Hot Take on Hot Ones
Added 2023-02-09 05:13:09 +0000 UTCEvery celebrity that goes on that show marvels at Sean Evans and his "brilliant" and original questions on the Youtube show, Hot Ones. I will never understand why people think he is a good interviewer. Evans seems like the type of guy who goes to expensive clubs just so he can name drop. At least...these are the vibes I get. You can tell on the show that he's often incredibly nervous around these celebrities, but desperately wants them to like him. The eyebrow raise at the opening of the show, the busy hand gestures, the obvious beats of his interviewing formula that have become so gimmicky...it's cringe and none of it works for me. Once you start noticing his body language all the way through the show, you can't unsee it, and it becomes incredibly annoying. One thing you'll begin to notice is that he's not really listening to the guest as they speak, he's planning his next move in the questionnaire, and anticipating the future rather than letting the moment breathe. I say all of this as an original fan of the show. But I feel it should've gone in more the direction of Between Two Ferns or The Eric Andre Show or something of that nature. An internet show that's a little eccentric, with a charismatic interviewer who isn't afraid to allow the show to go off the rails and get weird. It's far too commercialized to feel original and interesting anymore, with the exception of the occasional great guest who can make up for Evans awkwardness. The fun is the celebrity coming in, underestimating the hot wings, and the humor coming from that. It's all too studied now. The publicists and the agents are too involved. I truly think the problem at the center overall was always Sean Evans. But...that's just me. Lol...I know I am likely in the minority. What do you guys think? Do you agree with the celebrities? Or am I less alone in this than I think? XD...I ask the deep ponderous questions over here, clearly.
Comments
I just never believed the show existed without publicists. It was born out of Complex Magazine and literally zooms in on products you can buy every 2 minutes. It was always commercialized. I don't see its recent increase in popularity as a change but rather an extension of what it always was (which I happen to enjoy). As for tone, i think it is a mistake to attribute all passion to a defense mechanism. That would suggest any genuine love for something — enough to elicit a real feeling for it — is something only unserious, immature, and dumb people do.
Arthur Augustyn
2023-02-10 14:14:38 +0000 UTCYeah, as do I. That's the whole point. But the celebrities by this point are very familiar with the show, and many of them have tried the sauces. Everyone prepares, everyone knows it's not cool to tap out, and to do the dab on the final wing. It's too popular to be fun for me. Again...the occasional great guest makes it worth while. The last truly fun one that I recall seeing was the one with Dave Grohl. But that was because he brought in an interesting variable: the alcohol. Sean was a lush, Dave was a mess but still full of energy, and the whole thing just warmed your heart. But for the most part, I skip them.
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-10 08:50:49 +0000 UTCYeah...mechanical is the perfect word for it. It felt accessible back when people didn't know what to expect. Now that it's such a brand, everything is incredibly forced.
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-10 08:47:32 +0000 UTCI disagree. I think it's actually very interesting the way your persona can bleed into your personal life, or vice versa. And the observances one can have vs. what comes out in the wash, is also pretty interesting to me. I think if you listen to enough interviews with the guy, and get a sense of his social media, it's quite clear he's playing up a version of himself that's not too removed from who he really is, similarly to the way I play up a version of myself on Youtube. As in not a full-on "character," but a version of yourself perhaps emphasized, or slightly exaggerated. People make weird assumptions on my personal life based on what they perceive on Youtube all the time. Some are completely off, but occasionally you get someone who is shockingly on point. All that is par for the course. And I do find the praising of the interviewing skills to be strange, and always a pointed beat in the show. And it's only this show that you see this on so consistently. And they always make it a point to leave it in the edit. Which makes me wonder how many of those are genuine. I'm sure some of them are. But it all seems a little coincidental to me. But you are right, that they praise his interviewing more than they do him. Good point.
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-10 08:43:51 +0000 UTCThe show doesn't make celebrities accessible anymore. It did at a point but...it doesnt do that anymore. Now oscar hopefuls go on with publicists right next to them, and it's all very measured and very studied. It's now about press tours and big names. Not this weird show where you get lured in and realize halfway through what you got yourself into. That's the appeal of it. The commercialization of it deadens the spontaneity, which is what a gimmick like this depends on for me. Yes you are often combative in your tone, but that's how people react when they get triggered. It's an emotional defense mechanism. The more combative someone grows, the less likely I am going to take them seriously, just for future reference. Because that is due to a lack of maturity and not intelligence. It doesn't change my opinion, nor my tone.
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-10 07:11:04 +0000 UTCYeah but even gonzo deconstruction feels simple in something like funny or die where it can work very well. Hot Ones though feels like a giant barcode by comparison, overly complicated as a product, which goes against what it stands for to me. Graham Norton is one of the only people, along with several other British talkshow hosts (and Conan O'Brien), who can make vapid conversation and name dropping actually hilarious and even relatable, compared to the cringey suck-up versions from people like Fallon and Corden. You wanna talk about the art of making a guest at ease? Graham is a master of it. But you notice...Graham doesn't seem to really like his guests much. And this is part of why I like him. He doesn't buy into their bullshit. He sees them for what they are, and on occasion you get a Judy Dench or a Miriam Margoyles (the greatest talkshow guest ever XD), who he clearly adores. But Graham has a very cynical streak, but his sassiness keeps it fun and full of energy. Evans I do believe is someone who genuinely is interested in films and in the industry of Hollywood. For sure he is. That's not hard to tell. But...he just got way too wrapped up in being self-serious, and being liked, and it is much to the shows detriment, because the show personality reflects that. Watch the episode with Machine Gun Kelly early on in like 2015 or something. Look how different Sean is there. But...he comes off as a dude-bro. With the backwards cap and everything. Then fastforward to 2016 where he's playing this kinda nerdy awkward character with the buttoned up shirt. And now...he's found some weird hybrid of attempt-at-swag and awkward nerd. He thinks he's cool but, I think he's one of those people the Jedi would consider weak-minded lol. I don't see him having some great insight into anything beyond the need to market well. Which is not enough for me as an entertainer of a show like this, with such a simple set-up. Punching in a clock is what it comes off as when he does it. These shows must be aware to work effortlessly and with spontaneity. And the unpredictability of the gimmick either needs someone more dead pan, or someone who can bounce off these personalities quickly. And yes...the Bobby Lee episode is truly one of the greatest on Hot ones. And it's all because Bobby Lee is such a wild card. And the way he made Sean uncomfortable is exactly what needed to happen. Masterfully done.
