CW 8: The Graham Norton Show
Disclaimer: delayed entry (so I'm trying to remember what I was thinking back then)
Out of all the talk shows on tv right now (for me that is The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Meyers, The Late Late Show with James Corden, The Ellen Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, ...) I think the Graham Norton Show is by far the best.
Most of the shows get on people by their own so it is really just the actor, musician or whoever talking about themselves and the host admiring them and putting them on a pedestal, as if they were outer-worldly gods and whatever they did is the best thing ever. Especially Jimmy Fallon in my opinion has become increasingly annoying when interviewing people. We sort of lost Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert to the Trump-era, because ever since he started campaigning all they make fun of is Trump and it has reached a point where the sarcastic comments on their own country have just become tiring to listen to. Ellen Degeneres used to be my favorite talk show host. I thought she was funny and did fun games with her guests. However, with all the information we have on how people were treated at The Ellen Show, my suspicion of her only being nice for the camera but being extremely detached from life and living in a rich world are being supported, so I can't really watch her interviews without thinking she probably is not as nice as she pretends to be and the "be kind to one another" only counts when there are cameras nearby. With Seth Meyers I really never had a problem but I wouldn't catch up regularly like I would with other shows.
That leaves James Corden and Graham Norton (funny enough both British) who both are quite similar. James Corden does games every now and then and has different sections like the Carpool Karaoke and such but the talking sections deliver nice conversations when you have a fun combination of people on the couch. The Graham Norton Show manages to entertain for a good hour just by talking (which in the end is what a talk show should be). You'll find the funniest combinations of people on Graham Norton's couch and whether you have British royalty on there next to some American actor, Graham Norton manages to get everyone on the same level. So no one feels entitled or better than others. Graham treats everyone like normal people (which is what they are obvs), so is made fun of in the same way and treated equally, sometimes putting them on the spot. This is one of the things I like most about the Graham Norton show: it doesn't seem rehearsed.
Whoever does the research at the Graham Norton show, is doing a great job. They find super old videos, photos etc. and stories and pieces of information that no other talk show talks about. And more than that they find what everyone has in common, eventually connecting them in some way and so you will end up hearing Anna Kendrick and Eddie Redmayne talk about what cartoon character they had a crush on as kids. Kimmel, Fallon, Degeneres etc. often talk about the same things with the same people, especially Fallon feels like he's repeating everything you already know about the interviewee.