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Megan K. Crowley
Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin
Writing & Rhetoric 13300
24 November 2015
Were Talking About Talk Shows
The Oxford English Dictionary defines talk show as a
television programme in which guests are interviewed by the host or
talk-master (OED Online). In America, talk show is a fairly common
phrase, and most people have a particular person that they think of
when they hear it. This could be Matt Lauer, Kelly Ripa, Jay Leno, Ellen
DeGeneres, or Jimmy Fallon. All of these personalities fit the definition
of a talk show perfectly. But people tend to want to watch an
entertaining talk show, and it is not to say that any of these people are
more entertaining than the other. Some people, however, may
categorize Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon as a more entertaining
comedy one than the other hosts mentioned above. The viewership
has a lot of input now about what makes a good talk show and their
opinion can either make or break a show. This is likely why Ellen
DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon are so successful. DeGeneres and Fallon
come from similar backgrounds in humor, but they have very different
personalities and tactics in interviewing celebrities. They are both very
successful nonetheless.

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Talks shows are a relatively new concept and they have only
been around since the television was invented. Talk shows have had a
different template within the last two decades. Now they are not just
interviewing celebrities, they have games, a lot more audience
interaction, and more human-interest stories instead of just straight
interviewing. When it is not a human-interest story, the celebrity [has]
appeared on a lot of magazine coversor[stars] in moviesor[has]
a hit record out (Rosen 367). When a viewer turns on an afternoon or
late night talk show, they expect to see either the host or a celebrity
they recognize. If not, they will more than likely turn it off, unless it is a
human-interest story that catches their attention. According to Tolson,
the talk show phenomenon has attracted a range of academic
commentary and discussionmuch discussion seems to be
overwhelmed by the phenomenon with which it is engaged (Tolson 7).
Talk shows have become more and more controversial over the years.
One of the biggest controversies is the host using the show as
platform for their own personal opinions and failing to present the topic
in and unbiased manner. A host that fails to follow the scripted
outline for topics of discussion may cause problems with ratings,
advertisers and the network. As learned by The View when a host
decided to interject her opinion regarding the nursing profession and
the use of a stethoscope. She alienated the audience and this resulted
in the need for an apology (West). The viewer is going to know the

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hosts opinion about certain topics that may be political, religious, or
even medicalnot to mention that the guests on the show might be an
extremely controversial topic. For example, this past season on The
Ellen DeGeneres Show, she interviewed Caitlyn Jenner about her recent
transition (Caitlyn Jenners Courageous Journey). This topic had been
an extremely controversial debate over the past six months after the
Vanity Fair cover. This episode just goes to show that, in todays day
and age, nothing is completely off limits. Talk shows have changed a
lot since they were first introduced our culture.
The comedienne turned talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, had
always been a people person who liked to entertain crowds and has
become a pop culture phenomenon. DeGeneres received her big break
when, acting on a tip from Jay Leno, The Tonight Show starring Johnny
Carson sent a booking agent to catch her act at the Improv in
Hollywood (Biography.com Editors). After this tip, she began to tour all
through America. In 2003, she started her own talk show, and it
became an instant hit (Biography.com Editors). Ever since then,
DeGeneres has been doing a lot of projects and philanthropy. Along
with DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon is another popular talk show host. He
also had a career in comedy before he became a talk show host. Fallon
is most well known for his two late-night talk shows, Late Night with
Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, but he had his
start in 1998 on Saturday Night Live. According to Biography.com,

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Fallon became known for his impressions. He took on such famous
names as Robert DeNiro, John Lennon, Chris Rock and Mick Jagger.
After his stint on Saturday Night Live, he did a lot of other projects.
Then, in 2008, he gained an opportunity to take over Conan OBrians
place on Late Night (Biography.com Editors). DeGeneres and Fallon are
just two examples of a todays most well known talk show host.
Having a career in standup comedy or Saturday Night Live is a
one of the key ingredients to having a talk show. A host has to have the
proper skill set in order to have the show go off without a hitch.
Because DeGeneres and Fallon have been giving shows live, they know
how to handle a hiccup that a taping of an episode may present to
them. Along with this experience, they know how to play to a live
audience. DeGeneres and Fallon also know how to make people enjoy
themselves, but Fallon does that more with his persona. Fallons show
is more of a rehearsed show, whereas DeGeneres is more quick on her
feet. According to Rosen, Almost the entire function of humor on talk
show is to relieve the inherent tension of the situation the show sets up
famous people being watched while they do nothing but chat
(Rosen 369). Both DeGeneres and Fallon do a good job with making
this relatable to the people. It is very apparent that both comedians are
able to handle an unplanned situation.
DeGeneres has a unique talent to bring in humor and important
relevance to everyday topics around the world. On every show, she

