How did Andy Cohen grow from a producer at CBS to Social TV Entertainer of the Year? How did he become one of the few successful programming executives to launch a successful show on TV starring himself? What role did the blogging, Twitter and the social web play in his diverse, hilarious and often unbelievable route to becoming the host of BRAVO’s Watch What Happens Live? We interviewed the social TV celebrity about his new book, “Most Talkative: Stories from the front lines of pop culture.”
Cohen doesn’t just get how to tweet, or understand the important role social plays in growing a TV audience. He’s the only late-night host that actually broadcasts live, allowing for a truly interactive format that relies on fans tweeting, Facebooking, calling-in and more. Check out Mashable’s in-depth look at how his studio functions around the social web. Many know that Cohen was previously a top exec at BRAVO, assuming that he just decided to launch his own TV show. This is not the case at all. Here are some highlights from the book followed by an interview with Andy:
“No, I didn’t green light my own show. A chain of coincidental-but-totally-connected events at Bravo have led me to where I’ve always wanted to be since using that hairbrush as a mic in the backseat of my uncle’s car.”
This is the short answer Cohen gives to the amazing story that led him to his show. The long answer involves Lauren Zalaznick, blogging and a web show.
“So my show actually happened gradually and organically – from e-mails to a blog, to online, to reunion shows, to live at midnight, then at 11p.m.”
The end of his long answer to how his show got on the air sums up the dream of all producers in the age of the social web. While many of his peers at other networks were probably telling the interns to blog, his knack for writing plus the urge to be on the air came through.
“Giggy became so popular that he started a Twitter feed, @Giggythepom, and I’d find myself in a meeting, or on a date, as my BlackBerry buzzed with a fresh tweet. From a hairless Pomeranian.”
This hilarious chapter discusses the Twitter shenanigans Cohen found himself in as two reality TV dogs fight for his social media attention.
“(So, if I already didn’t thank you in the acknowledgements, shout-out to the person who invented YouTube for allowing me to watch this and, naturally, Susan Lucci’s Emmy win-and cute pandas – any time I need a pick-me-up.)”
In this chapter Cohen details his faux-pas at criticizing the Staten Island children’s choir that concluded the Oscars in 2011. Cohen describes in this snippet how he loves to re-watch his favorite moments for an Oscars he loved so much, which he felt had been losing their integrity and grandeur.
“Dan taking a picture of me – a moment so meta and surreal you might not believe it if I didn’t have the evidence.”
In this chapter, Cohen discusses his unforgettable trip with Dan Rather back when he was at CBS. More than learning about his appreciation for the news veteran, it reminds you how much experience Cohen has as a TV and news producer. Throughout his book you learn about Rather bumping around the country from hurricane’s to the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Lost Remote: Why did you write the book?
Andy Cohen: I just always wanted to do it. I kept a lot of journals from the time I was basically, right before I came out of the closet, to London and I kept going for 13 years and I knew in those journals were the seeds of some good stories…I wanted to put all of that out there.
LR: If Susan Lucci had a Twitter account when you were growing up, would you have stalked her? Do you think it would’ve hurt/improved your relationship with her?
Cohen: No doubt, it’s interesting, I am so grateful I grew up at a time when there were three networks, there wasn’t any of that. You wrote an actual letter. I just feel like, it was so much more to be a celebrity then. The whole experience then, the whole experience of interacting with a celebrity. There were lots of them because there were less outlets. B, there was less access, less ability. It just meant more. I’m kind of grateful…and that doesn’t mean that I don’t love social too, it drives everything I do right now.
LR: What are your favorite social media platform besides Twitter?
Cohen: My new one is Instagram, I just joined two weeks ago and I just never really got why it would be fun and it is fun and I’m a little bit obsessed.
LR: When you first started blogging for Bravo did you ever think it would lead to a TV show?
Cohen: No, I definitely didn’t. I saw that it was definitely a step towards…I recognized that I was putting out there, that Lauren Zalaznick was putting me out there in a way. But I never would have guessed that it would lead to a show.
LR; What advice to you have for other Television execs that are behind the scenes that want to get more exposure on air or online?
Cohen: I guess my advice is be careful. First of all, make sure that you’re in an environment where other people want you out there. This was my boss’s idea, if I had gone to my boss, I want to do this and I want to do a web show, you never know. First of all make sure that people around you want to make it happen. I had the support of Bravo and our marketing people. Second of all, be very careful what you are saying. What is your message what do you want to say and why do you want to say it. Know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Know your motives.
LR: How does social fit in with your live show?
Cohen: We’re the only live show. Organically, the social aspect of the show is how the show began, it began as an interactive web show that was a companion to Top Chef, on what they had seen on Bravo. To take that and do that with celebrities, from Chris Colfer to John Mayer and everyone in between. It just works and it’s unique.
LR: How is TV evolving with tech?
Cohen: It’s hard for me to imagine. It’ll be more interactive, more of the moment, people can determine what’s happening on their TV and have more control. All of it, anytime, anywhere – the viewers, more in control.
LR: Do you still keep in touch with Dan Rather?
Cohen: I hadn’t seen him in years and years but he was on my show six weeks ago. He was on with John Mayer – was one of the best shows we’ve ever done. It was very full circle. I showed the picture of him taking a picture of me. So nice to me. I call that chapter “Will you be my daddy?”, I think I have some kind of a weird…he’s my TV father figure. He said, “I’m so proud of you, I’m so glad one of the good guys made it.
LR: How do you deal with all the people tweeting @BravoAndy? Do you get a push notification every time that happens?
Cohen: I just check in as much as I can depending on what I’m doing. Typically during the day, depends where I am and what I’m doing and how bored I am. I remember during the premiere, the premiere of Housewives of NY, I really wanted to know what people were saying about the show and I just followed it on Twitter the whole time, for 90 minutes. I just kept refreshing and watching. That night I was using it as a focus group. I don’t see all the tweets that come to me. The other thing I noticed… if I got to the gym and the phone is off for the hour, I only get the tweets form the last 20 minutes, I can’t see the rest. After my show, when I get home and it’s airing at other time zones and I’m in bed, I’ll refresh my feed and I try to answer people and interact with them, I try to. You get nasty tweets, you don’t interact with fans, you only interact with famous…that’s not true. I just don’t tweet out publicly. I tweet at directly so I don’t clog up everyone’s feed.
LR: What’s your favorite scripted TV show on the air right now?
Mad Men. It’s so beautiful to look at, it’s like watching a moving painting, it’s so gorgeous to look at, I save the episodes as long as I can. This season, it’s a brilliant show, this season was absolutely its best season and it’s just poetic and they break all the rules of how to do TV. It’s so interesting and shocking and provocative and it’s just great.
LR: Any thoughts on the Emmy nominations?
Cohen: I’m so excited… Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen to get two Emmy nominations. I’m just thrilled… Top Chef and Kathy and Inside The Actors Studio. It’s a big deal that we got seven nominations.