The Golden Days of E!
So you may be asking me, "Lori, what exactly were the 'Golden Days of E!'?" Well, let me take you back in time. Bill Clinton was just establishing his new administration, Jurassic Park was on everyone's lips, no one had ever heard of Matt Damon or Ben Affleck, and people weren't sick of the songs from The Bodyguard soundtrack yet. OK, so we're not going back in time really far. Just play along, all right? We're going to cover a time from mid-1993 to the end of 1994. You see, once upon a time, E! Entertainment Television was in a select number of homes. Your average person had no idea what it was. The cool thing was, the people on E! knew that. Tuning in was like being part of a secret society. Then, all of a sudden, E! started going to more homes. Stars actually started recognizing E! and calling it by name. The hosts and anchors had to start acting like they were doing serious television and the fun "Hey, who cares?" attitude seemed to virtually disappear. Come with me now as we journey to The Golden Days of E!
The lineup on E! around mid-1993 wasn't very complicated. It relied very heavily on its archive of cheesy reruns: plenty of early 80's Star Search, vintage Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes just to name a few. They also had original programming scattered here and there. By this time E!'s own talk show, Inside Word, had gone from being a daily show to more of a weekly show. Their interview show, Extreme Close Up, was found usually on weekends and early mornings. Talk Soup was repeated so many times a day it began to be a running joke on the show. Howard Stern's first venture on E!, The Howard Stern Interview, could be seen every weekend. E! News Daily was the network's pride and joy as it attempted to make itself known as "Your Entertainment News and Information Authority". Other shows scattered here and there included: Behind the Scenes, On Cable, Coming Attractions, Stand-Up Sit-Down Comedy, and various original half hour specials. Later on, E! added The Gossip Show, FYE!, and Pure Soap. Always present on E! were its infamous promos. The most well known at the time was the "Do you know what's on E!?" "(singer)No you do-on't". E! really never promoted its shows (except Howard Stern and the half hour specials), just the network in general.
Here's a closer look at some of the shows that gave E! its charm:
Information to be added at a later date
Obviously, the fun atmosphere of E! was due to the people at the helm (not counting Dagny Hultgreen or Bianca Ferrare and especially not Steve Kmetko). Talk Soup's Greg Kinnear, all-purpose female host Arthel Neville, and of course, the ever-present "guy from E!", Michael Castner. Even Charles in Charge was there! That's right, Chachi himself, Scott Baio hosted Behind the Scenes. That wasn't too memorable, though, so that's the only mention we'll make of that. Let's look closer:
E! News Daily anchors: In mid-1993, Dagny Hultgreen was still holding down the anchor desk at E! News Daily. To her credit, she did her job well. Then, all of a sudden, Dagny was gone and in her place was a pretty face named Bianca Ferrare. Admittedly, Bianca was beautiful, and when it came to reading from a teleprompter, she was right there. Bianca had only one major flaw: ad-libs. Occasionally she would come out of reports with some ill-conceived remark that made her look stupid. Now, I'm sure she was (and still is) a very intelligent woman, but she was never meant to make off-the-cuff comments. We could abide it until Sgt. Coppertone, aka Steve Kmetko, joined her at the desk. When Kmetko first made an E! appearance at the 1994 Academy Awards Nominations, it was a surprise. It was announced that he would be joining Bianca at the anchor desk which, to my knowledge, was the first time two people had co-anchored E! News Daily. Personally, I was hopeful. Then things went wrong.....terribly wrong. Steve took to making incredibly inane comments after most every story (something he still does today ), forcing Bianca to think up some response. It was a disaster wating to happen. (Sample banter after coming out of a story where reporter Marc Bailey had gone to the Playboy Mansion:
Steve: "You know, Marc's wife called here"
Bianca: "And? What did she say?"
Steve: "She said, 'Won't you come home, Marc Bailey, won't you come home'"
Bianca: "And he said, 'I have to work late',right?")
By the time The Golden Days had ended, Bianca had left Steve to go on alone.
E! News Daily reporters A lot of people have reported on the latest in entertainment news holding a microphone bearing the E! mic flag, but I have to give recognition to two of my personal favorites: Amy Powell and Greg Agnew. As reporters came and went during The Golden Days, they were the two who stood firm. When Amy Powell had to fill in as anchor, she was smart, classy, and always on the ball. She did her job extremely well. Greg Agnew was the seasoned entertainment reporter, breaking news that the amateurs couldn't touch. I can still see him outside Heidi Fleiss' home. Occasionally, Agnew would have a little fun and let a little of himself come out, as when he visited with a Playboy playmate to hear about her interactive CD-Rom and got just a tad giddy. Today, Powell is no longer a member of the E! News Team, but Agnew keeps working hard, making sure we stay informed on what's going on in the entertainment world.
Arthel Neville: The smoothest person on E! during The Golden Days was, without a doubt, Arthel Neville. She performed her interviews flawessly. Aside from that, she was always on the ball when having to do any of the numerous live events E! is so proud of. She was professional without being stiff, fun without being goofy. Besides, Arthel was part of the E! family. She frequently showed up in Talk Soup skits and hosted different E! shows such as On Cable and her interview show, Extreme Close-Up. One day, Arthel was gone. In 1994 she left to launch the entertainment news show ENT, which later became known as Extra.
