Results tagged “jameslipton”

If you ever find yourself on line for Inside the Actor's Studio, James Lipton's high-brow talk show of sorts that films at Pace University, there's something you should know before stepping inside. While the show may only be an hour when it airs on Bravo, the real life version is about 4 or 5 times as long. We recently spent a big chunk of time with Josh Brolin in the studio (more on that to come), and now TV Squad writes about their experience when Conan O'Brien was a guest, with a post titled: James Lipton holds Conan O'Brien and hundreds of others hostage. They note, "It was nearly midnight when Lipton got to his last blue card...when the nearly 4 hour interview was finished, everyone felt drained. Even Conan seemed to be glad it was over." And in all that time there wasn't much lip service paid to Conan's move to the west coast, aside from him saying "he was excited and nervous—and that they'd fly Lipton out to L.A. so he could still be on the show."

As outrageous as this may seem, this sort of makes sense: James Lipton, he of Inside the Actors' Studio, used to be a pimp in Paris! ABC reports:

The revered TV presenter, who has sat down with Hollywood's biggest names for in-depth chats about their life and work over the last 13 years, has revealed he once procured clients for French hookers.

We'll have to go back and see how he discussed Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman when she was on the show. Lipton explains his foree into the seedy side of street life saying, "This was when I was very very young, living in Paris, penniless, unable to get any kind of working permit... I had a friend who worked in what is called the Milieu...this young woman and I, we made a rather good living, I must say." We may now have to actually read his new book, Inside Inside - where he also reveals his life with gypsies, and his role on Guiding Light. Who knew?!

THEATER: Beastie Boy Adrock (who turns 40 next month!) was but a wee homey when his father, Israel Horovitz, penned his hit play “Line” 32 years ago. That dark comedy is the longest-running play in off-off-Broadway history. It’s about five people stuck on line and their shameless machinations to get to the front. The theater’s website boasts that the play has been performed in 25 countries and split the sides of 100,000 theatergoers. Who will be 100,001? - John Del Signore

Okay, maybe not all of Jay McCarroll's friends are from Bravo shows (his friend Selene in Park Slope is like the bestest friend ever - she lets him stay on her couch, touch her boob, and models his outfit for pregnant Heidi), it just seemed like it. Hey, here's Austin Scarlett! Wendy Pepper! Oh, Kara is the only person he knows in L.A. with a sewing machine (okay, that's more legit). But Jason from Blow Out cuts his hair? What next, James Lipton comes on to lecture Jay about drama? Just a thought! So, Gothamist watched Project Jay two nights ago and actually watched part of it again last night, and we'll probably watch it every single time it comes on Bravo because we tend to do things like that (it's that or watching the Pastry World Championships on the Food Network). We're a little torn between wishing it was a weekly show and being happy it isn't. God bless Jay's wackiness, but he's a bit high-maintenance. Anyway, here's our rundown:

Sam Seder, Director / Writer / Comedian / Co-Host, "The Majority Report"

With QEFTSG breaking Bravo's rating records, Gothamist takes a look at the previously highest-rated program, Inside the Actor's Studio with James Lipton Since Gothamist is a huge movie fan, when we watched the show for the first time, we thought, "Wow, this is great, this guy talks to really interesting actors and get them to discuss their craft." See, there was a day when we were naive and hopeful. Now we realize James Lipton is peddling around the most annoying panderfest - it's like Charlie Rose plus Jay Leno without anything interesting. And we hate how Lipton tries to show off his French when he says "Bernard Pivot" when he's about to do the 10 questions, which Gothamist always felt was the poor man's Proust Questionnaire.