog Pound."
Hall dispensed with the formidable desks that had been staples of talk shows everywhere and amiably chatted knee-to-knee with his guests as they relaxed in easy chairs. His status as the only black host in the regular late-night TV wars gave him special access to a burgeoning supply of African American rappers (then just crossing over into the mainstream), comics and other entertainers, including Eddie Murphy, his costar in the hit comedy film "Coming to America."
The show reached a peak 20 years ago this month, when sunglasses-wearing presidential candidate Bill Clinton famously blended retail politics and pop culture with a saxophone rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel."
But the program suffered after CBS in 1993 hired David Letterman to host an 11:35 p.m. show that kicked Hall to an even later hour on many local stations. Hall also caught flak for booking controversial guests such as Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan. "Arsenio Hall" went off the air in 1994.
The explosion of cable programming — not to mention tablets, smartphones and DVRs — has upended the TV business since that era. And the talk arena is filled to bursting: Chris Rock is executive producing a new show, and Russell Brand is set to joinConan O'Brien, Letterman, Leno and many others.
But CBS and Tribune are hoping that Hall can recapture his earlier magic.
"Can you duplicate that again? I don't know anyone who knows that answer," said Bill Carroll, vice president at New York-based Katz Television Group, which helps advise local TV stations on programming and other issues. But he added that Hall's appeal has recently proved to be intact: "People were reminded how engaging a personality Arsenio Hall was and is when he was on 'Celebrity Apprentice.'" Hall won Donald Trump's reality competition last month, besting other contestants including ex-"American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken and '70s supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.
The host will oversee the show with his longtime manager, John Ferriter, and a search is underway to find an executive producer who can manage the production on a day-to-day basis.
Hall — who'd started a family and mostly faded from public view since his show was canceled — decided months ago he wanted another shot at late-night TV. But he realized that to sell studio and station executives on the idea, he would have to reintroduce himself to the public and especially to viewers under 30 who had little idea who he was. The obvious solution was a network reality show such as "Celebrity Apprentice" or"Dancing With the Stars."
"This could have backfired," Hall acknowledged. "I could have been on the plane with Cheryl Tiegs saying, 'Why did I do this? I should have danced.'"
Now, executives have come to see him as a means for reaching viewers ages 35 to 54 — precisely the same folks who fell in love with his show 20 years ago. It just so happens that this demographic also consumes a lot of late-night TV, in contrast to younger adults, who are increasingly bypassing TV altogether in favor of their laptops or tablets.
John Nagowski, president of CBS Television Distribution, which syndicates hits such as "Judge Judy," "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune," conceded that Hall will be re-entering a teeming marketplace. But he added: "No one's doing anything like what we did before" with Hall's show. "The advertiser wants 25 to 54. He's dead-on."
"It's risky, but we're going back to the guy who had the healthiest demos in late-night TV," said Sean Compton, president of programming and entertainment for Tribune Broadcasting. "This is the only guy who ever gave Johnny Carson a run for his money."
As for Hall, he says he's already brimming with plans for the new show, even though it won't premiere for another 15 months. Some ideas will be new; others will be updates of standbys from the old show.
Take, for example, the Dog Pound, which was a pop-culture signpost of the early 1990s. Hall would like to revive it — with a twist.
"I might," he said, "come up with another animal noise."

[Silver Tiger]

Hmm... it's not gonna be playing to as wide of an audience but I'm sort of curious about seeing him on air again.

[JumpinJack AJ]

I've been waiting on this news since I was 14. To me, Arsenio is the best to ever do it. His ability to be crazy and spontaneous is 2nd to none. He pushes the envelope without going too far. He has something that none of the stuffy or cheezy late night hosts have. Just YouTube his stuff and you'll realize he's nothing like Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, Leno, etc. Plus, he single handedly brought Hip-Hop culture to late night TV. Without him, Hip-Hop, R-N-B, and black entertainers would have NEVER gotten the shine they did on such a mainstream platform. I can't wait to see his return!

[Turntable]

The quality of american late night hosts and shows is something continental europe can only dream of. Luckily some of your shows make it to Holland.

[Hero1]

I think the only one who is any good these days is Craig Ferguson.. I think Arsenio is awesome I hope he brings back all the great hip-hop & RnB artists on to late night!

[JumpinJack AJ]

Really? I like Letterman and Kimmel but I almost never watch them. I'm not a fan of Leno or Fallon. I put Craig Ferguson in the middle of those clumps but Letterman is the only I'd go out of my way to watch. It'll be interesting to see how much of Arsenio's original formula will be in the new show. He's outspoken and spontaneous. That's a given. I'm just curious if we can expect some of the silly skits, unannouonced surprises, the Dog Pound with their crappy seats, french kissing Diana Ross, etc...lol.

He had a wide variety of guests but also give Hip-Hop and black personalities a mainstream stage that they weren't going to find anywhere else. The difference is, back then, entertainment (for the most part) was better. Seeing JJ+FP, LL, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Das EFX, Naughty, Tribe, Fu-Shcnicks, Latifah, Hammer, PE, Lyte, KRS-One, S-N-P, 2Pac, TLC, BIIM, En Vogue is completely different from seeing Niki Minaj, Waka Flaka, etc. Hopefully he'll put a Monique spin on things and support non-mainstream legends just as much as the current entertainers.

