Alec Baldwin's ABC Debut: 'SNL' Impressions, Jerry Seinfeld, Kate McKinnon Interviews
The actor's new talk show, set to premiere after Sunday's Oscars, features in-depth conversations with the comedians about politics and success.
Alec Baldwin has welcomed his first guests to his ABC talk show, Sundays With Alec Baldwin, set to premiere after Sunday’s Academy Awards.
The nine-episode first season will model the actor’s interviews for his WNYC podcast. For the first episode, Baldwin spoke to Jerry Seinfeld and Saturday Night Live castmember Kate McKinnon, who both discussed pivotal moments in their careers.
“I feel very bad for people who have had enormous success and don’t seem to have ingested any nutrition from it,” Seinfeld explained to Baldwin as they discuss the comedian’s serene demeanor despite achieving massive success.
Meanwhile, McKinnon discussed her Hillary Clinton impression on SNL with Baldwin, who has become known for playing Donald Trump in sketches for the NBC program. Baldwin noted that while both of their impressions are meant to be funny first and foremost, McKinnon’s emotions were visible while performing “Hallelujah” as Clinton after the Democratic presidential candidate's defeat in November 2016.
“It felt very honored to have arrived at a moment where I could connect to people in that momentous moment of moments,” McKinnon said. Though having impersonated Clinton, the actress explained her commitment to never disclosing her political opinions, for she doesn’t want to “alienate anybody.” “I like to make people laugh and I like to connect with everybody,” she said.
Going forward with his new television endeavor, Baldwin will include two interviews per show that collectively stretch the broadcast’s entire hour. The actor will line up comedians, politicians, actors and other newsmakers in pop culture as future guests. The television project was announced last month, with the network praising the actor for his "wit" and "wealth of life" that could offer an interesting perspective for viewers.
Sundays marks the actor’s second attempt at a talk show, having formerly attempted a short-lived MSNBC series, Up Late With Alec Baldwin in 2013. For his second go-around, Baldwin has teamed up with Jimmy Kimmel Live’s longtime producer Jason Schrift.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin discussed his hopes for his new show. “The idea of doing a TV show was never really that attractive to me — because when we do the show for radio, it's one kind of reality. The minute you put a camera on people, they change. Then I decided that maybe if we did a limited number [of shows] — I'm not [Jimmy] Fallon or someone who's gotta do 200 shows a year and you're on five nights a week for 40 weeks — we're exempt from that kind of pressure. Why don't we try it and see if we get people who are more camera-ready? I wouldn't mind interviewing Jennifer Lawrence or somebody if we could find an angle that was different or fresh.”
Sundays With Alec Baldwin is set to premiere Sunday, March 4, on ABC immediately after the Oscars.
