Karamo, JHud, & Sherri - first reactions to the new talkshows

[j swift]

I watched the first week of each show, and while this is often not indicative of the direction of the production, I felt it was a good indicator of each host's ability to make me into a repeat watcher.  Overall, I still think Kelly Clarkson is the best at the genre currently.  Her mixture of music and games feels fresh, and she has a good rapport during interviews.

Karamo - to be honest I had no idea that he even had a talk show until I saw a promo on the local news.  He seems to be like this season's Nick Cannon, a charming guy who is a poor fit for daytime.  His advise and expertise have yet to be grounded in any authority.  He is very impersonal and not engaging.

Jennifer Hudson - the entire first week felt like "Can you believe I got a talkshow?"  Every story was about how she met the nurse doing the COVID testing, or the prop guy who gave her a new tea cup.  She is poor at extemporaneous speaking and frequently inserts "umms" and "ahhs", even with the benefit of editing.  Beyond her American Idol judges, Randy and Simon, the other guests were mostly human interest stories, that weren't very interesting.  A little girl who was star struck by JHud and a kid with no real story were not good choices, and JHud seems to be ill-prepared as to why they were on her show.

Sherri - by far the most professional of the three.  She is working hard to distance herself from Wendy, even though the set is exactly the same but with a new coat of paint.  For me, the let down is that I don't think we need another hour of round table discussion about pop culture.  We know what everyone's opinion is going to be ahead of time (even if you've never heard of them, it is easy to figure out the role that each person takes) and the jokes are hacky.  I enjoy the Regis-type opening of discussing the happenings of the night before, but Sherri doesn't have as active of a social life, so I fear it will devolve into recaps of primetime TV.  Her producing partner lacks any charisma as someone who she should play off of.  I understand why Sherri wouldn't want a panel after her time on The View, but it feels like there's a missed opportunity for a female duo in daytime to become our new best friends goals, because Sherri obviously has deep relationships with those who surround her.

[Soapsuds]

I loved Sheri show and yes it's Wendy 2.0.

Jhud from her opening to the show is how great she is and all the awards she won. That was a big turn off.

[MichaelGL]

Jhud I assume got Ellen's old set? I can't help to feel that it is. 

[j swift]

The soundstage feels smaller, with the audience being closer to the stage, but production's IG shows that the entrance to the studio is the same, so (much like Sherri), I would guess that camera angles are doing a lot to make it look different.

[BetterForgotten]

I only saw one episode of Jennifer Hudson's talk show in a doctor's office - but damn, she's so awkward, stilted, and unnatural. She's VERY rough and I will be surprised if she gets another season. 

[Soapsuds]

Ratings

https://www.nexttv.com/news/syndication-ratings-jennifer-hudson-sherri-make-their-debuts

[j swift]

I feel late to the proposal that Karamo is trying to be the second coming of Maury, with a little bit of Ricki Lake's style of conflict resolution thrown in for good measure.  I thought the premiere topic about a toxic relationship was trying to establish Karamo as an advice expert, but I never expected that would be the tone everyday.

Much like Steve Harvey before him, the smallest bit of research reveals that he's got a sorted past which makes him an unlikely source for relationship advice.  Unlike Steve Harvey, he's not a misogynist, but he also lacks the charisma to be credible.  The reason why anyone would seek his counsel, except for thirsty folks looking for some social media clout, eludes me.

That being said, JHud continues to struggle with expository discourse.  The best hosts like Regis, Wendy, and even Sherri, can hold an audience by telling a story.  JHud feels like she's trying to teach me a lesson that I never wanted to learn.  One day she's talking about not needing external reinforcement to follow your dreams (says the lady who sought fame through American Idol and campaigned hard for her Oscar).  The next day she's making a metaphor that every singer has an individual style and so should her audience.  It is pure drivel, but at least when Oprah pushed ideas like self-care or reaching for your dreams, she did so years after establishing a relationship with the audience who had seen her grow as a human.  JHud is asking us to listen to her life lessons two minutes after we met her.

To me their style of moral-driven influencer-entertainment feels out of touch with the needs of their audience and they lack the expertise to carry it off.

Edited October 5, 2022 by j swift

[All My Shadows]

I had no clue Karamo had a talk show. I couldn't stand him in his MTV days and never got on the Queer Eye kick, so it's hard for me to accept him as a source of "help" for anyone, but mannnnn, I just typed in "karamo show" on YouTube, and the thumbnails are so ratchet.

[SFK]

@j swift I’m assuming Karamo is from the same distributor as Maury as Maury was doing promos for Karamo before it started (Maury: The hot new show I think you should be watching next season is Karamo!). I also got a bit of a Ricki Lake vibe, more specifically, I got a dated ‘90s vibe which just reminded me of the sea of celebrities who had short lived chat shows. Karamo has none of the pop and excitement of Ricki or Maury though. I’m glad my affiliate still airs Maury right after Karamo, it’s oddly refreshing hearing EVERY. SINGLE. GUEST. shouting on that show, no one ever uses their inside voices.

It’s no small feat coming up with a talk show format that’s unique. Oprah, Rosie, Jerry, and Maury were able to find something inimitable. With the exception of Rosie, they all started SO differently. Maury and Jerry were quite serious, they handled heavy topics and I’m sure that’s been forgotten or simply never known by generations of viewers. Oprah more often delved into trashy talk show fare and I think it was the Trudy Chase interview that forever changed her approach to her show’s format.

[DramatistDreamer]

@SFKSomewhere, Richard Bey shouts into the void, “That b#tch Jerry Springer stole my show’s entire flow!”

[Liberty City]

 

[j swift]

Here in Los Angeles, Karamo is moving from 4pm to 2:30am on Monday - probably not good news for that show

Edited February 16, 2023 by j swift

[Faulkner]

I don’t get Karamo’s show. It’s an odd throwback to those Donahue/Sally Jessy-type shows of the ‘80s/‘90s and it almost feels quaint.

[Liberty City]

Ouch. Same time slot Tamron's talk show airs here.

[j swift]

Of course the oddest thing about Karamo moving is that the local news is taking over his time slot, making it 16 hours a day of local news a day.  11.5 hours of that time is weather, which never changes in LA, and 4 hours of car chases.

Edited February 16, 2023 by j swift