The great actor and comedian Arsenio Hall is poised to take over late night, again.
Nineteen years after the final eposide aired, Hall is set to premeire The Arsenio Hall Show on September 9, 2013. The daily, one-hour nationally syndicated late-night talk show will feature a mix of comedy, music and celebrity guests, bringing a fresh new perspective to the late-night scene.
Hall, the originator of the fist pump, embodied the latest 90’s trends with his flashy jazzy suits and flattop haircut and dominated the late night scene offering music, movies and even politicians a new platform never scene before -setting him apart from the conservative causain comedy of fellow late night competitors.
“A white person successful in this town can focus in white culture, in white life, in white things, and never even care about the riots in South Central or what’s on the Jay-Z CD, and succeed,” Hall said. “I HAVE to know what Jay knows. Jay don’t have to give a damn about what I do and who I do it with.”
He booked guests who weren’t on the other shows. He gave Magic Johnson his first platform to talk about AIDS. He gave Mariah Carey her late night debut. He even brought on Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan.
But the question remains- At 57 years old and nearly two decades since his last episode can he do it a second time or is Hall trying to recapture his glory days? If you listen to how he started than you will know this man can do anything.
” ‘The luckiest thing that ever happened to me is the fact that there was nobody who thought that I would succeed,’ the comedian says
“Absolutely. It forced me to work harder. It forced me to figure some things out. But it made me creative.”
Can he reproduce the same production? Keeping true to the adage “if its not broke, don’t fix it” the new set looks a lot like his old one. There’s no desk, just some comfy furniture. He even demonstrated the “Arsenio stance,” leaning in close on his guests. “Like when Bill Clinton’s talking to me about inhaling and Jennifer Flowers!” Hall laughed.
And when asked if it is not as successful as the first time the comedian responded by saying:
“Here’s the deal: If it don’t work, I’ll say it was a special!”