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either donates money to a foundation or gives money to someone who
needs it in her audience. According to Hutchby, we might imagine
that the mere fact that [talk shows] confrontations are played out in
front of a studio audience and broadcast to be heard and observed by
a wider audience suffices to make them spectacular (Hutchby 157).
Today, with the use of social media and it being so much a part of
everyday life. It is not necessary to watch a talk show to know what
plays out on the stage, good or bad. When most people think of a
spectacle in their mind, it may not necessarily be a good thing. But in
this case, in an interview with DeGeneres, it is more of an
entertainment spectacle than anything else. This past September, she
had Matt Damon as a guest. During his interview, he talked about
Water.org, (a foundation, which provides safe water to drink).
DeGeneres told him that she and Chideo would donate $20,000 if Matt
Damon could dance to Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) (Matt Damon
Whips and Nae Naes). Every fan knows that whether he can complete
the task or not, DeGeneres will donate the money anyway. This
example demonstrates how DeGeneres can present a very comical
situation but also have a serious undertone to it. Every Christmas
season, DeGeneres has Twelve Days of Give-Aways, where she gives
away gifts every episode to her audience. On one of her shows in 2013
that was apart of Twelve Days of Give-Aways, she surprised one of
her guests with her husband, who was in the military for the past nine

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months, when he came on the show, and it was the first time they saw
each other since he left (A Heartwarming Surprise Military Reunion).
DeGeneres did this by showing a video of the guests husband
supposedly in Kuwait, but in reality he was just behind the stage,
waiting to surprise his wife. Not a lot of talk show hosts would have the
sentimental aspect along with the humorous nature to make an allencompassing talk show.
Fallon takes a different approach on hosting a talk show. He
obviously cares about his audience and what they want to see, but
unlike DeGeneres, he does not do quite as much human-interest
stories and philanthropy. This is by no means a bad quality to have on
a talk show; it is just a different approach from DeGeneres. On The
Tonight Show, Fallon tends to do more comedy skits than anything
else. Fallon has a routine comedy skit where he tells the audience to
explain a situation using a variety of different hashtags, and then he
reads his favorite ones on air. This skit is an audience favorite, because
it is relatable to them that a non-celebrity tweeted, and sometimes
that is more relatable to everyone. Another comedy skit that he does is
a lip sync battle. This performance is when Fallon and celebrities
compete by lip syncing famous songs throughout history, and the
audience picks which person they think lip synced the best. The winner
does not get a prize, but it is a fun and unique activity for the audience
to see and witness. A battle with Fallon and Emma Stone once hit

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62,629,826 views (Lip Sync Battle with Emma Stone). This many views
would be considered a viral hit. According to Variety, the total viewers
for the Jan. 29-Feb. 25 sweep, Tonight Show led with an average
nightly audience of 3.882 million viewers (Kissell). These examples
show that he generally cares what the audience thinks, and that he
tries to make viewers laugh at the end of the day, which he is very
successful in doing.
Each talk show host has a different way of approaching a
different interview with different celebrities. DeGeneres has a unique
way of interviewing her guests. In October of 2014, DeGeneres
interviewed Taylor Swift. On the day of her 1989 album release, she
came to talk to DeGeneres a little bit about it. DeGeneres was
impressed that none of her songs that came out that day had been
leaked (Taylor Swift Talks 1989). The interview was more
conservational than an actual interview. It was more a friend than a
talk show host interviewing a celebrity. Swift was on the cover of
Rolling Stone magazine where she was drenched with water. The two
had a back-and-forth banter, and at the end of it, DeGeneres made a
sarcastic remark like they were friends. This is how Ellen is in almost
every interviewlike she is talking to a friend rather than interviewing
someone. One of the exceptions to this style is the Caitlyn Jenner
interview. DeGeneres is a very enthusiastic interviewer, and she cares

