Talk Show Host as Nurturant Male

The following Camille Paglia quote comes from Sexual Personae, her acclaimed 1990 master work:

"I adopt the name “Teiresias” for a category of androgyne, the nurturant male or male mother. He can be found in sculptures of the river gods, in Romantic poetry ((Wordsworth and Keats) and in modern popular culture (television talk show hosts)." (p. 46)

This quote struck me immediately and I did a quick survey of all the great talk show hosts, especially my favorites: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and David Letterman. I detected a strong feminine element in all of them. Paglia's comment opened a window of insight into the unique personality of the talk show host. The host, generally a male, must possess both male and female characteristics-- hence the term androgyne, from Paglia. 

Key to being a talk show host has always been some self-deprecation-- you want the guest to look good. The talk show host welcomes you to their desk, couch, living room and transports you to the living room of the viewers. The good host always puts the guest at ease and enables them to relax and be expansive. The conversation is live and not-scripted and most comedians could never contend with this level of relaxation and the unexpected. The adroit host moves the show along expertly and milks laughs for their maximum value.

The great late night talk show host is a different kind of cat-- and in this modern era we have Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers. These guys all have the sensitive, considerate personality that works so well for the host. They have enough confidence to express their feminine side and to live in the moment.

If you want further food for thought look at  the Entertainment Weekly magazine from March 13, 2015. It's entitled "A Surprising, Hysterical, and Slightly Filthy Love Levert to Jimmy Kimmel," with bold on the Love Letter to Jimmy Kimmel. His friends and family members relate tales of Jimmy and agree almost to man and woman of his extremely warmhearted ways. You can tell it's all true. Most interestingly, Molly McNearny makes the androgyne side of Jimmy most evident, and who would no better than the wife living under a shared roof:

"He makes vinegar, he makes pasta from scratch. He really is Martha Stewart. I've never met a man that's so feminine and masculine at the same moment."

Want to know the comedians who could not make it as talk show hosts-- Chevy Chase failed. Dennis Miller failed... he was way too hot. Pat Sajack... too cool, relaxed and probably not funny enough?  Fact of the matter is... it takes a special kind-- and a special kind of talent.