Remember the good old days on TV and radio when celebrities were interviewed by people trained to ask questions in a public forum? Ah, the old days. A troubling and annoying trend in podcasting is the growth of celebrity interview shows. These shows are like Japanese Barberry, Purple Loosestrife, and Kudzu.
The people at iHeart wrote this: "After navigating through a tumultuous year of intense public scrutiny, Rachel has emerged resilient and committed to personal growth. As the host of Rachel Goes Rogue, Leviss will lean into her journey and connect with listeners in a whole new way."
To be fair, the show could be terrific, yet does podcasting truly need another show with a Reality TV celebrity oversharing about their randy, chaotic and overdramatized life?
It's just that every celebrity with a little time on their hands has plunged into the interview podcast pool, and all that splashing has listeners wondering how they ended in the deep end of this ego-stroking pool.
Celebrity podcasts have overwhelmed the sea wall built to protect listeners from celebrity self-love, self-absorption, and self-actualization.
We had the heavy hitters like Meghan Markle in Archetypes and Michelle Obama, who were here and are now gone. Then, we have the lesser-known celebs like Justin Long, Gwyneth Paltrow (Goop -- Heaven help us), and Seth Rogen.
It's not that all of these celebrity podcasts are bad -- except for Snooki & Joey -- but like true-crime podcasts, there are just too many of them.
There are so many of these podcasts that there is a podcast called the Celebrity Podcast Podcast that covers celebrity podcasts. Talk about meta.
So I know what you're saying? What's your problem?
After all, broadcast TV has lovable trash like The Bachelor and Bachelorette and The Masked Singer. Discovery has an entire channel dedicated to skewering humanity with shows like 1000-lb Sisters and MILF Manor (jeez).
No problem. To each their own. But TV also has Abbott Elementary, Ghosts, Yellowstone, and 60 Minutes.
My
problem is that I'm frightened that podcasting will be the recycling
plant for celebrities disgraced and seeking redemption, or those with fading careers
inundating the medium. Podcasting already has a problem with the
conspiracy theorists, misinformation mavens, and true-crime obsessives overwhelming podcast feeds.
Take, for example, the new podcast by T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach, formerly of ABC's Good Morning America. The podcast premiered on December 5 on the iHeartPodcast Network. In addition to hosting and executive producing their own podcast, Robach and Holmes will also collaborate on a full slate of upcoming programming for iHeartPodcasts.
Here's the marketing promotion from iHeart: "Hosts and executive producers Robach and Holmes are a formidable broadcasting team with decades of experience delivering headline news and captivating viewers nationwide. Now, the duo will get behind the microphone to explore meaningful conversations about current events, pop culture, and everything in between. Nothing is off limits"
Does the off limits include interviews with their ex-spouses so they get to tell their side of the story? So, the duo are temporarily persona non grata on television, and some agent said, "I know. Start a podcast."
Podcasting,
like TV and radio, is a zero-sum game. We are definitely seeing that
now in streaming TV, where execs just woke up and realized streaming
isn't a moneymaker. Suddenly, streamers like Netflix and Max are canceling or removing shows faster than Taylor Swift can take over the entire world.
In podcasting, there are some terrific interview shows. Fresh Air, WTF with Marc Maron, How I Built This, Vox Conversations, Jemele Hill Is Unbothered, and The Jordan Harbinger Show, and so many more.
How about Shannen Doherty? The “Beverly Hills, 90210” "Charmed" actor, 52, debuted the new iHeartRadio podcast “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty” last month, which covers many aspects of her life, both professional and personal. Doherty has stage four cancer.
Doherty told People Magazine
in an interview published on Tuesday that those aspects will include
her experiences living with cancer, and that it will “explore all the
different phases and stages” of the disease, including “what it’s like
to lose your hair (a) multitude of times, (and) how to stay authentic to
yourself.”
Doherty, in that People Magazine
interview, explained that doctors will be among the guests she speaks
to, and that the podcast is encouraging her on her journey, calling it
“invigorating” and saying it “helps me for sure.”
Now, that's a celebrity podcast that has value because it's about a life we may someday face ourselves, and the courage displayed in the battle.
With Spotify and other networks pulling back on money and resources for podcasting, every new celebrity podcast means one less potential quality podcast from a person listeners have not yet heard of.
How many is too many? Sometimes, it seems like every celebrity has a podcast. Does a celebrity on a reality show who became famous for "Karen" behavior really deserve a podcast? And isn't that podcast going to crowd out the aspirational podcasters who start their own interview shows without the spotlight of having received a rose ten years ago on a reality TV show?
Marc Maron was not a celebrity when he started his podcast out of his garage. Believe it or not, Joe Rogan was simply a former reality show TV host when he started his podcast.
Are
all those celebrity podcasts flooding the podcasting space, crowding
out the potential for unknowns to surface and become household names? Is
podcasting becoming Kardashian-ized like reality TV?
It's bad enough that Dr. Phil has a podcast. So no more TV castoffs and celebrity laughingstocks on podcasts. If celebrities are sliding into podcasting, please make it people like Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Lupita Nyong'o, and Emma Watson.
For me, the best celebrity podcast is Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda. Smart, intellectually curious, and far-ranging, the show is, as one reviewer commented, "The perfect mix of insightful and humanistic conservation."
On the latest episode, Alda interviews Steve Inskeep about his new book about Abraham Lincoln. The new book takes a fresh look at Abraham Lincoln’s life by recounting sixteen face-to-face encounters Lincoln had with people who differed with him, sometimes vehemently. The book not only reveals his skills as a master politician in a deeply divisive time, but also has lessons for today.
Hey, I understand if you are fascinated by the sexual goings-on with Good Morning America or Vanderpump Rules. Human beings are naturally curious, especially about other people's business when other people are getting busy with each other.
But are these frolics worthy of a podcast? Maybe a few episodes and then you move on to some terrific podcasts that are gossipy, creepy, and trashy by definition, and they're by indie podcasters.
Try Trashy Divorces or What a Creep. You can still get the dirt without getting dirty.
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