Sadly, I missed too many episodes.
A lot of small things made this show unique. There was no audience, just Whoopi and one guest. The only other people present was the stage crew and a background piano player of gentle music. The stage was large and open, without a lot of typical clutter, flash and noise. The lighting was subdued, and the the setting was a comfortable love seat/end table/coffee table/easy chair.
The atmosphere came together to create a secure, non-threatening, low-pressure, comfortable environment, in which one famous person could finally just relax and openly talk about things with just another famous person, not an Interviewer. Everything worked so well, that the viewer felt like they were right there with them. Something seldomly achieved anymore in television.
Whoopi is an amazingly talented interviewer in such surroundings. Mainly because she never played it up to a TV audience during these talks. She genuinely loves to listen to, talk with, and learn about her guest.
Two episodes remain my favorites. Well..., three actually, as one guest had a two-parter episode. Grace Slick, of Jefferson Airplane/Starship fame, and the two-parter interview with Jack Lemmon.
The piano player, as well as playing the intro and closing music, would also start playing softly to cue the commercial breaks. But for the Jack Lemmon interview, who was an accomplished piano player himself, at his request, they gave the piano player the day off, and the whole two-parter was just Jack and Whoopi talking about his life and events. It was an amazingly intimate insight into his life and times.
If ever a talk show deserves to be released on DVD, this one does! On all the other talk shows Whoopi's guests have done, they came across as if it was another performance. On her show however, they could just be themselves.
A lot of small things made this show unique. There was no audience, just Whoopi and one guest. The only other people present was the stage crew and a background piano player of gentle music. The stage was large and open, without a lot of typical clutter, flash and noise. The lighting was subdued, and the the setting was a comfortable love seat/end table/coffee table/easy chair.
The atmosphere came together to create a secure, non-threatening, low-pressure, comfortable environment, in which one famous person could finally just relax and openly talk about things with just another famous person, not an Interviewer. Everything worked so well, that the viewer felt like they were right there with them. Something seldomly achieved anymore in television.
Whoopi is an amazingly talented interviewer in such surroundings. Mainly because she never played it up to a TV audience during these talks. She genuinely loves to listen to, talk with, and learn about her guest.
Two episodes remain my favorites. Well..., three actually, as one guest had a two-parter episode. Grace Slick, of Jefferson Airplane/Starship fame, and the two-parter interview with Jack Lemmon.
The piano player, as well as playing the intro and closing music, would also start playing softly to cue the commercial breaks. But for the Jack Lemmon interview, who was an accomplished piano player himself, at his request, they gave the piano player the day off, and the whole two-parter was just Jack and Whoopi talking about his life and events. It was an amazingly intimate insight into his life and times.
If ever a talk show deserves to be released on DVD, this one does! On all the other talk shows Whoopi's guests have done, they came across as if it was another performance. On her show however, they could just be themselves.
