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It’s pretty hard these days to pay attention to the world of entertainment and not know the name Ryan Seacrest. The popular radio and television personality has been broadcasting on high-profile entertainment shows for years and has built up a wide fanbase along the way. However, some of his most notable work may be the ways in which he’s able to connect his fans to other people in the entertainment industry. Through interviews, social media interactions, and daily life, the Hollywood insider has long shown himself capable of bringing us a closer look at the stars that we follow. To showcase this, we’ve taken a look at some of his recent work that is indicative of much of his professional life.
Early career
Perhaps one of the reasons that the radio host has had a knack for connecting with fans is that he came from humble beginnings and knows what it’s like to be on the other side of the broadcast. Growing up, his parents always said that while other kids were outside playing, Ryan Seacrest was usually found with a toy microphone in hand giving pretend radio broadcasts to his family. Even at that young age, he had a knack for making people smile and was able to keep his ongoing radio show entertaining through the force of his personality.
This drive and desire eventually manifested in professional work. The earliest example of this was his first foray into radio through an internship he was awarded at the age of 16. The internship was at WSRT in Atlanta and was guided by Tom Sullivan, a well-known Georgia radio and television personality. When a local DJ called out sick one day, it fell to the teenager to try his abilities on the air for real. He showed a natural aptitude for the work and was subsequently given a spot overnight on the weekend where he could regularly broadcast.
Eventually, the radio host decided to try his luck on a bigger stage and made his way out to Los Angeles to see if he could make it in the larger entertainment industry. The answer to that question turned out to be a resounding yes. Early career successes saw him hosting a variety of smaller television shows including various non-traditional sporting features and a weekly television movie event. In 2002, the entertainment professional accepted a position hosting American Idol and the rest, as they say, is history. Since that point, he’s continued hosting the talent show in various iterations and has also branched out into other high-profile television and radio opportunities. This includes his radio show, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, and his daily television show, Live with Ryan and Kelly.
Jim Carrey interview
It’s hard to find other people in the entertainment industry who have had a career similar to Jim Carrey. Perhaps that speaks to the star’s unique brand of humor and the way many of his movies have helped to define the times in which they were released. The actor’s turn towards more serious roles also helped to set him apart from his peers, taking on a number of more in-depth dramatic performances that have endeared him to fans and critics alike. For these reasons and more, the comedian remains one of Hollywood’s most enigmatic individuals and represents a great example of how the radio host has been able to bring fans closer to the entertainers they admire.
This was on full display recently when Carrey made an appearance on the host’s radio show. The occasion was motivated, in part, by the release of the actor’s new book “Memoirs and Misinformation.” Though we’ll touch on the novel itself, since it makes for a ripe topic of discussion on its own, it may first be interesting to look to the interview and the manner in which the radio host was able to connect with the actor on a number of issues.
Since the book is introspective in nature, the actor took the opportunity to speak on his life philosophy that he has often alluded to in public. One thing that became a theme of the talk was Carrey’s gratitude for being able to switch between various phases of his career and find a receptive audience wherever he went. “I’m the luckiest person in the world, I don’t know how it happened,” said Carrey. “I keep being able to step into all these different realms and people follow me there. I ask a lot of my audience, a lot of indulgence, and they seem to come with me.”
Novel at a glance
Of course, the new book itself featured largely in the interview as well. Written by Jim Carrey and co-author Dana Vachon, it is a fictionalized account of his life that he dubs as truth with a wide range of embellishments. This artistic look at reality, the actor argues, though it may seem new, is actually quite common in the stories with which we are familiar. He gave the example of Bram Stoker’s Dracula on the show stating that it actually was loosely based on a real person. “Vlad Tepes was this insane warrior that would do anything to prove that he was the devil to scare people,” said the actor. “It became this incredible myth that we carry forward over and over again. So that’s kind of what we did with the book.”
The novel has drawn plenty of praise from both critics and fans for its interesting take on the life of the comedian and how it blends fantasy and reality into an enjoyable ride. It tells the story of the main character’s trials and tribulations on his quest for artistic recognition. Throughout its pages it also invokes the names of other notable people in the entertainment industry, including Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins, adding to the intrigue of which stories were truly based in fact.
The actor was coy during the interview when diving into details about the veracity of various parts of the book, noting that the point was, in some ways, to free himself and the reader from that strict need for truth. He did note, however, that everything in the book was included out of love and that he had the utmost respect for all the individuals he included in its pages. He even says that he’s had a few people reach out with thoughts on the book and that he’s waiting on correspondence from some of the more notable names he calls upon.
For his part, Ryan Seacrest praised the work and, alluding to a desire that Carrey stated earlier in the interview, relayed that he felt the actor had created something that could stand the test of time. If this is indeed the case, as many fans have already said, then it would be one more entry into the comedian’s extensive catalog of work that has become a permanent fixture of pop culture.
Carrie Underwood album announcement
In much the same way that the notable comedian came onto the radio show, in part, to discuss his new book, Ryan Seacrest has long been able to connect artists with their fans through announcements of upcoming work. A recent example of this was an announcement on his show that highlighted Carrie Underwood’s newest undertaking — a Christmas album. The title of the album will be “My Gift” and it was introduced to the world through a new video by the country music star.
“I just felt like this was such a fitting time. Like it’s a more perfect time than ever to record an album like this,” said Underwood. “I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas album and it’s been a long time coming I knew this would be my next music project after wrapping my tour last year and it’s turned out to be the perfect time for it in this period of such personal and spiritual reflection.”
