News Arts

Couch-Jumping Celebs Rule Talk Shows

NPR | By Andrew Wallenstein

Published September 14, 2009 at 10:13 AM EDT

Jay Leno soared past David Letterman in the ratings in 1995 when he scored an interview with actor Hugh Grant, who had just been busted for picking up a prostitute.

With the launch of his new talk show, all eyes are on Jay Leno. But let's face it: The success of tonight's show is less about the monologue than about which guest shows up. If talk show history has taught us anything, what really gets the watercoolers bubbling are the folks sitting opposite Leno on the couch.

No one should know that better than Leno himself. Back in July of 1995, there was an unforgettable appearance by Hugh Grant. The actor was in the difficult position of defending a recent arrest on charges of soliciting a prostitute on the Sunset Strip. Leno opened the interview with a simple question: "What the hell were you thinking?"

The awkward exchange that followed is more than just a classic TV moment; it's credited with sparking a ratings rocket that propelled Leno past David Letterman for the next 14 years. And when you really think about it, Leno's guest booker deserves more credit than the host himself. The best thing Leno did was just ask the question and then stay silent while Grant squirmed oh so memorably.

So who does Leno have booked for week one? Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Cruise and Miley Cyrus. Household names, for sure. But even the biggest star in the world isn't enough unless they are provocative.

A lightning rod like Cruise could fit both bills. Remember his couch-jumping incident on Oprah? But by now, he's learned the hard way to play it straight. Don't expect his heinie to stray too far from the seat cushion.

And yet that's the kind of thing that drives buzz for talk shows. While the conventional wisdom may hold that a good guest is some silver-tongued raconteur, it's actually quite the contrary. Think back to Joaquin Phoenix's appearance on Letterman in February. Surly and spaced out, he spent most of the interview hiding behind dark sunglasses and a long beard.

Phoenix was the biggest draw on YouTube the following day, and no wonder — these kind of random curiosities get people talking about talk shows more than anything else. So, NBC, feel free to replace Leno with a crash test dummy; it's those unplanned, must-see outbursts from guests that really put these shows over the top.