Join or Die with Craig Ferguson: History's Biggest Fall From Grace

April 16, 2016 2:28 AM - Season 1, Episode 10

Is this a history show? Is it a comedy show? Yes. Tonight: PR Expert Howard Bragman, circumcised Canadian comedian Mark Forward and former late night host Jay Leno discuss who took the biggest tumble, from Richard Nixon, OJ Simpson, Andrew Johnson, Jimmy Fallon Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Benedict Arnold and Bill Cosby. Lakers are excluded because they are a group.
posted by lmfsilva (2 comments total)

Is it my imagination, or is there always one too many guest? Some weeks the academic doesn't get to say much, some weeks the comedian gets shut out (like this episode), although the celebrity usually gets to talk.

I thought Leno was really good, much the way Jimmy Kimmel was good in his episode. They are smart guys and they can think on their feet quickly. Craig sometimes steps on top of them a bit (I thought he over-talked Leno a few times), but they hold their own.
posted by briank at 7:49 AM on April 18, 2016

Guests need time. If you want to make their presence worth, each needs around 10 minutes or so of airtime (plus the host), maybe a bit less if it's a one-on-one. CraigyFerg has 3 guests for 22 minutes, same with Nightly Show, which suffers the same problems.

I know he's a bit of a persona non-grata here, but Maher really got the panel format right. One hour, no editing (since it's live), 5 guests, one with a one-on-one interview. Of course, it occasionally veers into Maher going on one of his obnoxious "I'm right, you're wrong" rants, name-calling and/or circle jerking, but when I watched it, it never occurred to me "what was this person doing here". To have three guests, Join or Die needed to an hour-block slot (apx 43 minutes).
posted by lmfsilva at 10:10 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]