Episode Guide
Kim Kardashian West Robert Downey Jr, Dave Chapelle Lizzo There has been a seismic shift in the talk show game over the past couple of years. In the UK, Graham Norton has managed to clinch the crown for the best talk show, with a real knack of getting his guests to open up and feel comfortable sitting and discussing their life. By comparison, the competitive US game has also seen a big shift lately, with Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel to name a few vowing for those crucial views. This competitiveness ultimately puts some of the old guard at a bit of a disadvantage. Despite being a host for 33 years, David Letterman’s “My Next Guest” has been a bit of a mixed bag. The first season had a few wobbles – namely the interview with Malala Yousafzai – while the second season began to include more of Letterman interjecting and interrupting his guests. Now onto season 3, David Letterman’s “My Next Guest” feels like a far cry from the brilliance of those early interviews in his career. That’s not to say this is bad though – the 4 featured interviews are certainly engrossing and between Kim Kardashian West, Robert Downey Jr., Dave Chapelle and Lizzo, there’s a lot of fascinating material to be uncovered. On the one hand, the guests have enough going on in their lives to hold a long-form conversation, while the cutaway segments are enough to break up the moments on-stage. There’s a lot of jokes here too – some that work really well and others that fall flat (Letterman eating grass at Robert’s ranch for example). This is very much more of the same but with a few unfortunate inclusions this time around. From badgering Kim Kardashian West over who she’s voting for to talking over different guests, there’s some irritating quips that take away from the ebb and flow of the easy-going conversations. It’s a shame too because there’s actually some good material here. Dave Chapelle is arguably the best of the bunch and his comedic presence means there’s a lot of back and forth between the two that’ll immediately make you feel at ease. Season 3 of My Next Guest continues to deliver the goods though; even if those goods aren’t as pristine and high quality as they once were.
