Dog Pound, get ready: Legendary late-night host Arsenio Hall is back in the hot seat. As part of this week’s star-studded Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival, Hall will be hosting an exclusive, four-night-only run of Arsenio. He’ll be chatting up some favorite guests like Snoop Dogg and Katt Williams and meeting and greeting a new slate of entertainment icons like Quinta Brunson and Vince Staples. 

But first things first: Why is Arsenio returning to late night, and why now? 

“Arsenio is just so unbelievably beloved and iconic,” says Robbie Praw, vice president of standup and comedy for Netflix. “Nobody can tell stories better than Arsenio.” Praw credits Netflix comedy manager Millicent Jefferson with coming up with the idea of bringing the late-night icon back, which came out of a blue-sky brainstorming session about “some of those bespoke, special things that could only happen at a comedy festival like Netflix Is a Joke.”

Growing up, Jefferson says, she always equated Hall with late-night royalty. “[The Arsenio Hall Show] always had musical guests and other great celebrities and comedians, and he always had such a great rapport with talent,” she says. The idea to bring him back came from a desire to give comedy fans something to both look forward to and look back on. “So many adults can relate and connect to Arsenio because his show is something they experienced or watched growing up.” 

Tudum sat down with Hall, now 66, for a chat about format, favors and what he’d like to see in the wake of James Corden’s announced departure from late night.

What made you want to revisit the talk show format?  I was having a drink at a party with Robbie [Praw] from Netflix, and he told me a funny story about watching my show from Canada back in the day. We laughed [and went on our way], but then he called me and said, “Hey, we should do a week of shows.” That’s it. So I gotta give him the credit. I was like, “Hey, it’s either me doing that or driving around the city to see where Fluffy and Chappelle might be…” I said, “Let’s do four,” because I take Friday off for comedy and religious reasons.

What were your goals for putting together the show? What was on your vision board? In my mind, it’s all familiarity. If you make it comfortable, it makes you loose and makes you flow. You’re not adjusting to a new environment. 

So whether it’s my original show or the reboot, I’ve always gone with no desk. I’m comfortable that way. As a matter of fact, last summer when Kimmel was letting friends have the show for two or three nights, that was the first time I’d ever used a desk. 

I want a music source to my left. These days, it makes sense to use a DJ for a lot of reasons. And so I got [DJ] Cherish, who everybody I know has worked with and loves.

I’m going to keep the format to monologues and maybe a cold opening, some pieces. I’ve always thought, “It would be fun if a standup walked into a building and a talk show broke out.” It would be fun to really do it in, not a studio environment, but almost like when Chappelle did the special where he used the Belly Room at the Comedy Store. It made for a really cool, intimate vibe. I’ve always wanted to do a talk show with that kind of vibe. 

I think Chappelle had 60 people in that room up in the attic of the Sunset Comedy Store, and it made the vibe very Chappelle-esque. It really lent itself to just focusing on his genius without a lot of window dressing and hoopla. So, it’s going to be fun to take the talk show to what’s almost a comedy club.

What do you love about working in a smaller room?  I’m one of those guys that, when I’m doing stand up, my show is never the same every single night. It’s because I don’t just work to blackness. I really enjoy when you’re at the Improv and I can see the fillings in your teeth. I love that kind of intimacy with comedy. 

I would think if I’m sitting with Katt Williams in a room the size of the Belly Room or our show’s intimate ballroom, it’s gonna be a real cool thing and a lot different than me, Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy standing in front of 600. 

As a matter of fact, one of the cool things about sitting in for some of the younger guys out there now like Kimmel, you realize how intimate and reduced show business has become. I grew up watching Diana Ross, sitting in the audience of the Ed Sullivan Theater when Ed Sullivan was doing it. My show was on a huge set on a studio lot, with the dog pound and a full band. Now when you go, you can shoot a rubber band and hit [Jimmy Kimmel Live’s house band] Cleto and the Cletones in the forehead.

I used to run over and say, “What’s up?” to the bandleader, then I’d run to the front row of the audience. You could actually stay in shape doing the show back in the day. But now you’d need a treadmill at home.

