Growing up, I always wanted to stay up late...and for one reason, to watch The Arsenio Hall Show. I don't think I was alone in this feeling...in his first season Arsenio soared in the ratings. Many at NBC saw that as the beginning of the end of Johnny Carson's reign. All things pass with time, great lights don't always shine in Hollywood and Arsenio had his day. But something's missing when I watch TV now...I haven't been able to find that Arsenio type who used to bring forth the best of both worlds - the popular culture and the political realm, with a little honest talk from the street as well. Oprah in her hay-day used to be like that, but she's changed along with the viewers who grew up watching her and that has been her survival instinct and genius. Arsenio was an unusual phenomenon when he started doing late night TV, he had a tremendous impact on Urban Radio...in this regard Arsenio was the beloved of Hip Hop culture. But landscapes change in this business, and Hall fell victim to the transitions that were taking place within the late night talk show system. Whatever the reason, Arsenio's departure from television left a gaping hole in the active representation of contemporary black musical cultures in the mainstream media for a long time. When the void was created in the absence of Arsenio it became very evident to me, that TV is one of the last media bastions that could restrict Hip Hop's expansion. Arsenio was an urban geographical force of nature and nothing has been quite the same since.
People look for a messiah...but in hip hop we need another Arsenio Hall.
1 comment:
the farrakhan interview sealed his fate. ratings were not that low statistics prove that.
who has the persona to pull of a show like that, maybe chris tucker. but hearing his squeaky voice late at night would give me a head ache. maybe keena ivory wayans (minus the outfits from in living colour)
Maybe malik
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