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about her guests. She wants to make them feel as comfortable as
possible.
Fallon is a more traditional type of talk show host. Fallon has a
different way of interviewing his guests than DeGeneres. Unlike
DeGeneres, Fallon is more of an interviewer, trying to get the answers
to questions that people want to know. In August of 2014, he had Swift
on his show, and he was hounding her about whether or not she was
going to perform at the upcoming VMAs (Taylor Swift Confirms 2014
MTV VMA Performance Rumors). He would not let up. Even after she
told him that she was going to perform, he kept wanting to confirm
that that was, in fact, the case. When he was satisfied with the answer,
he screamed, I got the scoop (Taylor Swift Confirms 2014 MTV VMA
Performance Rumors). The look on his face was pure enjoyment,
because he knew that he had done his job and given the fans what
they wanted to hear. This type of talk show host is more what Fallon is.
Both talk show styles work, it is just a matter of what the viewer
prefers and what they like to watch.
Both DeGeneres and Fallon have similar types of humor when it
comes to their talk shows. While each individual talk show is different,
both of their types of humor are very similar. They both have a
sarcastic and witty sense of humor. When DeGeneres was interviewing
Swift, she had a very sarcastic moment, where she said that now we
know what the message of Swifts being soaking wet on the cover of

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Rolling Stone magazine was (Taylor Swift Talks 1989). Being sarcastic
and being witty sometimes have the same characteristics, and in this
interview it almost comes out as the same type of humorbeing
sarcastic and witty at the same time. Fallon, on the other hand, is more
sarcastic than witty in his interview with Taylor Swift. He is yelling at
her to get the information that he wants, but both the audience and
Swift know that he is just trying to do his job while entertaining people,
and sometimes that is with sarcasm. Both DeGeneres and Fallon do an
excellent job of entertaining the viewers, but it does not necessarily
mean you have to watch or prefer one show or the other.
DeGeneres and Fallon have successful careers, which are
nowhere near done. They have had success in the same area,
presenting controversial topics with some humor, and are most well
known in that area, but that does not mean that they are the only ones
in the realm of talk show hosts. There are plenty of other talk show
hosts that are completely and utterly different from DeGeneres and
Fallon. Talk shows hosts can have a variety of different entertaining
concepts to people, even though the majority of them fall into the
same category, the use of humor to present a topic. At the same time,
however, people may like to watch different hosts with different
components incorporated into their individual show. What makes talk
shows so enjoyable and diverse is that the host can have a multitude

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of different people and content to them. With a talk show, there is a
different story every night, but they still have the same host.

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Works Cited
Biography.com Editors. "Ellen DeGeneres Biography." The Biography.com Website.
A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.biography.com/people/ellen-degeneres-9542420#related-videogallery>.
- - -. "Jimmy Fallon Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 6
Nov. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/jimmy-fallon-11818465>.
Caitlyn Jenner's Courageous Journey. Youtube. N.p., 4 Sept. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPx5F1t9kU>.
A Heartwarming Surprise Military Reunion. Youtube. N.p., 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Nov.
2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQQoYhyOjFw>.
Hutchby, Ian. "Confrontation as Spectacle: The Argumentative Frame of the Ricki Lake
Show." Television Talk Shows: Discourse, Performance, Spectacle. Ed. Andrew
Tolson. Mahweh: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. 155-72. Print.
Kissell, Rick. "Late Night Ratings: NBCs Tonight Show Still Rolling One Year After
Jimmy Fallons Debut." Variety. Variety Media, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
<http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/late-night-ratings-nbcs-tonight-show-stillrolling-one-year-after-jimmy-fallons-debut-1201447118/>.
Lip Sync Battle with Emma Stone. Youtube. N.p., 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLBSoC_2IY8>.
Matt Damon Whips and Nae Naes. Youtube. N.p., 29 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQidDRxR67o>.

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Rosen, Jay. "The Talk Show and the Terror of Conversation." ETC: A Review of General
Semantics 47.4 (1990): 366-71. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/42577256>.
"talk, n." OED Online. N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2015. OED Online. Web. 16 Nov.
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Taylor Swift Confirms 2014 MTV VMA Performance Rumors. Youtube. N.p., 14 Aug.
2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Taylor Swift Talks '1989'. Youtube. N.p., 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7EHtxnuVEs>.
Tolson, Andrew. "Talking about Talk: The Academic Debates." Television Talk Shows:
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about "Doctor Stethoscope." YouTube. N.p., 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNQW9l5_2y4>.