Talk Shows?

[JK04]

Can anyone tell me why on talk shows in America, the host as we look at him sits on the right and the guest sits on the left, but in Ireland and England the host sits on left and the guest on the right. e.g Parkinson sits on the left as we look at him but Jay Leno sits on the right and so on...
Or if anyone knows of any talk show where its not the case please let me know.
It may sound like a weird question but iv been wondering about it.
Thanks in advance for any answers
-JK

[legend759]

not in jeremy kyle he stands as does jerry springer phil donohue .think youre mistaken.

[JK04]

Had a feelin when i saw ur name pop up it wud be a smart ass answer! :-)
But what about the kind of shows that i mentioned in the question - and not the type where brothers and sisters are sleepin wit eachother

[legend759]

Well i suppose its an american idea.Must date back to the johnny carson show .hes been the most popular ever so i guess theyre following on from them.Btw wasnt smart just an honest answer.Chill out .

[JK04]

Ah yea i know legend, i didnt mean for ya to pick it up like i was annoyed with your first answer.
When i was typing the question i was thinkin the same, I knew some people would count in Jerry Springer type shows so thats why i gave examples. Is there different names for those types of shows or are they called talk shows aswell?

[legend759]

as far as i can tell theyre all chat shows.montel williams sits in the middle sometimes hes very good

[Buenchico]

Yes, Parky sits on the left. He was doing it many years ago when he argued with Emu: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2007/ 08/29/uparky.jpg

But Paul O'Grady sits on the right:
http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/micro sites/P/paulogrady/images/videos/kimcattrall.j pg

In 'Meet the Kumars' the host is on the right:
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060803 /112746__kumars_l.jpg

Jonathon Ross is on the right:
http://www.auntiemomo.com/albums/jr2007/eijr07 048.jpg

I'll agree that you might have seen Wogan on the left:
http://www.ultimatedallas.com/news/wogan4.jpg
but he used to be on the right:
http://www.darsu.btinternet.co.uk/diary_pics/M H_wogan.jpg

Chris

[osprey]

Could well depend on the ego of the presenter - which profile they prefer and so on.

[ludwig]

Russell Harty tried sitting in middle which unfortunately meant that he had to turn his back on one guest to talk to another.
In one famous incident Grace Jones took exception to this and started to slap him about on live TV. 'Don't turn your back on me, slap , slap slap.. etc'.

[marwel7]

I think it depends on the styleof the presenter and whether the show is about the guests (Parkinson) or about the presenter (Leno,etc).Incidentally,Jonathan Ross is a good example of this,he sits on the right and the show is more about him than the guests.
Showslike Jeremy Kyle and Jerry Springer are neither chat shows nor talk shows (I'd call them freak shows) and so don't count as examples for this question.