[rawad_m]

I like Arsenio's interview style plus as you said he brings interesting guests, so it should be good

[JumpinJack AJ]

Since I don't have TV, I had to settle or the clips he uploaded, but I'm FURIOUS! They cancelled the show even though they announced a second season a couple of months ago.

http://highlighthollywood.com/2014/05/arsenio-hall-show-canceled-cbs-tv-distribution-changes-mind-on-second-season-highlight-hollywood-news/

‘Arsenio Hall Show’ Canceled; CBS TV Distribution Changes Mind On Second Season, Highlight Hollywood News May 30, 2014 TV

The Arsenio Hall Show will not continue on for its second season. Despite renewing the late-night syndicated show for a sophomore run in February, CBS Television Distribution has instead opted to cancel the series.

“Unfortunately, The Arsenio Hall Show will not return for a second season; while there are many loyal fans of the show, the series did not grow its audience enough to continue,” CBSTVD said in a statement Friday. “Arsenio is a tremendous talent and we’d like to thank him for all the hard work and energy he put into the show. We’d also like to thank Tribune and all our station group partners for their support of the show.”

Added Hall: “When I started this adventure with CTD and Tribune, we all knew it would be a challenge — I’m gratified for the year we’ve had and proud of the show we created. I’d like to thank everyone on my staff for rallying around me and striving to make the best show possible every night.”

The decision to backpedal on a renewal comes as station groups Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Co. and LIN Television all downgraded the series from its respective time slots. CBSTVD originally announced a second-season pickup in February, citing that the series is the youngest-skewing late-night talk show and that Hall was “reaching a new generation.”

Despite premiering to optimistic numbers, 1.5 rating with households (and, more importantly, a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49), the ratings took a dive. The show dropped 60 percent in the key demo within its first several months. There were bright spots along the way.

A visit from prince Prince saw ratings surge 56 percent in March, tying even ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel that night, but the pressure cooker of the Jimmy Fallon era late night was ultimately too much.

[Hero1]

Well that sucks.. I've been really enjoying it. Arsenio is so much better than most of the current late night hosts.

[JumpinJack AJ]

It seemed like he was finding his groove the more it went on. His show serves a unique purpose compared to the others (and always has). I hope somehow, someway it gets picked up in some other form.

[bigted]

I didn't see this coming, Arsenio's show was brilliant, late night won't be the same now

[JumpinJack AJ]

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.29611/title.arsenio-hall-says-hip-hop-saved-my-life-details-early-interviews-with-rappers/ Arsenio Hall Says "Hip Hop Saved My Life" & Details Early Will Smith, LL Cool J Interviews

by Jay Balfour

posted July 06, 2014 at 2:30PM EST | 0 comments

"Don Cornelius...was an idol," Arsenio Hall says. "Oprah, an idol. But they didn't like Hip Hop. That was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Late-night talk show host Arsenio Hall recently spoke with VladTV about his early career as a television host granting interviews to rappers. Explaining his early stake in Hip Hop, Hall said Don Cornelius and Oprah “didn’t like Hip Hop” and that “that was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I was talking to Russell [simmons] one day, it kind of focused me,” he said. “He was telling me about this guy he knew, that he was working with, that was living with his grandmother. That’s how old this kid was, I think this kid might have been 19. The career was so young he called him James. After we continued talking about James I realized that him and Rick Rubin were working with a gentleman who professionally was gonna be called LL Cool J. That period changed my life because I put LL Cool J on my Fox show—this is before the Paramount Arsenio Hall Show, before Coming To America. I’m playing around for 11 weeks on this Fox show. I put LL on, I put Whodini on. The numbers popped as we say in the business. The ratings looked good.”

Generalizing about the role Hip Hop played in his early career development, Hall went on to detail the opportunity to broadcast the culture early in its commercial era.

“Basically, Hip Hop saved my life,” he said. “Hip Hop gave me a career. Sure there’s Bill Clinton and sure there’s all the actors and actresses that came along, but being able to put Will Smith on...and all those things. That brought a culture—and when I say culture I don’t mean Black, I mean the Hip Hop culture—it brought this whole new culture. Don’t forget, I had kids who had pants on backwards. They weren’t even sagging, they were on backwards...I was bringing this into the living rooms of people who could safely watch it and get to understand it. That’s really why it worked.”

Referencing Don Cornelius and Oprah, Hall also hinted that their reluctance to cover Hip Hop left the space wide open.

“Don Cornelius is an idol, was an idol,” he said. “Oprah, an idol. But they didn’t like Hip Hop. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. I think Oprah would be cool with me saying that. Until she started hanging out with Jay Z, it wasn’t on Oprah’s radar. Oprah wasn’t in Chicago, saying, ‘When does Common perform?’ That’s not what she was dealing with. I got to have all of that. That became the great story. Don Cornelius did not like Q-Tip, so I got all of that.”

[bigted]

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