'Inside The Actors Studio' Reboot Taps Alec Baldwin And Jane Lynch As First Rotating Hosts
Last fall, we got word that James Lipton would be leaving Inside the Actors Studio, the series featuring intimate interviews with actors, filmmakers and musicians about their craft, origins in entertainment, and much more. The longtime host and dean emeritus at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University in New York City was said to be replaced with a rotating chair of guest hosts filling in, and now the first two hosts and guests for the Inside the Actors Studio reboot have been revealed.
Vulture reports Alec Baldwin and Jane Lynch will be the first two guest hosts when the Inside the Actors Studio reboot debuts at its new home channel Ovation on October 13, 2019.
Alec Baldwin has recent hosting experience after taking on his own show in 2018. Unfortunately, the show was short-lived, airing only eight episodes. However, Baldwin was also the host of the Match Game on ABC. Combine that with his career as a decorated actor and charismatic presence in front of the camera and this is promising gig for him. Plus, who can forget his outstanding turn as Charles Nelson Reilly in Saturday Night Live's parody of the series with Will Ferrell as James Lipton:
Meanwhile, Jane Lynch has plenty of experience hosting since she's the host of the popular game show Hollywood Game Night on NBC. Lynch is a hilarious personality with a lot of charm and wit, but there's something about her demeanor that doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Inside the Actors Studio. But maybe I'm just basing that on her comedic personality and she won't have any problem digging into the more serious side of the interview series.
Alec Baldwin will have the task of talking to Henry Winkler in the first episode of the Inside the Actors Studio reboot. Fresh off his Emmy win for an outstanding supporting turn in the HBO series Barry with Bill Hader, the Happy Days star has a long, colorful history in front of the camera, not to mention some experience behind the camera as the director of the family friendly comedy Cop and a Half and episodes of the shows Clueless and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The second episode will have Jane Lynch talking to David Oyelowo, which seems like an odd pairing. Oyelowo has been acting since the late 90s/early 2000s, but he's only hit major strides in the past 10 years with roles in movies like The Help, Red Tails, Lincoln, Jack Reacher and Lee Daniels' The Butler. Oyelowo became a star with his leading role as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.
When it was announced that there would be a rotating chair of guests, I was hoping the pairings would be something akin to what the Sundance channel used to do with their series Iconoclasts. The series paired the likes or Robert Redford and Paul Newman, Paul Simon and Lorne Michaels, Dave Chappelle and Maya Angelou, Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham, and others. It would be nice if there was some kind of intriguing link between the host and guest instead of seeming completely random. But maybe that will make for more varied and engaging conversation.
The rest of the hosts and guests will be announced at a later time.