Though Christmas may still feel like a long time away, the announcement has the music star’s fans quite excited. Given its unique nature as the performer’s first Christmas album, it represents a departure from past work and promises to give listeners a different look at what the singer/songwriter is capable of. The album is set for a September 25th release date, giving country music fans something to look forward to at summer’s end.
Kylie Minogue’s Disco
Speaking of new albums, Kylie Minogue also made a recent announcement of her own new project. Again discussed on the radio host’s show, the project has been making waves for the manner in which it leans into its concept — a retro album inspired by the music of the 1970s. The name of the project — “Disco” — has fans excited for a new style of music from the wildly popular artist. The announcement came alongside the release of a new single, “Say Something”, which has also provoked excitement amongst listeners.
The retro album cover that accompanied the announcement has also been a point of focus for music lovers. It features Minogue styled in 1970s fashion fixtures such as permed hair and plenty of glittering sequins and jewels. The cover, looking right out of the disco era, sets the tone for the project and has people lining up to preorder the new release. It’s set to be available on November 6th.
Comedy becomes classic
When it comes to popular entertainment programming there’s perhaps no show more well-known than The Office. The sitcom was hugely popular in its time, ranking number one on NBC while it was on the air. Audiences tuned in weekly to watch the unfolding drama of an ostensibly normal office environment filled with the hijinks of quirky characters and a hilariously out of touch boss. It was so popular at the time that it was regularly considered to be the top show on television and had droves of devoted fans dedicated to catching each episode as they aired.
But as popular as the show was during its heyday, it’s possible that it’s even more popular now. That’s the contention at least of Brian Baumgartner, who recently appeared in an interview with Ryan Seacrest alongside Ben Silverman, executive producer of the sitcom. The duo came on the radio program to discuss the ongoing popularity of the office and why it has managed to capture the interest of fans to this day, even though it hasn’t filmed an episode in over seven years.
It was clear from the interview that Baumgartner had put plenty of thought into the subject, he even came prepared with some illuminating numbers that helped to illustrate how popular the show remains. He noted that there were more than 82 billion minutes of the show streamed in 2018. On March 15th, the first day of many stay at home recommendations, there were more than 250 million minutes streamed. For a show that’s been off the air as long as The Office has, those numbers are not just intriguing, they clearly help set it apart as one of the most popular shows of all time. In fact, Baumgartner contends, the show may even be more popular now than it was when it was actually on the air.
This is an idea that Baumgartner and Silverman are now exploring with their new podcast — “An Oral History of the Office.” The podcast, which began to air recently, was created to help tell the behind the scenes story of the show through interviews with some of the most pivotal people involved in its creation. The podcast will touch on a range of stories including casting, writing, directing, and more. It should help to not only answer the question as to why the show remains so popular these days but also to present fans with new content that can lend insight to some of their favorite show moments.
Popularity examined
While speaking with Ryan Seacrest, the duo did provide their own personal thoughts as to what makes the show so popular. Baumgartner noted that the show naturally appeals to the hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. who work in a traditional office environment. But he also noted that the show is popular amongst all ages, even kids who haven’t worked in an office.
While discussing this interesting concept, Baumgartner touched on what he feels is the universality of the show. He spoke to the fact that, even if a kid hasn’t worked in an office, they’ve spent time in school which has a lot of parallels to an office environment. A teacher can often be a stand-in for a boss, classmates take on the role of coworkers, and many of the social interactions can, ultimately, have a similar feel to them.
For his part, Silverman chimed in that he felt it was the overall quality of the show that helped boost its popularity. He spoke of the trend before The Office aired that saw sitcoms increasingly relying on laugh tracks to direct audiences to laugh. Of course, if an audience is being artificially directed to laugh, then they’re not organically laughing on their own.
By contrast, The Office had such a strong stable of actors, writers, and directors that Silverman felt that it just brought a level of quality that had been missing in the world of comedy before that time. He also noted that the show played a bit like a soap opera in that it followed the intrigue of office place relationships like love affairs, friendships, and other dramas. Unlike other comedies that confined themselves to single episodes, the show allowed these stories to play out over the course of the season, allowing audiences to become more invested in the characters.
Birthday flashback
One last example of the ability of Ryan Seacrest to connect fans with entertainment personalities comes from his recent interview with Joey King. The actress came on the show in advance of her 21st birthday, allowing the host and his co-hosts to commemorate the occasion in a moment that was indicative of our times. Since the interview was carried out over video conferencing, the hosting team put together a background celebrating the actress’s special day. She was touched and perhaps thought that was the end of the prearranged theatrics, but she had another surprise in store.
After the background surprise, the host shifted the conversation to a previous appearance by the actress on the show. That appearance came when she was just ten-years-old, alongside Selena Gomez. The actress spoke fondly of the moment, saying it was “the coolest thing ever.” She also noted that she was “such a little goofball and a ham.”
The host then showed the audience just how much of a ham she really was as he played a clip from that first on-air appearance. The clip showcased the actress talking about her experiences working on a movie and all of the exciting firsts she had experienced. Of special importance to the ten-year-old was her chance to have her first caramel frappuccino with extra whipped cream.
The moment not only brought a smile to the actress’s face, it also once more showcased the special knack Ryan Seacrest has for connecting fans with Hollywood insiders. The interview stands out for the way in which it pulls back the curtain and shows the real person behind the characters that can be seen in movies and on television, a skill that his own fans appreciate very much.
