S21.E08: Salma Hayek, David Walliams, Liam Payne

[Athena]

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Graham is joined by actress Salma Hayek, who stars in new comedy drama Beatriz at Dinner, comedian and writer David Walliams, who talks about his book The World's Worst Children 2, and Liam Payne, who performs new single Strip That Down.

[Quof]

Yay, Salma is always a good time on GN.

[msrachelj]

this is the first time i've ever not watched this show. just not interested. i love graham. 

[FormerMod-a1]

There were 2 other guests whose names I am now blanking on.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I was surprised to hear that Salma Hayek and Prince were friends, apparently good friends.  Not sure why I'm surprised, but I am. 

But what buffet were they eating at together?  Surely like in Las Vegas?  Because I can't really picture them at the Golden Corral.

[sugarbaker design]

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There were 2 other guests

James Buckley (Inbetweeners) and Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) are on a new sitcom.

I enjoyed the show, but then again, I love Salma Hayek and David Walliams.  It was difficult to take the singer seriously because he dressed like a five year old.

Edited June 5, 2017 by sugarbaker design

[attica]

Hee. When Liam was discussing new parenthood, I kept wondering if Children's Services would step in to give those poor teenagers* some assistance!

I sorta coveted Salma's blue suit. She makes many a fashion misstep, but that looked smart and well tailored. I remember when she did that movie with Russell Crowe. Now he's only three years older than she, but he looks rode hard and put away wet.

I love David Walliams. He's my second favorite author. :)

*He looked 15, is my point.

[MissLucas]

Hayek's blue suit was magnificent and topped everything she wore at Cannes. Too bad I couldn't find any credits (I guess that means it's not from any designer tied to the PPR group).

[peeayebee]

A show with just Salem Hayek would be fine by me. Funny and great storyteller with lots of stories, it appears. David Walliams can be a guest too.

The others?... Eh.

[dubbel zout]

I had to laugh at Liam when he was describing the diaper change. If he thinks it's gross now, wait until his kid starts eating more than breast milk/formula. Infant poop is nothing compared with what's to come. And here's a tip to keep from getting sprayed, Liam: Put something over the little guy's penis while you're changing him.

Edited June 6, 2017 by dubbel zout

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

I had to laugh at Liam when he was describing the diaper change.

I had to laugh as well, I love it when new parents tell boring, mundane stories about their kids, and then expect everyone to laugh hysterically.  I expect it from the new parent in the next cubicle, not on a chat show.  I noticed Salma and David were giving him the 'oh look, he thinks this is original!' side eye.

[SmithW6079]

I thought this was a great episode. I liked Graham's statement in the beginning about Manchester (I wonder if he'll have one about the London attacks this week), which made me tear up, and then I laughed throughout.

Salma Hayek is a riot. I laughed at every one of her stories. I liked the easy rapport she seemed to have with David Walliams, and I thought he was quite good-looking, as well as funny. Liam Payne was out of place. Couldn't they have put him with guests more his contemporaries rather than two guests in their late 40s?

I never watched "Gossip Girl," but my understanding is that Ed Westwick's character in that show was an asshole. The actor seems like one in real life too. I found him oddly threatening, especially to his costar. I think there was probably quite a bit of truth in James Buckley's ribbing about the rest of the cast wanting to have fun while Ed was "professional" (i.e., a prick) in everything. 

I fast forwarded the song. There just seemed to be no there, there. I don't think Liam Payne is the next Justin Timberlake, who rose above his boy band beginnings.

Graham's love affair with Kiwis continues. It was funny when he told the guy to pause so he could "translate" for Salma. I had the closed-captioning on for the entire episode. 

[Quof]

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rather than two guests in their late 40s?

Salma is 50.  50! Damn, girl. Loved her explanation of pulling her hair back. 

[peeayebee]

19 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I never watched "Gossip Girl," but my understanding is that Ed Westwick's character in that show was an asshole. The actor seems like one in real life too. I found him oddly threatening, especially to his costar. I think there was probably quite a bit of truth in James Buckley's ribbing about the rest of the cast wanting to have fun while Ed was "professional" (i.e., a prick) in everything. 

I've never watched Gossip Girl either, but just seeing pics of him from the show, he looked like an asshole. I was trying to look past his face to get a different impression. Honestly, I didn't get a definite bad vibe. He was trying to be funny.

 

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Graham's love affair with Kiwis continues. 

I can't tell a Kiwi accent, but I knew when Graham giggled that the guy must be from New Zealand.

BTW, I happened to turn on the TV this morning just as Salma was telling her birthday/mariachi story. It was like word-for-word what she say on this show. Oh well. It's still a good story, well-told.

[theatremouse]

On 6/6/2017 at 6:46 AM, sugarbaker design said:

I had to laugh as well, I love it when new parents tell boring, mundane stories about their kids, and then expect everyone to laugh hysterically.  I expect it from the new parent in the next cubicle, not on a chat show.  I noticed Salma and David were giving him the 'oh look, he thinks this is original!' side eye.

