The Arsenio Hall Show 

Arsenio Hall hosts this hip, late-night talk show.

Stars:

Arsenio Hall, Burton Richardson, Michael Wolff

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Arsenio Hall	...	Himself - Host 378 episodes, 1989-1994
Burton Richardson	...	Himself - Announcer 367 episodes, 1989-1994

Storyline

Arsenio Hall hosts this hip, late-night talk show.

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Plot Keywords:

live show | political satire | topical humor | stand up comedy | social satire | 

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Taglines:

We Be Havin' a Ball!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Music | Talk-Show

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 January 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

El show de Arsenio Hall

Filming Locations:

Stage 29, Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arsenio Hall Communications, Paramount Domestic Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The show was syndicated and aired on some CBS affiliates throughout the country. When Late Show with David Letterman (1993) premiered, many CBS affiliates moved Hall's show to a later time slot or dropped the show altogether. Hall's show also aired on some Fox affiliates. One week later, Fox premiered The Chevy Chase Show (1993) and Hall's show suffered the same fate. Even though Chase's show was short-lived, Hall was unable to retrieve his previous time slots. Hall's show was still popular in the markets where his show had not been moved or replaced but the nationwide ratings had sharply declined.

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Connections

Featured in Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America (2000)

User Reviews

A Product Of The Times

I admit I have fond memories of the Arsenio Hall show and was a devout viewer, but that was when he first came out and skyrocketed to instant popularity. He was a major hype of the times, an icon for bringing a new, hip and refreshing format to the talk show industry, and checking out his show seemed like the "in" thing to do.

There were funny and memorable moments, like the time Kurt Russell was a guest and a song from an album he recorded as a child star suddenly started blaring on the studio speakers. There were also Arsenio's merciless digs at Roseanne Barr during his opening monologue, most of which were pretty funny. There was also Madonna's hyped up and much publicized appearance (back when she was at a superstar zenith), and after the applause died down and the 'talk' began, all she basically did was throw questions back at him about his alleged romance with Paula Abdul.

Arsenio seemed to revel in his own success too, like showing a clip from "Ghost" where Whoopi Goldberg mentions to two co-stars that his show was on. Or taking note of the news item where a guy got outraged and violent after other people in his household wouldn't let him watch the show.

Yeah, The Arsenio Hall show was a product of the times, unfortunately time wasn't too kind and before long, the fad started to wear out. My interest started to wane in '91 when things weren't making such an impact anymore. Even another appearance from Madonna didn't liven things up. She, looking pale and curiously waxen faced, merely sat quietly while her then-friend Rosie O'Donnell obnoxiously hogged up all the attention.

Yes, Arsenio was a great show, but only at the beginning, afterwards, it became a passing fancy, much like the "Help, I've fallen and can't get up!" commercial and the "Twin Peaks" TV series.