Posted: 7/17/17 at 12:39pm
I find this show unwatchable! Riedel is always self-promoting and pontificating and Susan Haskins is about the worst moderator/host of a talk show.... Can't there be something better? This show is cringe-worthy!
Posted: 7/17/17 at 12:44pm
It just won a NY Emmy Award as Best NYC Interview/Discussion Program.
I enjoy watching when they have their panel of journalists, including Jesse Green, Patrick Pacheco, Musto, Elizabeth Vincentelli, and others.
Posted: 7/17/17 at 1:35pm
I think Haskins and Riedel balance each other out. But I did enjoy when Jesse Green replaced Riedel several times this year - he's actually seen the productions they're discussing.
Posted: 7/17/17 at 2:00pm
Can't there be something better?
I'm looking at the line of people waiting to produce their own national talk-show about Broadway. Oh wait, there is no line. Be grateful this show even exists. Don't watch it if you find it "cringe-worthy".
Posted: 7/18/17 at 1:34am
The problem with it is that Michael Riedel is a jaded NY theater snob who delights more in watching shows fail than he does admiring those that succeed. I've never got the impression that he enjoys anything. I guarantee he's a complete nightmare to restaurant staff when he goes out to eat.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 1:38am
I like Haskins as the host, but Riedel makes me want to rip my hair out.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 10:12am
He's become that hateful aunt whom you really detest but would miss if she skipped Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know... he's clearly obsessed with theater and its history and CAN have interesting things to add but rarely chooses to anymore. I like the word Chowd95 used - "jaded". He seems very jaded. His guests clearly understand his position, and while none of them revere him, they share mutual professional respect which I admire.
I love Haskins. It's also fun when there's a guest who outwardly dislikes Riedel but is trying to be diplomatic about it.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 10:21am
Haskins always seems out of her element when she tries to enter the discussion with someone like Jesse Green or Patrick Pacheco.
What drives me nuts about Riedel is that the ego is so beyond out of control for no reason. His track record of correctly predicting anything (whether it's the success of a new show or the Tony Awards or whatever else) is 50/50 at the most. For an expert who acts like he's always right, he's wrong a great deal of the time.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 10:21am
Riedel isn't really even a snob. He's just a troll who delights in being contrary.
...Not that anyone on this board could relate or anything.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 11:25am
Michael Riedel playing a Hedda Hopper-ish version of himself on SMASH was absolutely ridiculous. Unless he's really like that, in which case it was perfect casting.
Posted: 7/18/17 at 1:20pm
If you want Michael Riedel to go away you are about ten years too late. He is now an "institution"; a "personality". No one else does industry gossip (as opposed to celebrity gossip) in the press. There are podcasts, but no one has the platform or history Riedel has. That doesn't mean that he's good or even good for the industry. But he is all we've got.
As for me, I find him quirky, overblown, and funny. I don't take him seriously. But he has great guests on his show which is what makes it worth watching.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 12:14am
It's interesting how everyone has a different perspective here.
I am not a big fan of Susan. I feel like she seldom adds much to the conversation, and some of her clothing choices are bewildering. She strikes me as a strange person.
Riedel is entertaining and engaging, and it is always a pleasure to see him speak. But, when he meets with the other critics (and it was interesting to see Isherwood and Vincentelli), I was sometimes surprised by his lack of knowledge in certain areas. He covers the industry, and he should it better than I do as a spectator.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 9:48am
zainmax said: "It's interesting how everyone has a different perspective here.
I am not a big fan of Susan. I feel like she seldom adds much to the conversation, and some of her clothing choices are bewildering. She strikes me as a strange person.
Riedel is entertaining and engaging, and it is always a pleasure to see him speak. But, when he meets with the other critics (and it was interesting to see Isherwood and Vincentelli), I was sometimes surprised by his lack of knowledge in certain areas. He covers the industry, and he should it better than I do as a spectator.
"some of her clothing choices are bewildering" - that's an understatement....!
Posted: 7/19/17 at 9:52am
zainmax said: "It's interesting how everyone has a different perspective here.
I am not a big fan of Susan. I feel like she seldom adds much to the conversation, and some of her clothing choices are bewildering. She strikes me as a strange person.
Riedel is entertaining and engaging, and it is always a pleasure to see him speak. But, when he meets with the other critics (and it was interesting to see Isherwood and Vincentelli), I was sometimes surprised by his lack of knowledge in certain areas. He covers the industry, and he should it better than I do as a spectator.
Agreed completely, especially the point I bolded. For someone who makes a living discussing theater, he consistently seems outclassed.
Like when he had the cast of David Leveaux's The Glass Menagerie on to (basically) defend their production. He would bring up a directorial choice, Lange and Paulson would usually be the ones to articulately explain it, and he would have... nothing to add, not even a retort. Very telling.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 1:20pm
I have always gotten the feeling that she just sits back and let's Michael take over. I wish she wouldn't as I have been in her presence and she appears to be a very nice and animated/talkative person.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 2:22pm
Riedel was really rough on Taboo, but Boy George gave it right back to him. He was also rough on Sweet Charity, but eventually came around and respected Christina Applegate for her tenacity. When Tommy Tune was on TT to promote his book, there was obvious tension between them. But the best was when Hugh Jackman was on TT to promote his one man show a few years ago and Riedel admitted to Hugh that he had arrived late to a matinee performance because he had met a woman that afternoon and had become smitten.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 2:28pm
Forgot to add that Riedel badmouthed Finding Neverland when it was in previews in Cambridge, MA with Jeremy Jordan in the lead. At Harvey Weinstein's insistence, Riedel went to Cambridge to see the show, sort of offer an apology and I believe he even took the ice bucket challenge.
