Sundays with Alec Baldwin
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''The Alec Baldwin Show'' is an American
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
hosted by actor
Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...
that premiered on March 4, 2018, on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
. The series is Baldwin's second talk show following 2013's ''
Up Late with Alec Baldwin ''Up Late with Alec Baldwin'' is a late-night talk show that aired briefly on MSNBC hosted by Alec Baldwin. The series lasted five episodes airing Fridays at 10 p.m. from October 11 to November 8, 2013, in a time-slot previously held by '' Locku ...
'' on
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
and the first prime-time personality talk show to air on a major broadcast network since NBC's ''
The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...
'' ended its run in 2010.


Premise

Similar in format to the
Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' ...
talk show '' Tomorrow'', ''The Alec Baldwin Show'' is set to "include two interviews per show, sans audience, letting them collectively stretch the entire hour, save commercial breaks. Like his podcast, which has featured lengthy conversations with everyone from Barbra Streisand to Anthony Weiner." The show "will line up actors, comedians, politicians and other newsmakers in the American pop culture sphere as guests."


Production


Development

On February 27, 2018, it was announced that
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
had given a series order to ''Sundays with Alec Baldwin'', a new talk show television series created and presented by
Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...
. The series order was reportedly for a first season of nine episodes. The pilot episode aired after the 90th Academy Awards as a "sneak peek" on March 4, 2018. Production companies involved in the series include Baldwin's company El Dorado Pictures. In an interview with ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
''s Lacey Rose, Baldwin went on to elaborate on his reasons for committing to the program. He explained how the limited number of episodes allowed for greater freedom and discretion when it comes to selecting guests. He specified the type of guests they were looking for saying, "The idea of doing a TV show was never really that attractive to me—because when we do the show for radio, it's one kind of reality. The minute you put a camera on people, they change...Why don't we try it and see if we get people who are more camera-ready? I wouldn't mind interviewing Jennifer Lawrence or somebody if we could find an angle that was different or fresh." Notable personalities that Baldwin mentioned as possible guests included
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
,
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
,
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
, Jack Nicholson,
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
, and
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
.


Marketing

On March 2, 2018, ABC released the first clips and photographs from the series.


Cancellation

On May 15, 2018, it was announced that the series, now retitled ''The Alec Baldwin Show'', would officially premiere in the fall of 2018 and air on Sundays at 10 PM On October 9, 2018, it was announced that the first formal episode of the series was scheduled to premiere on October 14, 2018, and that
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
and
Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...
would serve as guests. Subsequent guests were expected to include Kim Kardashian,
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954) is an American environmental lawyer and author known for promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and conspiracy theories. Kennedy is a son of U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President ...
,
RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...
,
Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...
, Cecile Richards, Jeff Bridges,
Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...
, Chris Christie, Mike Myers,
Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
, Gloria Allred,
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...
, and Erna Solberg. On November 6, 2018, it was announced that ABC was moving the series from Sunday nights at 10 PM to a new time slot on Saturdays at 10 PM. The show was expected to return in its new time slot on December 8, 2018. On January 4, 2019, it was reported that ABC was pulling the show from its schedule and replacing it with reruns of other shows beginning the following night.


Episodes


Pilot


Season 1 (2018–19)


Reception

The series has been met with a negative response from critics upon its premiere. On the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series holds a 0% approval rating, with an average rating of 3.72 out of 10 based on 7 reviews. Upon airing, the pilot episode was met with a mixed response from critics.
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned ''Sundays with Alec Baldwin'' a score of 47 out of 100 based on five critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In a positive review, Verne Gay of ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' offered the pilot praise giving it two and a half stars out of four, commenting on its potential, saying, "Baldwin is the sort of star—either actor, talk show host, POTUS, whatever—who elicits passion. Some people love him, others not so much. There's no middle ground and never has been, and into this no man's land he steps, along with future guests. Nobody's neutral about him, and their neutrality will be tested as much as his. The show's potential will rise or fall in those edgy encounters when they come, and they certainly should. That passion could ultimately be ''Sundays'' chief asset." In a more negative critique, Kelly Lawler of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' said of the pilot, "Baldwin, who had a short-lived talk show on
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
in 2013, is a decent interviewer, but the talk never gets too deep or reveals new insights about his subjects" and that he "tries his level best, but the show is too slight to really click. It just might not be his Sunday."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alec Baldwin Show, The English-language television shows 2010s American variety television series American television talk shows 2018 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by ABC Studios