‘Harry’: Catholic Harry Connick Jr. Wants the Pope on His New Talk Show

Last updated on: September 12, 2016 at 10:56 am by Kate O'Hare

‘Harry’: Catholic Harry Connick Jr. Wants the Pope on His New Talk Show 2016-09-12T10:56:14-08:00 Kate O'Hare

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Shakespeare may have spoken of “A little touch of Harry in the night” in “Henry V,” but starting today, American TV viewers are going to get little touch of “Harry” during the day.

Today, Monday, Sept. 12, marks the debut of “Harry,” a syndicated weekday talk show featuring jazz singer and actor Harry Connick Jr. as host and executive producer. He’ll also be writing all the music for the show, which will also feature his own band.

This summer, Connick — a practicing Catholic from New Orleans — sat down with assembled press to discuss the show at the summer edition of the biannual TV Critics Association Press Tour.

On allowing guests to opt out of the standard talk-show pre-interview:

One of the things that I’m not a fan of is a pre-interview. If I’m going to be a guest on a particular show, the producers will call a day in advance and do a pre-interview. Everybody in this room knows this. But they ask you, “Tell us what happened this summer. Any funny stories?” And they compile a list of things that they eventually go back to the host, present to the host. They work out stories, punch lines or whatever.

Then, there’s this undercurrent of rehearsal or pre-planning that happens when you get out on the panel. Well, I tell all the publicists and anybody that’s going to be on the show, “Man, if you don’t want to do a pre-interview, it’s my job to know everything there is to know about you, so don’t worry about that and we’re just going to have a conversation.” So the idea of going into a place and not having this pre-interview would be liberating to me, and the response I’m getting from a lot of the talent is, wow, that’s pretty cool.

I’ve talked to dozens and dozens and dozens of publicists and they want to know what kind of show I’m going to do. They’re concerned about their clients. And I say, “You tell your clients we’re not gonna play games. I’m not gonna put ’em in dunk tanks. None of that stuff. And I’m not gonna to do pre-interviews if don’t want. If they want to do one so they feel like they have a safety net when they come out, absolutely.” But they all say, “Oh, my gosh. My clients hate pre-interviews.” So the option is there for them if they want it.

On not singing in every episode:

I’m not going to come out every day and sing a song with the band. We’re doing 180 shows a year. I don’t think anybody’s that good. After about three weeks, it’s like, “Oh, my God. He’s gonna sing another song.”

On what role his Catholicism may play in the show:

I can tell that you I don’t want to shy away from anything, because I think if you start picking and choosing the topics that you want to talk about, then it becomes kind of sticky. I’m a Catholic. I’m proud of it. I don’t plan on devoting shows to my faith. If somebody wants to talk about it, that’s terrific.

But ultimately, without getting too heavy, what I believe in and what I think is at the center of most of the things most people believe in, is I just want to be a good person, and I want to give a really high‑quality entertainment show. And if I practice those things and don’t necessarily talk about those things, I’ll probably do ultimately more good than if I talked about it all the time.

On whether there are any prominent Catholics he’d like to be on the show:

Well, why don’t we start with the pope? And we’ll work our way down from there.

Sandra Bullock is scheduled to be on the premiere episode. Other announced guests for the first week are Renee Zellweger, Amy Adams and Terrence Howard; with cameo appearances by Russell Crowe, Kristen Bell, Zooey Deschanel, Anthony Anderson, John Stamos and Taraji P. Henson.

In week two, Connick broadcasts from the set of Fox’s musical melodrama “Empire” (which stars Howard and Henson), and takes viewers behind the scenes of that show.

Other announced segments are, per NBC’s press release:

“Harry” will bring the party to daytime, entertaining viewers with Connick’s touring band and delivering laughter through a variety of comedic segments, hilarious man-on-the-street interviews, as well as audience participation, human interest stories, celebrity interviews and lots of surprises.

“Harry” will also celebrate unsung everyday heroes in signature segments like “Harry’s Leading Ladies” and “I Got This.” “Harry’s Leading Ladies” will put a spotlight on those who are empowering others and making a difference in their communities. In “I Got This,” Connick steps into the life of a deserving mom by taking over all of her responsibilities for the day while she goes off for some much needed pampering and relaxation.

Check local listings or visit the show’s official site for time and date of “Harry” in your area.

Image: Courtesy Heidi Gutman/NBC

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