Just in time for the holidays, two new cable shows are giving the gift of gab.
Debuting tomorrow on the Biography Channel, “Shatner's Raw Nerve” finds host William Shatner grilling his celebrity guests about such intensely personal subjects as heaven, hell and first marriages.
On Wednesday, the Sundance Channel follows up with “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ... ,” which pairs the erudite musician with the likes of Elton John and Bill Clinton for freewheeling chats about such music-geek topics as songwriter's block and the genius of Laura Nyro.
Both shows are pleasant surprises, partially because neither celebrity host is quite what you would expect him to be.
SCOTT GRIES
In the first episode of "Spectacle," Elvis Costello talks music with Elton John.
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Shatner is the biggest myth buster. Then again, he has a bigger myth to bust.
In his current Emmy-winning incarnation as the loony Denny Crane on “Boston Legal,” Shatner is a big hunk of showbiz ham. Factor in those pesky Priceline.com ads and his willingness to appear on anything from “The Howard Stern Show” to “Muppets Tonight,” and you do not have the makings of Mr. Sensitive Talk Show Guru.
But that is the vibe Shatner is going for in “Shatner's Raw Nerve,” which promises “Heated conversations with the hottest names in Hollywood.” In the two installments made available for review, he turns out to be a perceptive interviewer and a better listener than his blowhard persona would suggest. If only his guests were willing to give up the answers he's trying to get.
This week's guest is actress Valerie Bertinelli, whose child-star past, weight issues and rocky marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen make her an ideal candidate for the kind of hot-button talk “Raw Nerve” is hoping to ignite.
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“Shatner's Raw Nerve”
When: 11 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Biography Channel
 ½
“Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ... ”
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Sundance Channel
½
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It doesn't quite work out that way.
On a colorful set dominated by two chairs set at a cozy, conversation-pit angle, Shatner and the fast-talking Bertinelli blast through a half-hour interview that touches on infidelity, addiction, Catholicism and forgiveness without ever settling on any topic long enough to make an impression.
And when Shatner attempts to get her talking about the impact Van Halen's addictions had on their marriage, Bertinelli won't bite, saying she prefers to focus on the positive aspects of their post-divorce relationship.
He runs into similar roadblocks in an upcoming interview with Jimmy Kimmel. The comedian and talk-show host is surprisingly forthcoming about his failed first marriage, but when Shatner tries to make a rather intriguing connection between interviewing a drunk guest (and many of Kimmel's guests have clearly had a few) and making love to a drunk partner, Kimmel isn't ready to make that hot-button leap.
Even if he were, it might not matter. Thirty minutes (including commercials) isn't really long enough for tapping deep reservoirs of emotion, so Shatner's scattershot show ends up resembling one of those great party conversations where sparks fly and confidences are exchanged, but once you get home, you can't remember a thing anyone said.
On the other hand, Costello's “Spectacle” feels more like a chat you'd have during a cross-country flight, the kind where you discover that your scary-looking seat mate is actually a very friendly guy with a cool iPod playlist and surprising taste in books. When the show's hour is up, you feel like you've known the guest forever. And you will be pretty darned fond of the host, too.
In spite of his reputation as one of rock's great angry men, Costello is an engaging, well-informed interviewer whose writer's curiosity leads him to ask the kinds of questions you won't hear from Jay, Dave or Conan. Plus, Elvis can sing. Which is more than you can say about the other guys.
Each episode of “Spectacle” opens with Costello and a revolving set of band members performing a song chosen with the guest in mind.
This week's installment begins with a reverent version of Elton John's “Border Song” that finds Costello trading gospel-flavored verses with keyboardist du jour, the great Allen Toussaint. Next week, Costello pays tribute to guest Lou Reed with a roots-waltz version of “Femme Fatale,” and on Dec. 17, he welcomes former president Bill Clinton with a blistering take on the Elvis Presley hit “Mystery Train,” featuring Presley's own guitarist, James Burton.
Costello's show could probably stop there, and his music-geek audience would go home happy. Instead, he goes on to probe into the emotional connections his guests have with the music they make and the music they love, and the resulting conversations are warm, insightful and blessedly free of Hollywood gossip and glad-handing.
Under Costello's professorial questioning, we hear about John's artistic debt to Laura Nyro, which Sir Elton illustrates with a feverish rendition of “Burn Down the Mission.”
In Costello's wide-ranging interview with Clinton, the jazz-loving former president tells a charming story about talking his way into trumpeter Al Hirt's New Orleans jazz club when he was 15, and how much that evening meant to him.
And next week, the intimidating Reed opens up about his love of street-corner doo-wop and his struggles with writer's block. And when Costello asks him about the legendary guitar riff from the Velvet Underground's “Sweet Jane,” Reed whips out an acoustic guitar and demonstrates how everyone else always gets it wrong.
In this blabby age of celebrity blogs, showbiz-news shows and tabloids galore, talk has become very cheap. But as “Spectacle” and “Shatner's Raw Nerve” prove, good conversation is still an art. And because Costello's guests are talking about their passions instead of themselves, the conversations on “Spectacles” are priceless.
Karla Peterson: karla.peterson@uniontrib.com; (619) 293-1275.
