Parkinson is a very popular chat show and has been running for many years.
As Parkinson has been in show business for many years, he is now a celebrity himself and has made his fame through interviewing other famous people. We can tell this from the shows opening sequence and title, as when he had just begun his career the show’s title was “The Michael Parkinson Show” which helped introduce him to the public. Now the show is just called “Parkinson” and this conveys his fame as everyone knows who Madonna is just from her first name, Parkinson as done this with his. The opening sequence is of pictures of “A list” celebrities from the past and present on building blocks. They roll across the screen and merge to form the face of Parkinson, which can symbolise that Parkinson’s career has been built on the lives of these people. The theme music played is quite catchy and memorable and the style is big band music. This type of music emphasises how long the show has been running and relates to the older audience, as this was the music they listened to when they were younger. The first camera angle is an establishment shot, which sets the scene of the band, stage, audience and the entrance where Parkinson and the guests come out. The lighting is very influential as it helps create the atmosphere and while the audience are clapping and the band is playing the stage is a calming bluey purple. When Parkinson arrives the big band is coming towards the end of the introduction and the lighting changes to a loud red. This colour emphasises the lively music and now that Parkinson is here the show can start. All chat shows have a grand entrance to convey the importance of the celebrity. Another common feature is that most chat shows have a staircase that the guests come down from which again emphasises their importance, as it is as if they are coming down to earth and the level of the audience/public for the interview.
The show is run in a more traditional manner, which reflects the interviewer, Michael Parkinson. He has had a lot of experience in terms of interviewing which conveys how long he has been around for and because of his age and reputation of being quite a polite gentleman it affects the whole style of the programme. A good example of this is the camera movement. In this show the camera remains still only moving to different positions depending on who is talking. This again is to appeal to the audience as they are likely to be older and will not want to watch a fast moving programme that is constantly changing camera angles. On the other hand all chat shows share the framing of angles in common as when a guest is talking about a more personal subject the camera does a big close up to make it more intimate and serious but in general conversation it is more likely to be a medium shot.
The show is quite formal but is more like an insight on a brief chat that two old friends are having. The main success of this programme is mainly down to Parkinson as his role and reputation, which makes the guest warm to him and are more willing to open up about issues in their life. Parkinson is seen as “The Daddy” of chat shows as his is the longest running and he can somehow manage to have something that will help him and his guest click into a humorous conversation. It is generally his grandfather role that the younger guests warm to and he can use his charm as a sweet old age pensioner to talk to a large amount of the guests and to the older interviewees he is always a very good friend and they both “go way back together”. Parkinson has great skill in his conversations as it is very one sided, meaning that it is mainly the guest speaking, as that is what the audience have tuned in to watch. The interview is quite scripted as he knows what he is going to ask and has researched his guest to know what to ask to give the best entertainment. In one certain interview he uses a prop, that being an award, to introduce his guest so the programme is linked to help it flow.
The interview takes place on that stage which just two chairs and a small coffee table with two cups of water on. The chairs are quite office like and not particularly comfortable they are mostly practical as it maintains the professionalism and shows the interviewee that they are there primarily for an interview. The language used is quite formal mainly due to Parkinson idiolect, as he has been described as “very polite and British” and the dress is quite formal with the majority of men wearing a tie and suit and the women wearing smart attire.
The audience is not seen and only heard when reacting to the interview, for example clapping or laughing, which is very different to Ian Wright’s chat show, “Friday Nights Allwright”. The title immediately brings in the comedy theme to the show, as it is a play on Ian Wright’s surname. This show compared to Parkinson is very informal and modern. This is due to the target audience being younger and the programme style is more of an entertaining show then about whom he is interviewing.
The set is made to look like someone’s front room with a brick wall, two big comfy sofas and a cheap television, which sets the informal modern contemporary atmosphere. It looks like Wright has not made much of an effort, which this particular audience tunes into as it appeals to them. Then Wright is introduced to the show and makes a big entrance and like a child runs around to the audience and to a certain part of the scene where some of the audience are locked up. This is a joke as the members locked up are all Tottenham hotspurs fans who are big rivals with Arsenal, which was the football team that Ian Wright used to play for. The dress is very casual and the studio audience are shown and interacted with a lot. Wright jokes frequently with the audience and introduces his next guest, Prince Naseem. Wrights language is very informal and his idiolect is more commonly known as street talk so the introduction is very comic using slang and lingo that is popular with young people. The camera on Prince Naseem as he enters is at a low angle making the celebrity appear bigger. It follows him around as he parades through the audience and the shots of Wright cheering cut in. Loud music is played, which livens up the crowd. The posture when they sit down for the interview is very relaxed and Prince Naseem makes a joke about putting his feet on the sofa, which makes them look like two stereotypical men, lounging on the sofa drinking beer! They mess about and chat on recent topics concerning Naseem’s fights and then they move onto a more serious topic and the camera does a big close up as on Parkinson. Like Parkinson, Wright manipulates the conversation so it is Naseem mainly talking and the stage has an entrance and set. The stage is nearly on the same level as the audience to make it more intimate and informal however there are a few steps to the stage to still convey the importance of the celebrity.
“The Mrs Merton Show” is another example of a modern chat show that has parodied the typical conventions of chat shows as Mrs Merton purposely has “B list” celebrities. She does this so she can make fun of them therefore entertaining the audience. The audience in this chat show is again showed and made important as the show opens with them doing the conga around the stage. This shows unique selling point is the fact that Mrs Merton who is an old lady is actually a young woman dressed up as on old age pensioner. She cracks jokes to the audience about false hips and dentures and northern accent and dialect add to the humour.
I have established that chat shows are very popular and that the appeal from them is becoming more than just the guests. This is because chat shows have turned from just the basic interview to a programme with characters (The Ali G Show) audience participation, for example anecdotes or games (Graham Norton) and performances and humour (The Kumars at Number 42). Entertainment is getting harder to fulfil as each show has to bring something new to appeal and compete with other chat shows to gain and maintain its audience however the base for any chat show will always remain the celebrities that appear on the show.