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By Zach Schonfeld
Senior Writer
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Ice-T and Coco are getting their own talk show. What could go wrong?
Debuting in early August, the daytime series will be "a fun show with our own style of hip married humor and honesty," according to the reality TV pair. It's titled Ice and Coco, and it promises to take on "all things newsworthy, celeb-worthy and puppy-worthy," according to a Deadline report. Sounds...promising? Let's revisit some other ill-advised talk shows from the annals of TV history.
The Chevy Chase Show
Who: Chevy Chase
When: Fall 1993
What: Put out of its misery after just five weeks on Fox in 1993, the short-lived Chevy Chase Show was perhaps the biggest failure of the comedian's lengthy career. Splitsider has since characterized the unmitigated late-night disaster as "a story told to young network executives at company retreats in the woods at night to give them a good scare." Curious who's to blame? Apparently it was Dolly Parton who suggested the SNL alum after she turned down the hosting job. Here's Chase frolicking with Goldie Hawn in the debut episode:
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The Magic Hour
Who: Magic Johnson
When: Summer 1998
What: Remember that time Fox gave thrice-retired NBA star Magic Johnson a late-night talk show, then canceled it eight weeks later? No, probably not. The all-too-brief run was torpedoed by terrible ratings, Johnson's nervous screen presence and a unanimous critical panning. "We were improving with each day," the host claimed in a postmortem statement. But will we ever know?
Thicke of the Night
Who: Alan Thicke
When: 1983–84
What: Canadian actor—and Robin Thicke papa—Alan Thicke briefly had his own syndicated talk show in the early 1980s, featuring such regulars as comedian Gilbert Gottfried and mockumentary favorite Fred Willard. Thicke even recorded an original theme song, and in a bizarre 1984 moment played host to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first TV appearance. Problem was, the show couldn't match The Tonight Show's success (that's Johnny Carson, not Leno), and it was canceled on the same day Thicke's wife filed for divorce. "The show was ahead of its time," Thicke later claimed. "It should've been on in 2084, when all of us are dead."
The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show
Who: Keenan Ivory Wayans
When: 1997–98
What: In Living Color made Wayans a star, but his talk show was a flop. The host's habit of talking over his interview guests—who included such royalty as Rick James and Samuel L. Jackson—didn't help matters. The show was syndicated in 1997 and canceled in early 1998. Fun fact: The all-women house band was apparently dubbed Ladies of the Night.
Late World With Zach
Who: Zach Galifianakis
When: Spring 2002
What: Before there was Between Two Ferns, there was Zach Galifianakis's little-remembered VH1 debut, which aired in 2002, when future guests Barack Obama and Justin Bieber were in the Illinois Senate and the second grade, respectively. It's hard to believe that a show that used Pixies frontman Frank Black's "Los Angeles" as a theme song wasn't a smashing success! As Splitsider dutifuly chronicles, Late World was shut down "after nine weeks of Galifiankis acting aloof and fucking around on television." Blame it on the future star's weird pre-beard appearance.
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