5 ms·

If you haven't given the show a chance yet, it really is good. The goal seems to be to produce celebrity interviews that aren't boring, or staged, or overly pro

by vlunkr 4y ago

If you haven't given the show a chance yet, it really is good. The goal seems to be to produce celebrity interviews that aren't boring, or staged, or overly promotional. It definitely succeeds at that. In some sense it's also a victim of it's own success. The shift from smaller creators/artists to A-listers is impressive, but can be a little less interesting.

kup0 4y ago
Generally I agree, though I do enjoy the way it seems to humanize celebrities in many cases. It's nice when that curtain can fall- and I've often found myself realizing that I had a pre-conceived notion or negative bias about some celebrity that turns out to be false. By the end of some interviews I find myself viewing the guest much differently than before, or learning a little bit about the life/work of a celebrity (just as another human being) that I normally wouldn't be interested in, in any capacity (as someone that doesn't consume the media that most of the guests on the show are involved in, particularly shows/movies)
e40 4y ago
I completely agree. The interview questions very often elicit the response "wow, that was a good question" ... something I rarely hear outside the context of this show.
- jskulski 4y ago
  Yeah Sean Evan’s is an amazing interviewer. Some mix between the depth of Nardwaur and the pleasantness of Jess Thorne. The questions earlier in the series felt more “real”, where I get a sense of promotion now. It was always about the promotion (that was the “prize” in the first episodes), but the questions feel shaped to promote spots for plugs. Still one of the best interview shows running. The wings give every sense of urgency and gravity. It’s the perfect comic relief to the weight or depth of the question, the focus on the heat disarms the guest of their routine answers and reveals a lot about the person.
macintux 4y ago
I’m reminded how terribly disconnected I am from popular culture when I read about a 10-year-old wildly popular (and apparently quite good) show that I’ve never even heard of.
- spaceman_2020 4y ago
  We're at a weird point in culture where you can be superfamous within a niche and practically unknown outside it. My cousin keeps dropping names of different streamers and I have no idea who they are. But in his world, they are bigger than Justin Bieber
digging 4y ago
I tried getting into Hot Ones ~5 years ago because many friends enjoyed it. I simply couldn't stay engaged - even with celebrities I was excited to see, I found it weirdly boring. Maybe I'm just not the type to enjoy interviews! But it sounds like it would be even less fun to me now.
- jmuguy 4y ago
  The only ones worth watching, IMO, are the folks who basically experience a temporary change in personality due to the heat. And the (surprisingly few) that completely bail. Like if anyone somehow still has respect for DJ Khaled, just go watch his episode.
  - jdwithit 4y ago
    The Neil deGrasse Tyson episode was phenomenal. The way he was able to give insightful answers despite growing more and more uncomfortable was really impressive.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  Celebs in entertainment are usually doing a promo tour, if they're giving an interview, so those interviews are really just a form of advertising. Some manage to be entertaining anyway, but they're all just doing their job, which is mainly to sell whatever their latest thing is, and you can kinda feel that most of the time. And maybe it's my imagination but these sorts of interviews have gotten more and more stale-feeling over the years—could be me getting older, or could be studios and publishers and such demanding safer and more-focused behavior from folks on these kinds of tours.
- browningstreet 4y ago
  I liked the show for a while, but Sean Evans' hosting curdled my ability to watch anymore. His adherence to formula, obsequious mirroring of his guests, and performatively identical physical and vocal tics from episode to episode left me... annoyed. I watch the occasional highlight, but I can take Sean about as well as I can take Jimmy Fallon these days, which is not at all. His questions, though, tend to be great.

by vlunkr 4y ago

kup0 4y ago

Generally I agree, though I do enjoy the way it seems to humanize celebrities in many cases. It's nice when that curtain can fall- and I've often found myself realizing that I had a pre-conceived notion or negative bias about some celebrity that turns out to be false. By the end of some interviews I find myself viewing the guest much differently than before, or learning a little bit about the life/work of a celebrity (just as another human being) that I normally wouldn't be interested in, in any capacity (as someone that doesn't consume the media that most of the guests on the show are involved in, particularly shows/movies)

e40 4y ago

I completely agree. The interview questions very often elicit the response "wow, that was a good question" ... something I rarely hear outside the context of this show.

jskulski 4y ago
Yeah Sean Evan’s is an amazing interviewer. Some mix between the depth of Nardwaur and the pleasantness of Jess Thorne. The questions earlier in the series felt more “real”, where I get a sense of promotion now. It was always about the promotion (that was the “prize” in the first episodes), but the questions feel shaped to promote spots for plugs. Still one of the best interview shows running. The wings give every sense of urgency and gravity. It’s the perfect comic relief to the weight or depth of the question, the focus on the heat disarms the guest of their routine answers and reveals a lot about the person.

macintux 4y ago

I’m reminded how terribly disconnected I am from popular culture when I read about a 10-year-old wildly popular (and apparently quite good) show that I’ve never even heard of.

spaceman_2020 4y ago
We're at a weird point in culture where you can be superfamous within a niche and practically unknown outside it. My cousin keeps dropping names of different streamers and I have no idea who they are. But in his world, they are bigger than Justin Bieber

digging 4y ago

I tried getting into Hot Ones ~5 years ago because many friends enjoyed it. I simply couldn't stay engaged - even with celebrities I was excited to see, I found it weirdly boring. Maybe I'm just not the type to enjoy interviews! But it sounds like it would be even less fun to me now.

jmuguy 4y ago
The only ones worth watching, IMO, are the folks who basically experience a temporary change in personality due to the heat. And the (surprisingly few) that completely bail. Like if anyone somehow still has respect for DJ Khaled, just go watch his episode.
- jdwithit 4y ago
  The Neil deGrasse Tyson episode was phenomenal. The way he was able to give insightful answers despite growing more and more uncomfortable was really impressive.
yamtaddle 4y ago
Celebs in entertainment are usually doing a promo tour, if they're giving an interview, so those interviews are really just a form of advertising. Some manage to be entertaining anyway, but they're all just doing their job, which is mainly to sell whatever their latest thing is, and you can kinda feel that most of the time. And maybe it's my imagination but these sorts of interviews have gotten more and more stale-feeling over the years—could be me getting older, or could be studios and publishers and such demanding safer and more-focused behavior from folks on these kinds of tours.
browningstreet 4y ago
I liked the show for a while, but Sean Evans' hosting curdled my ability to watch anymore. His adherence to formula, obsequious mirroring of his guests, and performatively identical physical and vocal tics from episode to episode left me... annoyed. I watch the occasional highlight, but I can take Sean about as well as I can take Jimmy Fallon these days, which is not at all. His questions, though, tend to be great.