Michael Castner: There may always be a place in my heart for the adorably smarmy Michael Castner. The witty host of........well.....just about everything never quite got the recognition he deserved as E!'s never failing talent. Castner was aware of his underdog status, occasionally joking about living in the shadow of the network's star, Greg Kinnear. His contributions to the network should not be underestimated. I know for me personally, the first time I ever saw E!'s now famous stage manager, Tom McNamara, was when Michael Castner pulled the then-cameraman from behind the scenes during an intro of TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. No matter when you turned on E!, chances were good you'd find Michael Castner there. I'm not sure exactly when he left. He just faded away gradually until we didn't see his face or hear his voice anymore. I heard he went over to the now-defunct Popcorn Channel for a short time, and he did a Sprint commercial, but that's all I've seen from him in about 5 years. Truth be told, I really miss seeing his face all the time. Michael, if you're out there, please e-mail me and let me know what you're doing!( February, 2000-I just saw Michael on National Enquirer TV and he looks pretty much the same. It was awesome to see him back on the tube)
More information to be added at a later date
When most people think of E!, they think of Talk Soup, the irreverent clip show hosted by John Henson, or possibly new kid on the block Hal Sparks. But for a select group, Talk Soup is well remembered for being a fledgling cable show hosted by an unknown cable host named Greg Kinnear. When Talk Soup began, it was meant to be a serious show presenting clips of the talk shows-no more, no less. By the time The Golden Days came, however, Talk Soup had become the sarcastic, flippant show we all know and love today. In my opinion, this is when the show was in its heyday. During this time, Talk Soup was just beginning to gain notoriety. It was popular enough to have the backing of the network, but obscure enough that the show had a "we can say what we want, no one is actually watching" attitude. Being a loyal viewer of the show made you feel as if you knew something the rest of the world had yet to discover, and that was exciting. Kinnear was the cornerstone of the broadcast. His subtle (and occasionally not-so-subtle) reactions to the bizarre material he had to present gave the show its personality. He made it very clear that he thought this stuff was as odd as you did and there was at least one other person who was holding on to a shred of reality. As important as Kinnear was, he did not do it alone. Gradually, the people behind the scenes started making more frequent appearances in front of the camera. Eventually, they got their own name: "The Talk Soup Players". Some of the more notable Players included: Eric Sauppe, Cynthia Zoeller (Malone), Alan Wu, Perrin Sprecace, Tom McNamara and, of course, everyone's favorite pony-tailed stage manager, John Esposito, who left E! to go work with Kinnear on NBC's "Later". You began to feel as if, in some small way, you began to know these people. Each Monday insured the audience would learn a little bit about what went on for the crew over the course of the weekend. When Esposito got married, the viewing audience was told about it like a good friend who hadn't been able to attend (Kinnear's impression of the DJ was priceless). When Talk Soup aired on January 18, 1994-the first broadcast after the Northridge earthquake that shook Los Angeles, it revealed an unbathed, but safe, group of people who were carrying on despite aftershocks, lack of water, and minimal personnel. They let you know everything was OK and, for some reason, you really did feel a little bit better. At the beginning of 1995, Kinnear left the show without any fanfare or farewells, passing the torch to stand-up comedian John Henson. Regardless of whether you prefer Kinnear, Henson, or Sparks, you cannot deny that the departure of the show's founding host ended an era in the show's history. Am I making too much out of a TV show? More than likely. I can't help it. Watching Greg Kinnear and Talk Soup helped me decide once and for all to pursue a career in television. This show marked a turning point in my life, so please forgive me if I get a little melodramatic.
For better or worse, E! has come along way since the days when Joan Rivers was a mainstay on Talk Soup as opposed to post-awards fashion reviews. Let's take a look at the feel of E! now. Sometimes, if you look hard enough, you can still find some traces of days gone by:
Talk Soup: The show may have changed a lot since the days when Greg Kinnear hosted and Richard Bey was always the clip of the week. That doesn't mean it's a horrible show by any means. It's still commonplace to see Tom, Perrin, or Alan pop up in a famed Talk Soup sketch. The general view of the show is in place as well: "Aren't we glad we're not as screwed as these people?". You can still be assured of a letter segment 45 minutes into every edition of Talk Soup weekend as well. Plus, is it just me, or did 1999's Talk Soup in Chicago bear a striking resemblance to 1994's Talk Soup on Vacation?
Todd Newton: I've seen quite a few E! hosts come and go and very, VERY few have impressed me. Todd Newton, however, reminds me so much of the hosts of E! past. Watching him appear in a Talk Soup skit makes me smile. He floats around from show to show like a graduate from the Michael Castner School of E! Hosting. Like Castner, his voice can be heard on most every E! promo there is. He has fun doing his job and he doesn't take it, or himself, too seriously. He embodies the very essence of E!'s Golden Days. (OK, maybe I went a little overboard there. Sorry.)
Information to be added at a later date
This page copyright 1998-2000 Lori King
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