Tavis Smiley

             As with most things I came upon the show Tavis Smiley by accident.  I was flipping through the channels and found the host, Tavis Smiley, talking to Tony Danza.  When I was younger I watched Mr. Danza’s show, Who’s the Boss?, and I was curious to see what he was up to now.  Mr. Danza was on the show to discuss his new book about the year he spent as a teacher.  It was an interesting conversation.  When the show was over I was happy I saw it, but did not think of watching Mr. Smiley’s show regularly.  Then I came upon the show again when he had Penny Marshall on speaking about her book.  I enjoyed that episode, and soon I was checking every day to see who was being featured on Tavis Smiley.          

                

                While celebrities were the first people that attracted me to the show, they are not they only type of guest on Mr. Smiley’s show.  I have also seen independent filmmakers, economists, and political commentators.  Those are just a few other types of guests.  I am sure there are more I have not seen.  Some of the people I would not imagine would keep my interest, but speaking with Mr. Smiley they do.  He has a way of assisting his guests with bringing out information in a relatable way without dumbing it down.  This is not an easy thing to do, and I commend Mr. Smiley for this skill.

                 

                There is not a lot of flash with this show, which some may think would lead the show to be boring.  The set is simple and there are two people sitting in chairs talking.  Some may not like this, but I do.  I think it helps the show.  There are not any outside distractions to pull the viewer away from what is being discussed.  With the thought provoking questions Mr. Smiley asks, I would not want to be distracted.  Mr. Smiley does a good job at playing devil’s advocate and very rarely does he ask the usual questions.  When he does, he usually prefaces it with some statement about how he has to ask the question.  Then there are the questions Mr. Smiley bases off of research he does.  I give him a lot of credit for right away telling the guest to correct him if the information he is stating is incorrect.  Some interviewers do not want to be corrected and I believe it is admirable for Mr. Smiley to want the truth over his being right.  This brings me to another big thing I truly appreciate about this show.

                

              Recently I saw an episode with Jack Black as the guest. Mr. Black was sitting quietly and was not the boisterous person we often see in the movies. Some interviewers may have been bothered by this, but Mr. Smiley seemed really happy to speak to a different side of Mr. Black’s personality. Watching the show I realized something. Mr. Smiley wants his guests to be who they are as people. He is not asking for them to be characters or his source of entertainment as is required by other interviews. While I respected Mr. Smiley before, after this realization struck, I respected him even more. I am excited to see who Mr. Smiley has on next.