Inside The Actors Studio - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Suggestions here!

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[roamyn]

They re-played Robin Williams' one from 2001 over the weekend.

[rubaco]

It was on this weekend too? I caught it on Thursday. I feel like it was, originally, either 90 minutes or 2 hours, but the version they showed Thursday was an hour.

 

It was a little tough to watch now. 

[sinkwriter]

Loved the Neil Patrick Harris interview, but I actually wish James had spent a little more time talking with Neil about his experience playing Doogie Howser. He was only 16 years old, leading a show, and I really loved him as Doogie. I think they did it a disservice by simply treating it as if it was "Doogie was an underage doctor by day, horndog teenager who wants to have sex with his girlfriend by night..." That's really not what the show was for me when I watched it back then. 

[sinkwriter]

Joss Whedon.   :)

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Want to see veteran working actors speak to students.

Like Zeljko Ivanek

Edited April 3, 2015 by MrsRafaelBarba

[FormerMod-a1]

I would love to see Vincent D'Onofrio.

[Linderhill]

Its hard to think of who since I keep forgetting to keep up with the program.  Heck, I forget when its on.  That said, I'd love for James to interview Jeffery Dean Morgan.

[FormerMod-a1]

Has Bruce Campbell been on? I'd love to see Bruce.

[Crs97]

The first season or so I felt like I was watching an acting class.  The questions were fascinating, and I felt like I learned so much about the craft.  I loved it!  Then, as the seasons continued and the caliber of guests lessened, I felt like I was watching a really long promo for whatever movie the guest was promoting.  By the time James got to Julia Roberts I realized he had completely run out of anyone who had anything meaningful to teach to the students.  I don't know that I have watched more than a handful since, which makes me sad because for awhile I counted the days for the next show.

[LemonSoda]

I would love to see Vincent D'Onofrio.

Me too! I think the students could learn a lot from him.

Edited November 23, 2015 by LemonSoda

[may2]

Bryan Cranston is on this Wednesday.

 

It was last Wednesday.  Hopefully it will rerun.

Edited November 29, 2015 by may2

[meep.meep]

Jeff Daniels was on last night.

 

Is this the last show left from when Bravo was arts programming?  Rather than Real Housewives shows?

[FormerMod-a1]

Viola Davis is on tonight!  I didn't even know a new season had started.

[chitowngirl]

I just found out this morning that the season started in December. Jessica Chastain was the first episode of the season. 

[oceanblue]

I moved to NY in about 1994, and I audited this class at the New School.  Sally Field was the first guest.  It was awesome.  Lipton was not yet so full of himself.  I took the class for a few semesters, but they pushed the non-degree students out when the show became known.

[rustyspigot]

And the award for most pretentious scarf goes to Cuba Gooding Jr.

[chitowngirl]

New episode tonight! Scarlett Johansson.

[surreysmum]

Went on the Wikipedia episode list, and would wish to see, in addition to the senior British classical actors with crossover appeal that they've actually managed to snag, the following obvious names: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart. And if they're going to do repeat visits, how about trying to get Sondheim back, since it's been more than 20 years?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the Actors Studio received an Emmy nomination:

OUTSTANDING INFORMATIONAL SERIES OR SPECIAL

[FormerMod-a1]

Watching the Ted Danson interview now.  It just aired this week.  He's charming, as always, and talks a lot about The Good Place, but also talks about everything from Cheers to Three Men and Baby to Damages.

[atlantaloves]

Oh yeah, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed Mr. Ted. He is such a sweetheart.  I tried watching his new show, but blaughhhhhh, I didn't like it at all. 

[chitowngirl]

Inside The Actor’s Studio to move to Ovation.

[atlantaloves]

Oh the new series is going to be off the hook.  Is Mr. Lipton retired now? Is he okay?

[sinkwriter]

I hope it will be available at some point on Netflix or another streaming service, because I no longer have cable or U-Verse so I don't have access to Ovation.

I love this show. The discussions are so fascinating! I hope that no matter who takes the hosting baton, they will continue to close out the program with the Bernard Pivot questions. That is a CLASSIC staple and should not change. 

[Jaded]

An article from last year said there would be rotating guest hosts.

[atlantaloves]

I just watched the new show last night, Winkler was way too long winded and frankly just rambled, and Alec Baldwin is so full of himself. God, I don't know what to think.

[chitowngirl]

Was that Ellen Burstyn in the audience? Right after the Barry clip?

I did not like the student asking the Questions at the end. I did like Henry answering student questions and teaching them. He was great with them.

Those chairs looked very uncomfortable.

Edited October 15, 2019 by chitowngirl

[meep.meep]

I just watched the latest show with David Oyelowo and Jane Lynch- really good, mostly because he is really funny and humble.  They did the questions at the end, asked by one of the audience members.

[atlantaloves]

I'm sorry, but this show is just second rate without Lipton.

[sadie]

Without Lipton this is almost unwatchable. He had a way of asking questions and keeping the actor on track so we understood their craft. With this new format I notice the actors just ramble on and on, and maybe it’s because they have other actors interviewing them that maybe they don’t want to be too forceful or interrupt but the interviews just aren’t focused. I really wanted to hear from Pacino but he just kept veering so far off track that he lost my interest and Godfather is one of my top 5 favorite films. It may be time to retire this series if they can’t find a permanent host that knows what they are doing. 

[atlantaloves]

God Pacino acted like he was on SPEED...it was impossible to watch, I had to turn it off, and I loved both the host and actor. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. 

[meep.meep]

I finally watched (or started to watch) the Pacino episode.  I made it half way through.

I don't think the fault necessarily lays with the interviewer.  For all we know Lipton let the guests ramble on and on.  This falls on the producers.  The Pacino episode needed to be edited severely and wasn't.  

[SoCal Mema]

On 11/4/2019 at 4:36 PM, sadie said:

Without Lipton this is almost unwatchable. He had a way of asking questions and keeping the actor on track so we understood their craft. With this new format I notice the actors just ramble on and on, and maybe it’s because they have other actors interviewing them that maybe they don’t want to be too forceful or interrupt but the interviews just aren’t focused. I really wanted to hear from Pacino but he just kept veering so far off track that he lost my interest and Godfather is one of my top 5 favorite films. It may be time to retire this series if they can’t find a permanent host that knows what they are doing. 

THIS, THIS, THIS.  I find the rotating hosts super annoying and the show has lost all sense of continuity.  The Pacino episode was a complete wreck, IMHO.  Lipton did have a way of getting things out of his interviews whereby it felt new and refreshing, and helped us understand the actors.  This setup now just feels like a bunch of "fan-girling or fan-boying" for the sessions.

[atlantaloves]

Well the Dern interview was actually pretty good.

[rubaco]

So sad to hear of James Lipton's passing. 

[chitowngirl]

If Heaven exists, I wonder what God said to him at the Pearly Gates?

Edited March 3, 2020 by chitowngirl

[sinkwriter]

In honor of James, I asked my friends and family to fill out the James Lipton / Bernard Pivot questionnaire (if they want to). Some really interesting answers so far! ❤️ 

Some of those questions were tougher for me to answer than I thought.

Edited March 3, 2020 by sinkwriter