Ten years in the 'Studio'

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- "Inside the Actors Studio" began its 10th season on the Bravo cable channel Sunday with a special two-hour appearance by film icon Clint Eastwood.

It's just the sixth time in nine seasons that series host James Lipton has expanded the show to two hours. It is also the first "Inside the Actors Studio" episode to be produced in Los Angeles -- the show is typically done at the New School University in New York, where Lipton is also the dean of the drama department.

The Eastwood interview was taped in August before an audience that included Actors Studio West members and drama program students at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles.

Eastwood -- the Oscar-winning director of "Unforgiven," "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Play Misty for Me" -- has been one of Hollywood's most successful and respected filmmakers, in a career that began 50 years ago.

Lipton told United Press Inernational the Eastwood interview lasted five hours, so cutting the tape for a two-hour telecast meant that a lot of good stuff had to be left out. He said that happens all the time, especially since the show is typically edited to one hour.

"But on the other hand," said Lipton, "there are very few shows of our nature that give anyone that much time."

Since its premiere episode featuring Paul Newman, "Inside the Actors Studio" has examined the lives and work of such high-profile actors and directors as Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, John Travolta and Joanne Woodward. Besides Eastwood, guests scheduled for the tenth season include Barbra Streisand, Russell Crowe and Jay Leno.

The Eastwood installment coincides with the release of the new movie "Mystic River," an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's best-selling novel of the same name, which Eastwood produced and directed. The timing is no accident -- the show has become a favored stop on Hollywood's movie promotion tour agenda, and actors have also learned to exploit appearances on the show to support nomination campaigns during Hollywood's annual awards season.

"I am often besieged by the representatives of actors, writers and directors who want to do the show in order to be aired by Bravo during the voting period for the Academy Awards, both the nominating and final voting periods," said Lipton. "There's a lot of jockeying, because the common wisdom is that ours is the most watched series of its kind in Los Angeles and New York."

Bravo and NBC share corporate ownership, but Lipton said he has not felt undue pressure to book NBC stars on the show.

"No, it's the other way around," he said.

As an example, Lipton said it was his idea to invite Leno to appear on "Inside the Actors Studio."

Now, it may be true that as an actor Leno is no De Niro. Still, in addition to his long and successful run as host of "The Tonight Show," Leno has some acting credits -- even if they include mostly voiceover ("The Fairly OddParents") and relatively minor roles in such features as "The Flintstones" (1994) and "American Hot Wax" (1978).

Lipton said he wanted Leno to come on the show mainly to talk about comedy -- in the same vein as previous guests such as Nathan Lane, Mike Myers and Robin Williams.

"The toughest subject that we have is comedy," said Lipton. "People might say that NBC told me to (book Leno), but they didn't. I think they were probably happy that I did it, though."

Lipton's show has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series every year since 1997 (the category was named Outstanding Information Series in 1997), but has yet to win. The show has transformed Lipton -- a veteran actor, writer and producer -- into a celebrity in his own right. He has played himself in an episode of "The Simpsons," and has been caricatured on "Saturday Night Live."

The "SNL" image of Lipton exaggerates his deferential, ingratiating approach to interviewing his guests. Lipton laughed at the send-up -- which he said depicted him as "unctious" -- but said there is a reason for the almost reverential treatment of his guests.

"It isn't a traditional talk show, it's a classroom," he said. "It's a course at the New School. The students are master's candidates. I am their dean. I am behaving as any professor or dean would in a classroom. If you invite a guest to share information with your students you're not playing a game of 'Gotcha.' You're not trying to score points."

By now, with something like 150 episodes in its catalogue, "Inside the Actors Studio" has built up a trove of information on the craft of acting, and Lipton said the tapes are available to scholars -- but only at the New School's library, or in the personal collections of the school's graduates.

"Each year our graduating students receive all of the 'Inside the Actors Studio' shows that were created and shown during their three years here," he said. "A student can uniquely say, 'I remember when Steven Spielberg said such and such,' and go to the videotape and there is the information."

Although the show has attracted more and more high profile stars, there are still some holdouts. Lipton concedes there are guests he has not been able to get, but he said the guest he would most like to have is someone whose name he does not know yet.

"I used to fiddle around with Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson -- very obvious choices," he said. "The guest that I want, without question, the day that one of the graduates of our school has achieved such renown and stature -- the day that student comes back will be the most glorious moment in the history of the show."

For now, Lipton is pleased -- and a little proud -- that such luminaries as Eastwood, Streisand, Hanks and De Niro are willing to talk to his students about their craft.

"Remember, when this started nine years ago," he said, "it was me writing these passionate, imploring letters to the artists, saying please come on the show. Now it's the other way around."