Steve Harvey’s LA Based Talk Show is Tanking. Here’s How He Can Bounce Back!

Steve Harvey’s LA Based Talk Show is Tanking.

Here’s How He Can Bounce Back!

First, let‘s lose the notion that his African American viewers are still seething over his meeting with Trump. The Black Community’s memory is not that long. Plus we’ve already proven the door to the Black community is a revolving door. Disagree? Tell me why we were upset with Mona Scott-Young, Wendy Williams, Sheryl Underwood? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. And while I’m on this point, Steve Harvey is not a politician. How many of those highly opinionated angry tweeters are voting this week? #MidTermElections.

Second, why is Uncle Steve’s new talk show slow in the ratings? Because he turned his back on the people. Yes, even celebrities – even Steve Harvey has emotional baggage. See he’s been down for the people since he started in comedy. Then, well then, he made a mistake, he bombed at the Miss Universe pageant by announcing the wrong person as the winner and he met with Trump. As a result, the people were totally unforgiving. They dogged him out on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and in mainstream news. As a reaction, Steve packed his emotional baggage, moved his talk show to Chicago and changed the format to be less people centered and more celebrity focused.    

But he forgot one thing, he made it to the rooftop by staying close to the people. The one thing comedy affords comedians that acting does not is the instant feedback of what people, do like and don’t like. On stage is a microphone, a light, a stool and a comedian. Do or die, there are no retakes. Therefore, Steve was able to transcend funny into every project he’s ever done – books, movies and yes, the Chicago based talk show because he was still tied to the people. Though he stopped performing comedy with his 2012 retirement, he stayed connected to the people through his Act Like A Success Conference and SOAR Retreat speeches. Again, in his Chicago based talk show, it was an intimate setting that focused on a wide range of guests, not just celebrities. For example, the show featured Flint Water Crisis Victims, Chicago Crime Issues, Race In America, the infamous Ask Steve segment where he once ate a snack from an audience member’s purse and mid-range best-selling authors that did not have hundreds of thousands of followers. Those were either common people issues or people that were touchable by common people. It made us feel like we had a voice. The Los Angeles based talk show join a very crowded market. It’s just another tinsel town stop on the celeb circuit. It’s just like The View, The Talk, Wendy Williams, and so many others. It feels distant from the common people he’s served for so many years. And here’s my personal plug – I’d like to see Steve Harvey do a skit comedy evening show. He can take all those celeb friends (and their shameless promotion) and put them in comedy skits written by himself, Jay Anthony Brown, Nephew Tommy, Junior and Rubin. Think, Flip Wilson and Carol Burnett, a type of intellectual comedy that teaches and entertains. But back to saving the talk show.

Third, here’s how Uncle Steve can win on the talk show circuit once again, it’s simple. Dump the videos laughing at other people’s misfortune. It’s just not funny to common folk. Personally, I find it insulting that there is over 100 years of comedy around the boardroom table and laughing at people falling from trampolines and cheerleading stunts, is the best they have to offer. Tone down the celeb, tinsel town feel, which means fewer celebrities. Address middle class concerns and issues more (Terry Bradshaw discussing the NFL/Kaepernick issue was great and Cicely Tyson was priceless). Increase the interaction with the audience, turn Ask Steve into Steve Answers and keep helping women find love. Finally, we all get the desk – he never made it on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but he made it to the big time anyway, he now has his own talk show. However, can Terrell add the desk for specific segments? Does it have to be a permanent fixture?  

Good or bad, when it’s the people that put you there, it’s the people that keep you there. Though Uncle Steve may feel like he’s tired of doing the impossible for the ungrateful, it’s his cross to bear. He should hire me to help him unpack the baggage, make peace with the people and move on.