The Arsenio Hall Show

Arsenio Hall was one of the most fascinating events in modern pop culture. In 1989 Arsenio started "The Arsenio Hall" show which was a slick, young, hip talk show aimed at the youth crowd. For a while it seemed like Arsenio was unstoppable, and he was the biggest media event around. Arsenio even had NBC execs quaking in their boots, so much so they that they went behind Johnny Carson's back and pressured him to step down from the "Tonight Show". Johnny was just too old according to NBC, and they wanted the young crowd that Arsenio was getting.

But NBC jumped the gun a little too fast, because just as soon as Arsenio came, he dissappeared from the scene without a trace. No one even noticed Arsenio's exit, and I doubt many people even cared. As Forrest Gump would say back in Arsenio's last year of '94, "for no particular reason, nobody wanted to watch that flat topped funny Black man anymore. And that's all I have to say about that."

The irony is that today Arsenio is the crusty old middle aged man. Today Arsenio is a total has been that is doing B-movies and other low level straight to video nonsense. Johnny's 30 year legacy will be remembered for years to come, while Arsenio was just a minor blimp on the radar.

Oh yeah, Arsenio was also Eddie Murphy's friend. Which obviously helped him out. Maybey Arsenio should try and become Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Tucker, or Chris Rock's new best friend. Lord knows Arsenio needs help with his non-existant career.

face it he's gone,and its not really arsenio's fault.and yeah i agree with the first poster what killed arsenio was the backlash against hip-hop,especially after the LA riots.so arsenio was forced to somewhat change formats.wich caused another backlash amung the urban audiences.and he honestly never recovered.

everybody seems to be convinced that grunge killed arsenio but thats also false. it had absolutley nothing to do with arsenio's ratings.either way this show is sorley missed

I admit I have fond memories of the Arsenio Hall show and was a devout viewer, but that was when he first came out and skyrocketed to instant popularity. He was a major hype of the times, an icon for bringing a new, hip and refreshing format to the talk show industry, and checking out his show seemed like the "in" thing to do.

There were funny and memorable moments, like the time Kurt Russell was a guest and a song from an album he recorded as a child star suddenly started blaring on the studio speakers. There were also Arsenio's merciless digs at Roseanne Barr during his opening monologue, most of which were pretty funny. There was also Madonna's hyped up and much publicized appearance (back when she was at a superstar zenith), and after the applause died down and the 'talk' began, all she basically did was throw questions back at him about his alleged romance with Paula Abdul.

Arsenio seemed to revel in his own success too, like showing a clip from "Ghost" where Whoopi Goldberg mentions to two co-stars that his show was on. Or taking note of the news item where a guy got outraged and violent after other people in his household wouldn't let him watch the show.

Yeah, The Arsenio Hall show was a product of the times, unfortunately time wasn't too kind and before long, the fad started to wear out. My interest started to wane in '91 when things weren't making such an impact anymore. Even another appearance from Madonna didn't liven things up. She, looking pale and curiously waxen faced, merely sat quietly while her then-friend Rosie O'Donnell obnoxiously hogged up all the attention.

Yes, Arsenio was a great show, but only at the beginning, afterwards, it became a passing fancy, much like the "Help, I've fallen and can't get up!" commercial and the "Twin Peaks" TV series.

One of the "highlights" of this show is when Arsenio had then Governor Clinton on his show to badly blow some hot air through his sax and have the host kiss up to him.

Clinton was elected and Bush/Quayle were sent packing. Arsenio got what he wanted - Right?

Arsenio Failed to take into account his heavy reliance on Dan Quayle as the fodder for his monologues. With Dan Quayle out of the spotlight, his jokes seemed old and mean-spirited. Unable to come up with anything fresh or funny, The Arsenio Hall Show died a quiet death.

I remember watching Arsenio Hall when the show first came on in 1989. Lots of kids these days probably don't remember Arsenio and this show, but back in '89 when I was 13, this was considered the coolest show EVER. People would talk about nearly every show the next day. I remember how everyone in my school were talking about his verbal sparring with Madonna(which always seemed staged to me) back in early 1990.

Unfortunately, only 1989 and 1990 were good to poor Arsenio. The guy and his show stayed true to the old adage, "the quicker you burn, the faster you fade away". The blush went off the rose very quickly, and from 1991-'94, Arsenio limped along with his lame jokes and Eddie Murphy wannabe routines. I remember I stopped watching when I was 15 or 16 sometime in 1991 anyway. During the shows run during the rest of the '90s, people wondered when Arsenio would finally get cancelled, instead of talking about each show like it was an event. I'm not sure, but I think that like M.C. Hammer, Arsenio became very "1989". When the show finally went off the air in 1994, I don't think anyone even cared. I also think this show only receiving only 3 or 4 comments speaks volumes about Arsenio and his show, people have forgotten completely about him. Nevertheless, during 1989 and 1990, Arsenio Hall was a household name.