Hall with then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.Photo: Reed Saxon/AP/Shutterstock
Arsenio Hall’s career has reached heights beyond what he ever could have imagined as a kid.
“It was my lucky timing–meets–pop culture!” Hall, 67, exclusively tells PEOPLE. “Every artist in showbiz wasn’t a good fit forThe Tonight Showaudience in those days. I created a show for people who didn’t have a show. A place for[MC] Hammer,Prince,New EditionandNew Kids on the Block. A place for comics fromChris RockandLea DeLariatoGeorge Lopez!”
The Arsenio Hall Show/Courtesy CBS Television Distribution
Among the list of famous celebrities who appeared on the show, Hall also helped one rapper in particular make his debut during a time when many Paramount executives already thoughtThe Arsenio Hall Showwas “too black.”
“TakeSnoop Dogg,” Hall recalls. “I remember telling Paramount executives about this guy, Calvin Broadus … thatDr. Dretold me about. He wasn’t famous, so it wasn’t an easy sell. But I knew Snoop Dogg was special. It was at a time when focus groups thought my show was too Black! Snoop came on and did something called ‘freestyle.'”
Hall jokes that Snoop’s improv rhyming was decidedlynota favorite of the Paramount lawyers, who had to be ready to censor the performance at any time.
But still, he says, “You didn’t see [that] on a television talk show back then. He killed! Murdered! To this day Snoop is a household name!”
Mike Windle/Getty Images
BecauseThe Arsenio Hall Showwas around before social media, too, Hall became virtually the only avenue through which the soon-to-be stars who appeared on his show could “break ground” with their “young audiences.”
Ted Thai//Time Life Pictures/Getty
When Clinton was elected president in 1992,The Arsenio Hall Showstill had another two seasons to go on air (it ended in 1994).
“I could never have imagined what happened to me on Paramount’s stage 29,” says Hall of his achievements. “I believe that anybody who succeeds in show business is living a dream. I ‘imagined’ getting my degree from Kent State. A person could never ‘imagine’ what’s happened to me since the day I arrived in Hollywood.”
He continues, “As a kid, I used to do a talk show in my basement. But honestly I thought, actually everyone thought, that I was just a weird kid with a strange name. Who knew I’d ride the dream to the finish line?”
For more on Arsenio Hall, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE — on newsstands now!
source: people.com
