The Importance of Being Andy Cohen

Andrew (Andy) Cohen is one of the most influential figures from the entertainment industry, in my opinion. The Bravo network in the late 1990s was more about performing arts, independent and classic films that was more toward the arts culture. In the 2000s, they changed their format to more of a reality television format. When Andy Cohen started at Bravo as the Vice President of Original Programming and he oversaw some of the best-unscripted series on television. What made Andy beneficial to Bravo was that he loved television shows. When I read his book, “Most Talkative: Stories from the Frontlines of Pop Culture” and he wrote about his love of soap operas growing up. I realized that “The Real Housewives Franchise” way a throwback to the soap operas that Andy grew up watching. What he did was take something he loved and he added a twist that made it his own.

What I like about Andy Cohen is he’s a fan of pop culture and he embraces it. He was such a fan of his own shows that he started a blog. One of the reasons viewers like him is because he is much of a fan of the show just like the audience is. He now has his own late night talk, "Watch What Happens Live", show where some of the guests on the show are people who he became fascinated with growing up. The whole style of the show is like the viewers are in the room as well. He has the drinking games that have viewer participation and he has the “plead the fifth” game where he’ll ask his guests questions that no one else would dare to ask. The late night show is much of a fan participation show because he’s much of a fan of the guests just like we are.

            As of right now, Andy Cohen relinquished his job at Bravo to focus more on his late night show and The Real Housewives franchise. He formed the production company Most Talkative, where he will be producing more content for Bravo and NBC.  Although he is no longer in charge of programming at Bravo, he will always be the face of the Bravo. With changing their television format to reality television, Andy and some of the Bravo shows have become a staple in the same pop culture he grew up fascinated with.