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-10 06:52:12 +0000 UTCA nothingburger with hot sauce is still a nothingburger.
PETER COLLINS
2023-02-09 17:10:29 +0000 UTCI mean, yes, he does too much with his hands during interviews and gets too much credit for the deep-cut questions that the research department prepares for him, but I find Sean Evans to be a solid interviewer. He seems to me to show an earnest, genuine interest in all aspects of his guests’ lives and careers. And even if he’s faking—if he’s merely in “on” mode for the cameras—it’s a lot less grating than the more polished, obvious fakery that I find in other hosts. And true, he can be overly controlling of the conversation, but bear in mind he has to corral a guest through the interview as that person increasingly loses their shit from the spices, which he’s gotten good at. Yes, watching an interview go off the rails can be hilarious, but…I don’t think the producers ever intended the show to be some gonzo deconstruction of a talk show the way Eric Andre or Between Two Ferns is. They just want the guest to get fucked up just enough to have their guard be let down in answering questions. And guests generally love doing the show because they don’t have to answer the same inane, packaged junket questions they get asked ad nauseam in promoting their movie. But yes, the show has gotten a little too polished in recent years. Guests and publicists know what to expect now and prepare for it, and things go more smoothly, which diminishes the show’s spontaneity. Gone are the days where you can have an episode like Bobby Lee shitting himself or Kevin Hart having a meltdown. But that’s to be expected when a show gets bigger and more popular, unfortunately. I still find it entertaining though, depending on the guest. Having said that, Graham Norton is a better interviewer on his show. I like the loose, tipsy party atmosphere he creates, and he’s pretty sharp in coming up with a witty response to something a guest says.
Bennett Oliver
2023-02-09 17:02:26 +0000 UTCI guess the gimmick carries it for me. I don’t hate the celebrities on the show, but I do like to see them suffer
kron
2023-02-09 12:22:40 +0000 UTCI hear them say they like the questions more so than that they like him. It's probably just refreshing after being asked for the billionth time "What's it like working with Martin Scorsese?" to get a question that is personal to what they've done. I do also find it a bit odd to make such weird assumption about someone's personal life based on how they appear in a YouTube video. I always assume someone's "on" when they're in front of the camera and that I don't really get a sense for their actual personality.
Tyler Shobe
2023-02-09 09:30:25 +0000 UTCYeah, I’ve gotten tired of it because of how mechanical he’s been. I think the reason the guests are impressed is because he’s at least a little bit better than the hundreds of people who ask them stupider questions without doing any research. Who are your favorite guests tho??
Jared Angcanan
2023-02-09 06:02:21 +0000 UTCI think this take is crazy. In defense of Sean, he's considered a good interviewer because he does research. Interviewers never do that. All interviewers want to "riff" -- aka, not do anything. They want the celebrity to be on all the time and laugh and their dumb jokes and silly bits. It's terrible. Sean researches what the guests have been asked a thousand times and avoids those questions, he looks into the things from before they were famous and puts the guest in a spot where they feel comfortable talking about themselves at length. This is why his interviews result in genuine conversations where you feel like you get to know the person. That's the whole point of an interview. Sean isn't as charismatic or funny or performative as David Letterman, but any fish is going to score bad if you're grading him on its ability to climb a tree. I find complaining about Hot Ones being commercialized is missing the plot. I like the Eric Andre show too, but saying "I wish Hot Ones was like Eric Andre" is another way of saying "I wish this show had 1/10th the guests and of the guests who do go on it's to make fun of them." That's literally the opposite of Hot Ones. The appeal of the show is making mainstream celebrities more accessible. It is adjacent to Late Night television. Honestly, it's better than Late Night television. I like the interviews and I even like the obvious promotional nature of the show because I like the things that get advertised. "Mainstream is bad" is a Gen X take that I don't think has aged well at all. We can make things we like and enjoy things we like and be happy other people enjoy them too. I am thrilled that Hot Ones is so recognized now it's an assumed stop on a press junket. I want more shows to build on what Sean built with it. I'm always combative in the tone of my comments but I just really disagree. You can dislike Sean as a person and find him annoying but the show is such an unambiguous positive influence on interviews, our relationship with celebrities, and more authentic press tours. Can't even imagine deciding to dislike it.
Arthur Augustyn
2023-02-09 05:38:04 +0000 UTCyeah cause if they didnt they'd be seen as a pussy lol. I have actually done the challenge twice and filmed it. XD
Deepfocuslens
2023-02-09 05:35:30 +0000 UTCI watched it for a period of time, but I rarely do anymore. I hadn’t bothered to think why until I read your post, but what you say rings true. And everyone finishes the wings now, or that’s what it seems to me. Nevertheless, the Gordon Ramsay episode was hilarious.
David Martino
2023-02-09 05:18:54 +0000 UTC
