January 10, 2002

8:29 PM

Priceless.Carson Daly doesn't want just pop stars on his new late-night talk show. He tells Time magazine: "I've been dying to talk to [White House spokesman] Ari Fleischer. ... That guy's like a rock star. He handles a room." (more)
posted by mattpfeff (26 comments total)

(Link to E! online because the Time story is only in print. The misspelling of Fleischer's name (in the story) is also from the Time story.)

Previous MeFi commentary on the inestimable Mr. Fleisher can be found here, and Slate's Michael Kinsley has some interesting things to say about him, too. The best, however, has to be the Daily News' Bill Hutchinson's My 9 Innings with Ari Fleischer.

So, anyone got anything good on young Mr. Daly?
posted by mattpfeff at 8:33 PM on January 10, 2002

I hate to admit it, but having watched the first two airings of LC, it's a lot better than I anticipated. Daly is a pretty good host. He has some issues to work out (like talking about himself far too often, not letting the guest speak) but all-in-all it's not a bad show.
posted by tsumo at 8:41 PM on January 10, 2002

"He has some issues to work out (like talking about himself far too often, not letting the guest speak) but all-in-all it's not a bad show."

Sorry, but that's like saying, "well that new firefighter has a few issues to work out (like checking how he looks in a mirror far too often, and occasionally avoiding actually putting out any fires) but all-in-all he's not a bad firefighter."
posted by ZachsMind at 9:25 PM on January 10, 2002

Zach, doesn't parse. People watch talk shows because of the host. Viewership spikes based on the guests, but the core audience has to like the guy or gal they see every night. They're microscopic little cults of personality.

I used to hate Jon Stewart when he was on MTV, but I later came to realize he was the best heir to Tom Snyder. I'm not saying Daly's there, yet, but what they've been running in that slot since, um, Bob Costas, well, it's pretty much completely sucked.
posted by dhartung at 9:44 PM on January 10, 2002

You can see the dingus reading from the prompter!
That's all he does, mind you, look purdy and read from fucking prompters and he can't even do that well.

Why couldn't NBC just shave a monkey? Stick a lit sparkler in it's ass, make it dance on a hotplate, it'd still be less painful to watch than Dr. Daily.

See how that the Creed album is #1 in America right now? You didn't buy it. You don't know anyone who bought it. Wonder who the hell is buying that? That's right, Carson Daily. He bought them all. For the lord. He put Creed on the Billboard for the Lord.

Flicker past a homeshopping network late at night, notice that they're selling swords, swords for fuck's sake, and you briefly pause just long enough to envision what kind of ego-deprived nutsack buys a freakn' sword off of QVC? Right. He. Him. The Daily. He's got one hanging over his bed right now. His bed shaped like a little racecar.
posted by dong_resin at 9:44 PM on January 10, 2002

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I recommend the show. Unlike other talk show hosts, he devotes the entire show to a single guest, without resorting to pre-interviews, canned questions, or incessant running gags. Plus, the audience is extremely respectful, dead silent through most of the show.

It's like the anti-TRL, a sort of Charlie Rose for the younger set.
posted by waxpancake at 9:44 PM on January 10, 2002

I don't like him.
posted by dong_resin at 9:45 PM on January 10, 2002

can we get red skelton?
posted by clavdivs at 9:51 PM on January 10, 2002

"Sorry, but that's like saying, 'well that new firefighter has a few issues to work out (like checking how he looks in a mirror far too often, and occasionally avoiding actually putting out any fires) but all-in-all he's not a bad firefighter.'"

Zach, how is this the same in any way? Firefighters don't get many second chances... you're incompetent and you're gone. Daly can review tapes, talk with his producers, etc., to fine-tune his performance each subsequent night. Your analogy is the equivalent of saying an actor is incapable of improving from movie to movie.
posted by tsumo at 10:03 PM on January 10, 2002

Keep in mind, I was basing my opinion entirely on the premiere episode with Alicia Keys. I'm watching the second episode with Gwyneth Paltrow right now, which isn't as good. (He's mentioned himself a few too many times.)
posted by waxpancake at 11:11 PM on January 10, 2002

from today's press briefing:

Q Did the President know about that? Did he sign off on that conclusion? Or, as I suggested earlier --

MR. FLEISCHER: That was, appropriately so, between the Cabinet Secretaries.

Q You didn't answer the question, Ari. The question was, did he sign off on it? And the other question is, did he make a specific decision to distance himself from any discussions or decisions about Enron, or from even being briefed as to the accurate and current condition of their financial --

MR. FLEISCHER: I repeat my answer to you. Secretary Evans called Secretary O'Neill, and they agreed that no action should be taken in response to the call to Secretary Evans.

Q The answer is no, he wasn't briefed and didn't sign off?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's what I've said to you. I'll say it for the second time now.

Q No, you didn't say it, Ari


ha ha, I think I'll have to read Ari every day now
posted by roboto at 11:28 PM on January 10, 2002

Carson Daly is a bore. Someone will rake in a few bucks 'till his fan base moves on and he sinks like a rock.
posted by rotifer at 1:33 AM on January 11, 2002

can we get red skelton?

Only if someone wants to did him up. ZachsMind? dong_resin? Anybody?
posted by colt45 at 2:51 AM on January 11, 2002

Tsumo: did you really not understand Zach's simile? Granted, there are more succinct ways that Zach could have expressed that sentiment, but come on.

