Riedel Out at THEATER TALK
Posted: 8/16/17 at 3:52pm
Wow. So weird because I've been watching old episodes this past hour. I've always had mixed feeling about Riedel, but it will be weird to not have him on the show. I always did like Jesse Green when he would fill in.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 3:53pm
It should be interesting to see who will be these rotating guest co-hosts. I'm hoping for someone other than Jesse Green because I've seen him fill in for Michael Riedel, and I just find Green to be a pretty boring host.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 3:55pm
Though I wonder if Riedel would still pop in every once in a while as a guest.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 3:57pm
Susan and Riedel were a perfect match together. I hope it was his choice to leave.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:06pm
According to the news, it seemed that he chose to leave to put more focus on his column as well as his hosting duties for the On the Town radio show.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:09pm
Not going to lie, I'm kind of glad. I always felt like he went out of his way to be condescending and b*tchy, which I wouldn't mind so much if he tended to be correct in his various theories/predictions. More often than not, he wasn't though. Maybe Patrick Pacheco will co-host a few. I always like his insight.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:32pm
LYLS3637 said: "Not going to lie, I'm kind of glad. I always felt like he went out of his way to be condescending and b*tchy, which I wouldn't mind so much if he tended to be correct in his various theories/predictions. More often than not, he wasn't though. Maybe Patrick Pacheco will co-host a few. I always like his insight."
INFAMOUS interview of him being absolutely awful and David Rakof not having it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEc_ID23Uyk
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:36pm
Which episode was it where Lloyd Webbers daughter was not having it with him? I loved that episode!
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:41pm
Call_me_jorge said: "Which episode was it where Lloyd Webbers daughter was not having it with him? I loved that episode!"
Oh, you mean this gem?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQj1IJgb4IM
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:51pm
nasty_khakis said: "LYLS3637 said: "Not going to lie, I'm kind of glad. I always felt like he went out of his way to be condescending and b*tchy, which I wouldn't mind so much if he tended to be correct in his various theories/predictions. More often than not, he wasn't though. Maybe Patrick Pacheco will co-host a few. I always like his insight."
INFAMOUS interview of him being absolutely awful and David Rakof not having it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEc_ID23Uyk"
Ew. He is disgusting.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 4:56pm
Don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord split ya, Michael!
Posted: 8/16/17 at 6:02pm
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, he as an unmistakable presence along with Susan Haskins. I get the sense that she "tolerated" him, as one would handle an immature teenager. It really riled me that he seemed to be a conversation hog, at the expense of Susan's time. I would have loved to have seen Susan tell him to put a sock in it, on occasion. I'm curious if he indeed departed voluntarily or was he given a hard "nudge".
Updated On: 8/16/17 at 06:02 PM
Posted: 8/16/17 at 6:14pm
Can I sign up to host?! Like, this is my ideal, ha.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 7:48pm
Apparently I'm in the minority, but I mostly loved him on the show. I think he made it okay for some guests to be a little more open, maybe a little more catty, then they might be normally, because it felt more like a loose chat than a formal interview. (I love how comfortable he and Harvey Fierstein were together, as an example.) That said, I did like the balance with Jesse Green, because he was able to ask more astute questions and dig a little deeper. But Green is not as fun. I'll especially miss the critics' roundtable episodes, where Riedel would roast the critics as much as they did the shows.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
Posted: 8/16/17 at 9:36pm
They will need a strong co-host. Susan Haskins seems very well-meaning, but she often ends up on tangents. When Riedel was behaving himself, he was an excellent co-host, usually with good insight. Most importantly, he could progress the conversation. I think he has actually softened a bit throughout the years in both his column and on the show.
However, the first paragraph of his Wikipedia page made me laugh out loud:
His best-selling book "Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway" won the 2015 Marfield Prize for arts writing and is widely considered to be the successor to "The Season," William Goldman's classic 1967 book about Broadway.
If he is, in fact, writing more books about the theatre (and I think Razzle-Dazzle was a good and well-researched read), he also might not have the time to continue his Theater Talk duties.
Updated On: 8/16/17 at 09:36 PM
Posted: 8/16/17 at 9:44pm
nasty_khakis said: "LYLS3637 said: "Not going to lie, I'm kind of glad. I always felt like he went out of his way to be condescending and b*tchy, which I wouldn't mind so much if he tended to be correct in his various theories/predictions. More often than not, he wasn't though. Maybe Patrick Pacheco will co-host a few. I always like his insight."
INFAMOUS interview of him being absolutely awful and David Rakof not having it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEc_ID23Uyk
"
Who ever thought it was okay for the guests to have a package of M & M's and annoyingly crumple that damn thing in an interview... Ready to smash my screen
Posted: 8/16/17 at 10:05pm
I'm curious about these rotating co-hosts. If it's any good I might switch from watching On Stage to this. Though the sheer randomness of the current iteration of On Stage means there can sometimes be very fun segments. I could have watched William Ivey Long in his studio for another hour.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 10:11pm
Finally, some good news. Good riddance. I can't wait.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 10:23pm
I'd never seen that David Rakof/Amy Sedaris interview. Shockingly bad. Riedel is clearly drunk off his ass. Nothing but contempt for his guests being there...and for non-Broadway theater? Sexist as hell, even more explicit than it would be later. Such a tool. Again, good riddance.
Updated On: 8/16/17 at 10:23 PM
Posted: 8/16/17 at 10:47pm
He asked much better questions than Susan Haskins ever does, at least. Almost anyone who posts on this board could ask better questions than Haskins, who always seems overwhelmed.
He and Elaine Stritch got along famously well, incidentally.
Posted: 8/16/17 at 11:27pm
I'm mixed on this. Riedel was annoying but interesting. I liked the dynamics between him and Green, Pancheco, and Musto on their yearly Tony predictions episodes and other reviews/previews. I just don't see that same dynamic without Riedel even with his obnoxiousness
