How Arsenio Hall Shook Up Late Night

""The Arsenio Hall Show" premiered on January 3, 1989, and in the course of the next six seasons became the epicenter of early-nineties cool; even the logo had color blocking. Hall wore flashy suits and streetwear and eschewed the traditional host's desk in order to sit closer to his guests, even if it meant risking a contact high from a seemingly stoned Tupac Shakur."

"The show had the energy, and the soundtrack, of a night club. With musical guests such as A Tribe Called Quest and Salt-N-Pepa, it was the unofficial late-night home of hip-hop. When Fred Rogers, of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," came on, Hall gifted him a colorful leather jacket to match his own and exclaimed, "This gives new meaning to boys in the hood!""

"The biggest names of the nineties stopped by to earn street cred: Tom Cruise appeared to promote "Interview with the Vampire"-and to dap Hall. In 1992, the Presidential hopeful Bill Clinton joined the show's band to play "Heartbreak Hotel" on the saxophone; afterward, he joked with Hall about having smoked pot, claiming that he really did try to inhale."

The Arsenio Hall Show premiered in January 1989 and became the epicenter of early-nineties cool over six seasons. Hall hosted the program with flashy streetwear, abandoned the traditional desk setup to sit closer to guests, and created an energetic nightclub atmosphere. The show featured hip-hop artists like A Tribe Called Quest and Salt-N-Pepa, making it the unofficial late-night home for the genre. Major celebrities including Tom Cruise, Bill Clinton, and Fred Rogers appeared on the show to gain street credibility. Hall's loose, bawdy interview style and the audience's "dog pound" section became cultural touchstones, with references appearing in mainstream films like Pretty Woman.

Read at The New Yorker