Here's an explanation: "Other than not being able to adequately perform the two essential tasks that this position requires, Carson's doing okay."

Dong_resin: You rock. Thanks for giving me something to laugh about today.
posted by xena at 4:56 AM on January 11, 2002

dong_resin funny.
posted by glenwood at 6:13 AM on January 11, 2002

Please do not compare him to Charlie Rose. Daly is an ass kisser on the level of James Lipton, though less intelligent. Rose at least challenges his guests by asking hard questions. Daly asks creampuff questions of people he admires.

Every Daly show can be summarized as:
"You are really cool. Tell me how you got to be so great."

If Daly really wants to have a show, I challenge him to ask Monday's guest Suge Knight some tough questions. If he does, I will have a greater respect for him, but I seriously doubt he will. He is Merv Griffin in a younger shell.

And damn that bastard for eliminating SCTV from late night.
posted by timothompson at 6:18 AM on January 11, 2002

me too (to the comments from dong_resin & clavdivs).
posted by mlang at 6:23 AM on January 11, 2002

Who the hell's Carson Daly?
posted by spinifex at 7:02 AM on January 11, 2002

he's... mediocre. i don't know how he'll do at 1:30 in the morning - 14 year old girls are typically asleep by then and adults don't seem wowed by his shnazzy black nailpolish or his ability to chat it up with lil bow wow.

anyway, i always thought jimmy fallon did a dead-on impression of daly though.

"i'm carson daly and i'm a massive tool. peace out!"
"i'm carson daly and i wear these glasses just to look smart."
"my name is carson daly and i'm completely average in every way."
posted by jerseygirl at 7:09 AM on January 11, 2002

the audience is extremely respectful, dead silent through most of the show.

Dude, that is usually called boredom.
posted by kindall at 7:17 AM on January 11, 2002

jerseygirl:

Couldn't resist responding to this: "i'm carson daly and i wear these glasses just to look smart."

Jimmy Fallon sat down next to a friend and me at my local coffee shop this past weekend, and I have to say that based on the very little I was able to observe, he is staggeringly slow. I should say I was never terribly impressed by Fallon - I think he's Adam Sandler's heir in one of the worst SNL traditions (the cute, dopey guy). But even I was taken aback.

My friend, who is not one to use the word in its more slang-y sense whispered that she thought he might have been retarded. He seemed completely incapable of understanding and replying to the short, simple and direct questions asked of him by the kitchen staff: "would you like a cold drink with that?" "Huh?" When he did answer, it was always after a lengthy pause, with an expression that reminded me of someone trying to see through fog.

He didn't actually seem stoned, though - more like someone who'd been stoned too many times.
posted by Sinner at 7:38 AM on January 11, 2002

I used to hate Jon Stewart when he was on MTV, but I later came to realize he was the best heir to Tom Snyder. I'm not saying Daly's there, yet, but what they've been running in that slot since, um, Bob Costas, well, it's pretty much completely sucked.

Actually, Craig Kilborn was the heir to Tom Snyder on the Late Late Show. Jon Stewart was Craig Kilborn's Daily Show heir.

On Carson Daly, I really don't understand what the big deal is about the guy, but I also don't understand the vitriol he inspires, either.
posted by CreequeAlley at 7:53 AM on January 11, 2002

I have always found everyone's sheer disdain of Carson Daly surprising, and highly amusing. I guess I'll just never get why people are so adamant about disliking him. It has become such a cliche, almost, to hate Carson Daly.

So, I ask you: for what? He's a guy who hosts shows on MTV. He never claimed to be a hard-hitting investigative journalist. He makes no grandiose claims that he is contributing something more important and bigger than he is, so why all the fuss?
posted by brittney at 10:05 AM on January 11, 2002

Carson has one thing going for him, he's so ignorant and phoney that he can get away with asking anyone anything, which, if you think about, is the goal of an interviewer.

Last night he was able to ask the notoriously intimidating Suge Knight a variety of hard-hitting questions and Carson was too ignorant to know how good those questions were or how terrified he should be.

Plus he brilliantly steered Knight back to answering the questions when it became obvious that the convicted felon is one of the types who likes to tell stories when questioned.

It's hard to call it dumb luck on Daly's part when you realize he's been playing this game for decades on some of the most popular music outlets. But I'll call it that anyway.
posted by tsarfan at 10:24 AM on January 11, 2002

I haven't seen the show, but I'm curious to know if Daly performs in the show with that same embarrased, nauseating grimace that he seems to use to endure Total Request Live. He always has this look on his face like someone tricked him into introducing N'Sync videos and that he's somehow in the wrong place, and too good to be surrounded by teeny-boppers.
posted by robbie01 at 12:18 PM on January 11, 2002

I will never have a Carson Daily trapper keeper, but as far as the first 3 shows go hes doing great! The questions are interesting and the celebrities don't seem to mind being there.
Maybe all the ass kissing hes done over his career allows for some space when it comes to asking celebrities questions they're not used to facing head on.
I think he knows what we want to hear (the late night audience) and is going to make sure his guests touch on those things (i.e. Gwenyth smoking cigarettes *a pretty cool fetish)
I will continue to watch, and I think his offbeat questions will inspire worthwile meta threads.
posted by Eric Lloyd NYC at 3:42 PM on January 11, 2002