Comments on: Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show Holds For Laughs

By: warren

warren — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:55:22 +0000

Well, I’ve been watching and downloading the podcast for over a year now. Some shows (Matthew Perry, Billy Bob Thornton…) have been particularly good. Some (more often than not the ones involving not massively well known stand-up comedians) have been overlong and tedious. Others have been downright terrible to be frank. Kevin makes for an amiable, likeable yet condescending and oftentimes smug host. He is sycophantic to the point of making me sick on occasion, especially when interviewing more famous guests. I have never seen him put his hands up and say “Sorry, I don’t know who that person is,” when a guest goes into detail about someone Kevin clearly doesn’t know. Instead what he’ll do is say “Wow,” rather unconvincingly before moving onto something else.
Why he decided to drop the whole ‘This is your show’ schtick that he adopted at the beginning – asking for viewer contributions in terms of music and ideas is painfully obvious. He had some ‘big’ name guests contribute those things instead and decided to leave it at that. He does show alarming disdain for his followers on Twitter though. Yes, he may read out your questions but he’ll probably rip the piss outta you along with it. If only he had as much balls with his guests or annoying sidekick girlfriend on occasion.
I do have my problems with the show as you can tell. I also think the format, the host and some of the guests have been truly informative and interesting to watch on occasion. I prefer to download than to stream and prefer the video option over the audio, just to see those little nuances that can mean so much in an interview situation. I hope it remains to be a free download as I would much rather skip through a couple of minutes of advertising than pay for the pleasure of watching. To be honest, I don’t think I would pay. Not because I’m tight and not because I think the show hasn’t earned it, but because this is clearly a vehicle for Kevin and his guests to flog their wares, which they inevitably always do. This is a vanity project that works nicely, both for the host and the viewer, but I’ll be darned if I’m gonna pay to hear Kevin fawn all over some guy I’ve never heard about in my life. The podcast slips in nicely alongside all the other free podcasts that I download each weel. It rarely excels above them, though the fact that it is a video podcast definitely works in its favour. Sometimes you want to have something to look at- maybe on the train or at the gym. Just something to take your divert your eye and that you can concentrate on.
So to summise I think the show is very good indeed. It could do with a little tweaking here and there for sure. The Larry King Game has never been particularly funny but it is a welcome attempt at humour at the end of a two hour interview. Personally I’d like to see more of these little games peppered in amongst the show. The Twitter Game is more succesful and again offers some light-hearted relief in amongst all the chatter. I’d like to see more of Samm Levine who is a genuinely funny and seemingly sweet guy. His contibutions are always good to hear. The crew gag at the end of the show is terrific. It’s nice to see the guys behind the scenes getting their chance to shine. Hmmm, Jaime Fox annoys me a little if I’m to be completely honest. I know that she is a major contributer to the show but it reeks a little of favouritism when she is sat there oftentimes just glaring at a screen alongside Samm Levine. Why isn’t she out of the way like the rest of the staff? Hmmmmm.
I’ll leave it on a positive note and say that I genuinely find Kevin to be funny and interesting. I wasn’t always a fan of his to be honest but he has won me round with this show. Just a little less brown-nosing of the guests and a little more appreciation for those that have taken time out of their day to watch, listen and write into the show would go a helluva long way.

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By: Stupid For Movies A Live-Streamed Odyssey of Film Nerdity - NewTeeVee Station

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By: Zach Galifianakis In Danger of Going Mainstream?

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[...] Comedians hosting talk shows for the web are most definitely nothing new, either as a joke or for real. But one of the early pioneers in mocking the institution is definitely comedian Zach Galifianakis, [...]

By: Zach Galifianakis In Danger of Going Mainstream? - NewTeeVee Station

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By: HOTIE

HOTIE — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:50:51 +0000

HEY PLZ P2P WIT ME P2P MEANS CHAT WIT ME]