The old saying is that anyone can get a talk show (e.g. Bonnie Hunt, Magic Johnson) but with the advent of internet broadcasting, a celebrity no longer needs the faith of a network or daytime syndication to host a chat show. Even with Twitter displacing most types of long-form personal expression, there's still a market for simplistic celebrity-on-celebrity internet interviews. Sure, Paul McCartney isn't going to play a concert from the roof of Andy Dick's duplex but there are worse ways to pass the hours at your data entry job.
For now, the talk shows tend to be a passion project for both the host and the viewer, host because of the little pay and myriad of technical difficulties, and the viewer because it requires significant dedication, or boredom, to sit through barely-produced, minimally (if at all) edited and sometimes un-entertaining programming. Whether celebrities are fulfilling a childhood dream or simply biding their time under house arrest, the celebrity-internet-talk show marks a new category of variety show.
Tom Green's House Tonight
After MTV canceled The New Tom Green Show in 2003, Green launched Tom Green Live online which eventually become Tom Green's House Tonight. The show is streamed live from his living room Monday through Friday at 9 PM EST and any other time he feels like talking. Unlike the Glenn Humplik days, Green now leaves most of the hijinks and general weirdness to his fans that call and Skype into the show. Guests have included Val Kilmer, Norm Macdonald, composer David Foster, Jimmy Kimmel, Kathy Griffin and Andy Milonakis. Tom Green Channel members pay a small monthly fee to stream his and several of his friends' shows hosted by the site.
Kevin Pollak's Chat Show
Character actor/impressionist stand-up comedian, Kevin Pollak launched his Charlie Rose-inspired talk show earlier this year and has pulled guests including Jon Hamm, Kevin Smith, Matthew Perry and Dana Carvey. Unlike Tom and Andy, he leaves his house to host from the Mahalo offices in Santa Monica. The show is streamed live on Sunday night from its website and often runs over two hours long because of his long-windedness and determination to drain every last drop from his guests.
House Arrest with Andy Dick
Andy Dick just wrapped the second season of his house-confined variety show for Comedy Central's Atom.com. Each webisode is only five minutes long and a little strange to watch, considering Andy Dick is sober. The interviews are awkward (after Dick grazed Sara Rue's breast, she walked off set) or distracted (Dick sometimes roams off subject and doesn't get to his guest). Andy Dick is flanked by a band that doesn't laugh at his jokes and his son, who times the interview. His guests have included Jennifer Coolidge, Dr. Drew and Mo Collins.