On the same token though, there must have been a pre-interview. I mean, I get that new parents do that in real life, but he was almost certainly asked in advance what sort of anecdotes he had and told at least one to some production staffer in advance who said "yes tell that story". So then Graham prompted him to tell that story. It is possible he suggested several equally mundane baby anecdotes and this was the best of the bunch decided on in advance, but I very much doubt it came up organically on the couch.

[dubbel zout]

New-baby stories are pretty much the same. And for some reason, men changing diapers is still considered hilarious. 

[Bruinsfan]

Unless a ferret came running out of the diaper, there's not going to be anything new to tell people about changing one.

[FormerMod-a1]

Exactly.  I don't have kids, but even I know a baby boy will squirt the ceiling, the window, your face, the neighbors dog, etc if not covered when changing.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 6/7/2017 at 10:10 PM, theatremouse said:

So then Graham prompted him to tell that story.

I do have to say that that's really the only thing I don't like about this show.  There's always something awkward about Graham's prompting.  Maybe it's because he's always looking at the cards before he does it, or maybe he doesn't describe the anecdote he's wanting to hear well enough, but there's often a hesitation by the guest, where I think/fear, "He doesn't know what Graham's talking about." 

[attica]

53 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

There's always something awkward about Graham's prompting.  Maybe it's because he's always looking at the cards before he does it, or maybe he doesn't describe the anecdote he's wanting to hear well enough, but there's often a hesitation by the guest, where I think/fear, "He doesn't know what Graham's talking about." 

I put this at the feet of the guest(s). Surely they've been prepped, but so many of them just go all deer-in-headlights when on stage. Graham is trying to make it all sound naturally conversational, and they just aren't paying attention. It would be worse, imo, if GN were  'so CelebFirstNameLastName, tell us your anecdote about thing you were prompted to discuss in three different conversations with show staffers!'

[dubbel zout]

The pre-interview happens on every talk show; it's not limited to Graham. And if someone doesn't have a very good anecdote, there's not much Graham can do about it. He's super quick and smart, but he can't do all the work. We've seen when that happens, and it's a slog to watch.

I wonder how far ahead of time the pre-interviews happen? Sometimes a guest will look puzzled and then say, "Oh, you mean..." and start the anecdote and it's fine. Other times they need Graham to start it for them. If they're on a press tour, I can imagine it becomes one giant blur and you can't keep track of whom you've told what.

[Athena]

14 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I wonder how far ahead of time the pre-interviews happen? Sometimes a guest will look puzzled and then say, "Oh, you mean..." and start the anecdote and it's fine. Other times they need Graham to start it for them. If they're on a press tour, I can imagine it becomes one giant blur and you can't keep track of whom you've told what.

As I noticed in another thread, last minute bookings and confirmed appearances seem to be common on this show. For a lot of the guests especially the Hollywood ones, I think part of the confusion may stem from their publicist being the middle person. Also during big promo tours, there may be one more than publicist (one from the studio, another from the celeb's own team) so the celeb may genuinely not be briefed or forget what they were told.

[peeayebee]

6 hours ago, attica said:

I put this at the feet of the guest(s). Surely they've been prepped, but so many of them just go all deer-in-headlights when on stage. Graham is trying to make it all sound naturally conversational, and they just aren't paying attention. 

I agree. I think Graham does this the best of any host. What I love is that if a guest doesn't catch on right away or doesn't respond or something, Graham will bring attention to the fact that this is a chat show, which means they're supposed to chat and tell stories. 

[marina to]

On 6/6/2017 at 7:29 PM, Quof said:

Salma is 50.  50! Damn, girl. Loved her explanation of pulling her hair back. 

I've only been able to watch clips so far but since I turned 50 last Sunday I was VERY interested in what she had to say about it. Loved it so much. Another role model I can follow to age gracefully.

[StatisticalOutlier]

9 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

The pre-interview happens on every talk show; it's not limited to Graham. And if someone doesn't have a very good anecdote, there's not much Graham can do about it. He's super quick and smart, but he can't do all the work. We've seen when that happens, and it's a slog to watch.

I wonder how far ahead of time the pre-interviews happen? Sometimes a guest will look puzzled and then say, "Oh, you mean..." and start the anecdote and it's fine. Other times they need Graham to start it for them.

That's what I find awkward, and I was putting it on Graham, but now I think it's the guest, and not necessarily due to not paying attention.  Pretty much every other talk show is one-on-one, and the actual interview probably resembles the pre-interview to a great degree.  But when you have multiple guests, as well as cross-talk among the guests, I can see losing your place a little. 

I'll still find it awkward, but that's a small price to pay for the opportunity to be treated to actual conversation among people instead of an almost scripted Q&A.