The Media Interview

Dick Cavett has one of the most unusual interviewing styles you’ll ever see. Don’t know if you caught Sunday night’s airing of a brand new interview with Mel Brooks on TCM, but the old style was still very much in evidence: the digressions, the stumbling for words, the sometimes long story-telling leading to a question, the deadpan delivery; and some of these traits have become even more pronounced with time. Doesn’t sound like a recipe for a good interview, and yet, I find that Cavett’s wit, intelligence, and good nature overcome it all and I watch.

“The Dick Cavett Show” in various forms has appeared on ABC, CBS, PBS, and most recently, CNBC - spanning over 20 years. He’s often referred to as the thinking-person’s talk show host. He was a stand-up comic and writer for the Tonight Show before beginning his own talk show - read more here.

Cavett has been releasing a number of DVD packages of his interviews, focussed on themes like comedy legends, rock stars, John and Yoko, etc. The latest set features Hollywood legends and you can see several of them each Thursday night during September and October on TCM.

UPDATE - just found out that Dick Cavett will do an onstage interview with Harrison Ford at the Aspen Film Festival, the last week of September.