MANILA, Philippines?Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O?Brien, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, Tyra Banks?so many luminaries are hosting TV gabfests these days?so, why should relative newbie Jimmy Kimmel ?dare? to elbow his way in on their action?
Well, Leno is retirement-bound, and Oprah has intimated that she may soon take off her lapel microphone, so it?s time for younger hosts to make their move.
We caught Kimmel?s talk show last week (10 p.m., weeknights on Star World) and came up with these initial impressions:
No spring chicken
Kimmel may be a newbie, but he?s no spring chicken. He looks like he?s been around and that?s OK, because his show appears to be for older viewers who?ve also been there, done that.
As as result, Kimmel?s guests tend to be more experienced performers and celebrities. Aside from plugging their new projects, they share jaded anecdotes about life, and the studio audience reacts to them with knowing chuckles and belly laughs.
Basically, therefore, Kimmel?s show appears to be a wisecracking show by and for wise guys. Seen in that light, Kimmel is a good choice as the show?s host, and he ends up ?owning? the program by infusing it with his sardonic humor.
True to talk show tradition, Kimmel opens each telecast with stand-up comments on that political and social developments of the day. In so doing, he acknowledges his debts to some political-satire shows on US TV, which have gained in popularity with the coming US elections.
He then follows-up with a female guest; and their perky conversations occasionally goes into ?comedy flirting? mode to spice up the gabfest.
There?s also a musical guest, usually a relatively mature band, but with an edgy sound.
A popular feature of the show is its ongoing effort to make money for the studio audience by getting Kimmel?s cousin Sal to bet $10,000 at a blackjack table in a casino. He keeps betting everything until his loot reaches $80,000, after which he quits, and his winners are divided up by the members of the studio audience, who have been enthusiastically cheering him on all along.
Now, that?s how the ball?and the show?bounces.
On the program as a whole: Truth to tell, it sometimes feels a bit slow and low, perhaps due to the relative lack of A-list guests and its jaded, wise guy tone, which can get to be wearying after a while. Well, Kimmel deserves more time to get his TV act together, so we?ll keep watching.
New albums
Sony BMG has released the Original Tour Cast recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein?s ?Cinderella,? starring Lea Salonga.
Italian dancer Andrea Delogo and Venezuelan Barbara Clara, billed as Cinema 2, are the toast of the European dance scene. They have come out with a very danceable album, ?Chicas de Contrabando,? which they are currently promoting locally.
And Mark Bautista has launched his new CD, ?I?ll Be The One,? which contains cuts like ?Sana?y Dinggin Mo,? ?Too Slow,? ?Love and Affection,? and its carrier single, ?Eternally.? Mark will promote the album on Sept. 20 at SM Manila, and on Sept. 21 at SM Marikina.
The Strangers
Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman topbill the new horror-thriller, ?The Stranger.? They play a couple whose remote getaway becomes a place of terror when masked strangers invade it. The threat to their lives forces the lovers to go beyond what they thought themselves capable of in order to survive.
National Geographic shows
Sept. 13 at 9 p.m., ?Bob Ballard Specials? investigates the Black Sea?s treasure trove of sunken ships.
Sept. 14 at 9 p.m., ?Gone to Save the Planet? visits the Altiplano, the high plains of South America. Sept. 16 at 9 p.m., ?Air Crash Investigation Special? revisits aviation disasters resulting from problems with autopilots and computerized systems.
