The Hour

This show was so boring. I don't dislike George S. but the shows just seemed so pointless, uninteresting and useless. The jokes were always so lame. Sometimes there would be a decent guest but even then it was just so bland and tedious to watch.

One of the most boring shows on CBC. I don't know why CBC has to try to ape the American talk shows ( which they are far better at). George ST....( He should abbreviate his name) has zero charisma with no sense of humour and dresses in the same black is supposedly trendy clothes. He rarely asks insightful questions. Talk shows actually do better on radio where you don't have to see the host or the focus is on the guest rather than the interviewer. The Hour is too egocentric and what bothers me is that the CBC wastes valuable money and time on a show that at best belongs after midnight with all the late night time filler shows. I don't know what the ratings are like but the only thing worst than this show are probably the commercials. I actually watched 3 different shows of the Hour to try to give it a chance; if anything it just made me sicker of George WhatsHisName. He doesn't wear well on you.

It's been a very long time since there's been a Canadian late night talk show. Mike Bullard was probably the last one on the air and that was over five years ago. Strombo has picked up where Bullard left off and has an interesting line up of guests including many US actors filming up here in the great Hollywood North. But more importantly, he's provided a forum for conversation with many Canadian celebrities, including the final interview with writer/activist June Callwood. And it's a real hoot when the Trailer Park Boys are in the studio! George is a fast talking host and his show moves along very quickly, but he's got a good sense of humour. Comparable to the late Brian Linehan of City TV, he knows his subjects well and his questions are thought provoking and he can put the guests on the spot, but it's all in good fun. The Hour with George Stroumboulpoulos is one of the reasons we tune into our public broadcaster, the CBC. Should be a Gemini winner.

George managed to get on his show rock stars, actors, writers, politicians. He can find a common language with a matronly Nobel literature prize winner and a hip hop cocky teenager. He is always very well prepared. He is witty, he has the emotional intelligence to accommodate prima donnas (of both sexes) and to get some blasé interviewees engaged, interested and interesting. Many participants choose to come to his show multiple times.

I honestly enjoy watching this show. I've come to the point where watching late night talk shows are fun and all, but they seem so boring and overplayed. George does a great job of bringing in cool guests who you don't always get to see everywhere and asking them real questions. There are people who aren't impressed because he doesn't tend to ask overly insightful questions, but who is to decide what makes a question insightful? I think that when the same questions get asked to a guest on every show they appear on, that isn't insightful at all. George goes beyond that and brings it all back to the center and just talks with the guests, which shows you a lot more of who they are in my opinion.