Arsenio Hall

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Arsenio Hall was born in Cleveland. Arsenio Hall was an actor who changed the face of late-night talk TV with his syndicated Arsenio Hall Show. Debuting in January 1989, Arsenio Hall Show marked the first time a black entertainer had ever hosted a late-night program. While critics sniped at Hall's obsequious interviewing style, he managed to carve out a distinctive audience by regularly featuring such previously unthinkable guests as hardcore rappers, professional athletes, and African-American political figures. (In June 1992, President-to-be Bill Clinton famously donned sunglasses and played the saxophone.) Arsenio Hall scraps with Jay Leno. When Jay Leno replaced Johnny Carson as the host of the Tonight Show May 1992, Arsenio Hall's famously vowed to "kick [Leno's] ass," but Leno began to attract younger viewers away. Further doubts over Hall's future were raised by his refusal, in February 1994, to drop controversial Muslim minister Louis Farrakhan from his show. The final Arsenio Hall Show aired on May 27 1994. In the wake of the cancellation, Arsenio Hall kept a very low profile, although he appeared on David Letterman's show in late 1995, prompting Variety to comment on the "vivid reminder of the void that has existed. . . since his departure."

Arsenio Hall makes you go hmmmm....The title of the C&C Music Factory dance single "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..." was inspired by Hall's monologue routines. He was also the target of most jokes as Keenen Ivory Wayans portrayed him on his sketch comedy show In Living Color.

Arsenio Hall, recluse? After The Arsenio Hall Show ended, Hall made only infrequent appearances on television (including a short-lived 1997 sitcom called Arsenio) before starring in Martial Law with Sammo Hung from 1999–2000 and hosting the revival of Star Search in 2003.

Arsenio Hall made a cameo appearance as himself in Chappelle's Show in March 2004, when Dave is imagining "what Arsenio is doing right now" in a dinner scene. It shows Arsenio at a wine party eating some cheese and saying, "Damn! That's some good-ass cheese!" After which, Arsenio starts punching and slapping people for not telling him about the apparently delicious cheese.

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