• by Ed Martin , November 4, 2013

I wonder why American television doesn’t have an entertainment-driven talk show in prime time? Daytime network schedules are being overrun by them (to the dismay of soap opera fans), while celebrity-filled late night talk shows make as much news as anything else on television. (The biggest TV story of early 2014 won’t be NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. It’s going to be the departure of Jay Leno from NBC’s “The Tonight Show” to make room for Jimmy Fallon, whose own late night program will be turned over to Seth Meyers.

But where is entertainment talk at an earlier hour, even if only once a week? The only network that offers grandly entertaining prime-time talk is BBC America -- and on Saturday night no less, where the reliably funny import “The Graham Norton Show” recently began its 14th season. (Early on, Norton’s show was titled “So Graham Norton.”) Norton and his team make it all look so easy that I can’t help but wonder why there isn’t a comparable weekly show on American television.

My high praise is hardly overstated. Even as a solo guest, at least four of Norton’s five guests on a recent installment of his show would have made for a memorable edition of any American talk program: Sir Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and James Corden. (You might not know who Corden is, but you should. He was a standout supporting player in the BBC rom-com “Gavin & Stacey,” which served as the template for the upcoming Fox comedy “Us and Them,” and he won a Tony Award two years ago for his lead performance in the Broadway hit “One Man, Two Guvnors.”)

There is much to admire about “The Graham Norton Show,” from its high-energy host and his gifts for lively celebrity interviewing and studio audience interaction to its eye-catching colorful set, to the fact that its guests can sip alcohol during the show if they so desire. Would there be a huge fuss in the States if talk show guests were allowed to drink and loosen up a bit on camera? Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford seem to manage such behavior without offense or incident every morning on the fourth hour of “Today,” and that show is live. Andy Cohen’s guests on Bravo’s late-night low-budget marvel “Watch What Happens Live” also enjoy their cocktails, and occasional nips off Cohen’s “shot-ski,” and a good time is had by all at home and in the studio.

But “The Graham Norton Show’s” finest attribute –- the one thing that makes it sing week after week, year after year -- is the fact that most of Norton’s guests sit together on the set’s striking red couch for the entire hour.

In the first few segments of the recent McCartney episode, McCartney, Perry and Corden were on the couch, and while the lesser known Corden more than held his own opposite a legend and a superstar, some of the best moments came when McCartney and Perry were talking to each other, as if there were no other people in the room. Later in the hour the energy of the show soared even higher when Hemsworth and Portman joined them. Together, the fantastic five made for the most exciting group of guests I can recall on any talk show ever. I haven’t seen anything like it since Johnny Carson’s couch occasionally filled up on “The Tonight Show,” and maybe not even then.

The only talk show I can think of that gets its guests going in so kinetic a manner is “Watch What Happens Live!” But it’s only a half-hour, and it generally features only two guests, and it’s on late. I might suggest that Bravo try running an hour-long edition once a week during primetime, but why would the network risk compromising a good thing?

It’s not as though a lineup as exciting as McCartney, Perry, Hemsworth, Portman and Corden is a “Graham Norton” rarity. Last Saturday’s episode featured Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Saunders (best known in the United States as the star of “Absolutely Fabulous”) -- and Cher! De Niro is known as something of a stiff on American talk shows -- but he was as relaxed and chatty as the rest of the guests around him, and he smiled throughout -- even when he accidentally knocked over Pfeiffer’s tea. Cher also seemed more comfortable than she does on talk shows here, especially CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” on which she was recently a solo guest.

I can’t believe a show like “Graham Norton” wouldn’t work in prime time on a broadcast network. Yes, NBC famously soiled the bed when it shoved Jay Leno into a nightly 10 p.m. time slot four years ago. The “Leno” show crashed because it was simply awful. It could have worked. It should have worked. But it was utterly lifeless. Maybe a colorful couch, better guest groupings, a little alcohol and a more relaxed atmosphere would have helped. Receding memories of that horror shouldn’t stop network executives from further exploring the idea of a similar program in a once-a-week format. NBC (or any network) could do worse than try again with Leno (or someone like him) in that capacity. But first they must spend some serious study time with “Graham Norton.”