The forces behind two new late-night talk shows - "Vibe" and "The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show" - are both operating under the same assumption.
They're assuming that some great void was created when "The Arsenio Hall Show" left the air three years ago. And they're determined to fill that void.The underpinnings of their raison d'etre may well be flawed, however. Late-night television has survived just fine since Arsenio woofed his way off the air.
But if you've really missed that show, you might enjoy "Vibe" or "Keenen Ivory Wayans." As a matter of fact - judging by their debuts - "Arsenio" fans might be the only people who could possibly enjoy either show.
Of the two, "Keenen Ivory Wayans" fared better. But that's extremely faint praise, given that "Vibe" was remarkably bad.
As a matter of fact, "Vibe" (weeknights, 11 p.m., Ch. 14) seemed to spend at least half of the hour congratulating itself. Executive producer Quincy Jones was so puffed up he seemed almost ready to burst.
"We have taken over your TV sets to bring you one hour of `Vibe.' It will be real," Jones said. "It will not be homogenized or sterilized, but it will be televised."
Quincy is not the host of the show, but he was the first man out - conducting an awkward satellite interview with President Clinton.
One of the lowlights came when Quincy told Clinton, "If you're ever out in this area, bring your ax (sax) and jam with Mouse and the Mouse-traps (the show's band)."
Interviewing the president was a strange choice, given that this show is aimed directly at young urban audiences. (And Jones ending the interview by saying, "Thank you, Bill," was more than a bit pompous and lacked the proper respect for the office of the presidency.)
It was apparently meant as a joke, but a pre-recorded bit that had Jones picking his "pool boy" - Chris Spencer - to host "Vibe" almost looked to be true as the show wore on.
"We needed this. There's a void out there," Spencer insisted. "How often is there an opportunity for a brother to go into a million homes without getting arrested?"
That was as funny as he got.
Arsenio was often criticized for being smarmy and fawning over his guests, but Spencer made his predecessor seem cold and distant by comparison. He all but drooled over his guests.
Spencer hugged Anthony Edwards. He hugged Brandy. He hugged Whoopi Goldberg. He hugged Tyson. He hugged the members of Blackstreet. He hugged the members of Salt 'n' Pepa.
It must have killed him that Denzel Washington and Spike Lee appeared via satellite so he couldn't hug them, too.
And that satellite interview clearly demonstrated just how weak an interviewer Spencer is. It was lame and stilted and shifted wildly from his attempt to be chummy to a sudden question about the late Betty Shabazz.
Not to mention this sterling inquiry: "Denzel, you rockin' a 'fro?"
"Vibe" was determined to try to differentiate itself from other late-night talk shows and pump up the energy with multiple musical guests (Blackstreet and Kirk Franklin & God's Property) as well as its own band and a hyper audience (again reminiscent of "Arsen-io"). But much of that energy seemed far from spontaneous.
"The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show" (weeknights, midnight, Ch. 13), on the other hand, was much more a traditional talk show. Wayans came out, told a few jokes, chatted with his guests (Jada Pinkett and Brendan Fraser) and introduced at musical guest (Babyface) to close the show.
A couple of things quickly became obvious. First, Wayans - the star and executive producer of "In Living Color" - is not a standup comedian. His opening monologue elicited hoots and hollers from his studio audience, but it was lame and unfunny.
His jokes included, "Michael Jackson got married twice, had a kid - still ain't had sex with a woman." A loser in an area well covered by every comic in America by now.
His Mike Tyson joke was, "I was waiting for him to bite his head off. That would have been worth the 40 bucks."
Not good.
And he joked about the current unmanned mission to Mars, questioning why "white folks" had to search for strange new life there. "You ain't gotta go to Mars. You can just walk down Hollywood Boulevard."
Johnny Carson was telling pretty much that same joke - and telling it better - decades ago.
And then this addendum: "I think sex in space would be the bomb, 'cause you can get freaky with your lady up there."
OK . . .
(And for a show that seems bent on battling racial stereotypes, isn't it a bit odd that the all-female band has been saddled with the name the Ladies of the Night? Is that sexist or what?)
Wayans did better with the interview segments, but they were nothing to get excited about. (At least he didn't fawn and slobber over his guests as Spencer did.)
It's become de rigeur to embarrass guests with clips from their past or inside information, but he laid it on a bit too think with several such plays on Pinkett.
And he reminded viewers just how crude and unfunny "In Living Color" could be at times. There was a revolting taped "comedy" piece that featured an older woman who had cancer surgery and was thus breathing out of a hole in the front of her throat - and using it to blow bubbles, blow out birthday candles and play the saxophone. It ended with the onscreen slogan - Smoke. Because holes in your throat are pretty cool.
Yuck!
And another taped comedy bit - for the fictional "Sexercizer" - was crude but not funny.
Wayans made no mention of Spencer or "Vibe," but Spencer did talk briefly about Wayans on Monday night. He pooh-poohed the idea that the two of them are rivals and displayed a fruit basket he said Wayans had sent him.
(Of course, then he took a bite of the fruit and pretended to be poisoned, but that's more a comment on the weak comedy in "Vibe" than anything else.)
But the fact remains that the two shows are in competition for the same audience. And whether that audience is big enough to sustain both shows remains doubtful.
From early indications, "Keenen Ivory Wayans" is the better show. It certainly appears to have what it takes to appeal to a wider audience.
Jones promised viewers that "No matter what your age, your race, your sex, `Vibe' will be an equal opportunity entertainer." But despite the presence of "ER" star Edwards, the first show was aimed directly at a young and urban audience.
Maybe one of these shows will survive in an arena crowded by David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Bill Maher.
But only one.