The Arsenio Hall Show

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Arsenio Hall Show
Arsenio Hall
The Arsenio Hall Show Opening Title.
Genre Talk show
Variety show
Running time 1 hour per episode
Creator(s) Arsenio Hall
Marla Kell Brown
Starring Arsenio Hall
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel First-run syndication
Original run January 1989–May 1994
No. of episodes 1,248
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Arsenio Hall Show was a talk show, which aired on late night in syndication from 1989 to 1994. It starred comedian/actor Arsenio Hall.

Hall had been a host on The Late Show, another talk show on the Fox Broadcasting Company, after the dismissal of Joan Rivers. Although he was popular in that job, his 13-week contract was not renewed, and he signed with Paramount Television to do this show before Fox finally decided they wanted to keep him.

Hall's show was aimed at the younger urban audience, with Eddie Murphy (a personal friend of Hall's) and other African American performers often featured. But the show quickly appealed to young people of all races and began to attract a wide variety of guests. It became the show for entertainers to go to in order to reach the "MTV Generation". The show was known for the audience's yelling, "Whoop, whoop, whoop!" while pumping their fists in a circular motion. Hall had invented this chant for his high school's football team. Jay Leno's taking over The Tonight Show in 1992 and the arrival at CBS of The Late Show with David Letterman eventually led to a slide in Hall's ratings (since the series appeared in many markets on CBS affiliates, which had been offered inexpensive drama series Crimetime After Primetime, the abortive Pat Sajak Show and The CBS Late Movie in that slot for years). The show was cancelled in May 1994 due to low ratings, and it aired its final episode in August. Hall claimed that his decision to have the controversial Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan turned affiliates, advertisers and some viewers off the show.

Presidential candidate Bill Clinton's appearance on the show in June 1992 (he played the saxophone) is often considered an important moment in Clinton's political career, helping build his popularity among minority voters; Clinton went on to win the United States presidential election in November 1992.

Contents

[edit] Partial list of guests

[edit] Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

  • 1993: "Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series", for episode "The 1000th show" — won
  • 1990: "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or a Special" — won
  • 1990: "Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series" — nominated
  • 1989: "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or a Special" — nominated
  • 1989: "Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series" — nominated
  • 1989: "Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program" — nominated

NAACP Image Awards

  • 1995: "Outstanding Variety Series" — won
  • 1993: "Outstanding Variety Series/Special" — won

[edit] Trivia

  • Reflecting the distaste of conservative commentators for the show and mocking the style in which Arsenio Hall was introduced on stage every night, radio host Rush Limbaugh, immediately after the show's announced cancellation, referred to it as the "Arsenio Goooone Show".

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Arsenio_Hall_Show_12f2.html"