You’re not re-creating your old show for the Netflix project, but are there any elements you’re bringing back or anything that you think could come back organically, like the Dog Pound? Well, you want to let the audience be whoever they turn out to be, but the bottom line is that people bark at me in Nordstrom. I’m that guy from Cleveland and that dude, forever, that you bark at when you see him. It’s like somebody saying, “Yo, I know you,” but with fewer words.

Do you think there’s any way to reinvent the talk show format or is it always basically the same for a reason? Nobody will ever reinvent it. I think that word is overused. No one will ever reinvent what Steve Allen, Jack Paar and all those groundbreaking guys created. That being said, when you add a different personality into something, it becomes a whole different experience. Nobody will ever reinvent Kleenex, but Puffs is kind of softer. There’s another brand where the tissues smell really good. They’re both still basically Kleenex. 

Then it’s about “Will I use a DJ or will I use this one-man-band guy who does all the sounds with his mouth or what should I use?” For economic reasons, nobody will ever have Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra again. A lot of things have changed for income, and a lot of things have changed because the genre changes. 

We have Facebook now, and Netflix, so that’s how you end up with Red Table Talk. We could have never had Red Table Talk before, if it had to top a certain ratings number and follow Letterman. But now there are so many places to do what you do. 

Every individual, when he steps into it, it automatically becomes different. The wardrobe changes, the colors change. When you put Amber Ruffin into a situation, it’s gonna be way different than if Arsenio Hall is in the same room.

When you signed on to do the new show, were there people you knew that you wanted to bring in to help?  You know, we’ve had about three weeks to do this, so it’s a brutal, brutal schedule. But sometimes that kind of brutal, scary schedule will make me deliver. Since I knew I was doing a cool, intimate late-night talk show, I looked to Sara Schaefer. Sara is a writer and has also hosted. I interviewed Sara when she had a show with Nikki Glaser, too, so I’ve met her. I just thought, “We’re doing four of these, and I know that if Sara heads the writers’ room, we’ll be good.” 

Can you tease any of the upcoming guests? Did you call in any favors?  My problem is that when I hosted Kimmel, I called in a lot of favors. You can’t call LeBron twice in one year. I’m kind of fucked when it comes to favors. That’s when I really miss Prince. Prince never said no, no matter what I was doing. You could tell Prince, “We’re having a birthday dinner for Arsenio,” and all of a sudden Prince would mysteriously walk in through an exit and say “Happy birthday.” He’s with God now, though. 

But you know what? There are a lot of guys who were either first on late night with me or who are comic friends that I’m hoping will come over, like Katt Williams. I love him. Everybody always thinks my favorite interview is probably Bill Clinton or the time I sat with Whitney Houston, but my favorite interview ever is whenever I’m talking to Katt Williams. There’s nobody more intelligent, funny and unpredictable all in one little body. It’s amazing. So I’m trying to get him to come over. 

The first time anybody ever freestyled [on] late night, it was Snoop [Dogg]. We go way, way back to when Dr. Dre called and was telling me about a kid named Calvin. He didn’t even say Snoop. I found out later everybody calls him Snoop. I’m calling him because some people you can call for favors more often. I would call Eddie Murphy, but he hasn’t even left the house for Starbucks [during COVID]. I know he’s not coming into no ballroom.

So, James Corden announced last week that he was leaving his show in a year... What? Who’s leaving? James? From CBS? Are you kidding me? He’s so new. I’m the O. O. G, but he still feels like the new kid. I liked him better in late night than in Cats.

What would you like to see from a new late-night show? What does a new host need to succeed? Well, you know, I think you insert personalities and roll the dice. You find funny, unique, interesting, intelligent personalities. Hosts are like engines. I actually saw Jay Leno put a helicopter engine into a truck. I went over to his place and watched them doing it. I thought, “That’s the greatest talk show analogy,” because you were seeing this truck, but the motherfucker ran different and had a whole other sound to it. 

That’s what a talk show is: You find an intelligent, funny, likable personality. These days, they may also come with 6 million likes or 6 million followers. That’s a part of it, because it’s a new business. You roll the dice and try to make some money.

I’m not the guy to say, “We need more white women. We need more Black Baptist Church deacons.” I have so many things I’d love to see, but the bottom line is what makes money and who can grab people’s attention.