- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Jan 12, 2018
Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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My Next Guest Needs No Introduction is pleasant, entertaining, occasionally moving, a little funny and almost indistinguishable from a standard late-night interview, just stretched out. It is long, but it is not particularly deep.
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The new format is looser and less comedic than a traditional late-night interview. The jokes were fewer and further between, and Letterman doesn't egg Obama for a sound bite or anecdote at any particular moment. Besides the length, the biggest change is the repeat interruptions to the conversation. In addition to the Lewis interview, the episode was interrupted with production elements, including photos and videos. Sometimes they added value, other times they felt like filler. Overall, the conversation in the first episode is a bit lackluster.
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It’s all pretty rote and familiar, and what’s worse is Letterman’s stage and interviewing manner, which is clearly rusty. He fawns over his guest more than he should, he makes awkward jokes about this new-fangled thing called Netflix, and he drives the conversation into a mutual children-appreciation session so that he can enthuse about his son and Obama can enthuse about his daughters.
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[David Letterman] seems only half-engaged here and far too much in the thrall of his first guest, who left office a year ago and has avoided the talk-show circuit until now. Both men seem rusty at the art of banter. They’re off their game. The interview doesn’t produce any surprising or newsworthy statements from Obama. ... The discussion meanders along the surface, touching on Russian interference in U.S. elections and the state of discourse in American society--though never deeply.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 23 out of 40
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Mixed: 5 out of 40
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Negative: 12 out of 40
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Jan 12, 2018
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Jan 17, 2018
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Jan 14, 2018