Before Jerry Springer, before Morton Downey Jr., there was Wally George. For almost 10 years, the conservative commentator hosted Hot Seat, a Talk Show that helped pave the way for the trash TV of the following decades.
Each episode would start with Wally commenting on the news of the day, and responding to questions (or heckling) from the audience. From there, Wally would get into shouting matches...er, healthy debates...with guests on various topics. The subjects ran the gauntlet from prayer in schools and international relations to Satan worship and whether or not Elvis was still alive. Hilarity...and very often, chaos...ensued.
Wally George had been a fixture in California since the 1950s, working as a radio DJ and hosting local talk shows. Hot Seat was just the latest in a long line of gigs, debuting on KDOC Anaheim on July 16, 1983. The show gained notoriety that November, during a debate on the US invasion of Grenada. The argument got so heated, the guest flipped over Wally's desk and stormed off the set! National news got wind of it, and syndication followed in January 1984. As the years went on, the guests got crazier, the action got rowdier, and the audience got louder. Viewers either loved Hot Seat for its zany atmosphere and crazy interviews, or despised it for loudmouth Wally's right-wing views and belittling comments; even today, you'll find people sharply divided over the show.
The series ended in December 1992; Wally would still host highlight shows at a local level, and stay active in broadcasting until shortly before his 2003 passing. While not as well-known as its contemporaries, Wally George and his Hot Seat have remained cult favorites.
His daughter, Rebecca De Mornay, would become notable in her own right as an actress.
Compare The Morton Downey Jr. Show, Wally's East Coast equivalent. Not to be confused with the short-lived lie detector based game show from 1976, or the pricing game involving a moving chair on The Price Is Right.
The show provides examples of the following tropes:
- Alter-Ego Acting: The Wally George seen on TV was very different from the actual Wally George. Most of what he presented about himself on Hot Seat was either wildly exaggerated or outright fake; the extent of his views, the reach of his show, even his real name!* Unfortunately for Wally, many Hot Seat fans, as well as people viewing his show today, took his comments at face value, making him seem like a much nastier, closed-minded guy than he actually was.
- Argument of Contradictions: What most of the debates ended up becoming.
- Audience Participation: Oh so much. Wally would often hold Q&As with them, or invite them to grill (or heckle) the guests. They'd wave signs in support of Wally (or, on occasion, his guests). Most memorably, they helped out with the ticket plug.Wally: “The 213 area code is 464-6111...”
Audience: “1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1…”
Wally: “And in the 714 area code, it's 9-9-9!"
Audience: "FIVE THOUSAND!"
Wally: "9-9-9!"
Audience: "FIVE THOUSAND!"
(Repeat as necessary.) - Berserk Button: Don't dare insult the United States...or Ronald Reagan...in Wally's presence. He wasn't fond of racism either, frequently taking notorious white supremacist Tom Metzger to task.
- Catchphrase: Wally had several, many of which were written on the homemade signs the audience would wave around.
- The audience would chant "WAL-LY! WAL-LY! WAL-LY!" at the start of every episode.
- He was fond of calling his opponents "lunatics", "nitwits", and "bimbos".
- He'd call opposing views "ludicrous" and "sick". The audience would usually chant "SICK! SICK! SICK!" in response to the latter.
- When the audience was getting too rowdy, Wally would go "hold it" or "hold on".
- The aforementioned "999-5000" chant.
- Piss off Wally enough, and he'll shout "you're outta here!"
- Clip Show: Had quite a few. They would have no audience, just the cast and crew, and Wally himself was far more sedate. Occasionally included clips from outside Hot Seat; one 1990 episode included footage of Wally's wedding!
- "Hot Seat Highlights" was always this. It existed in this form from 1993 to 2003, only ending when Wally became too ill to continue doing them.
- Content Warnings: At the END of the show, oddly enough.The opinions expressed by Wally George and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its sponsors.
- The 2020s KDOC reruns added a new one at the start of the show.
The following program is a product of its time. Wally George’s Hot Seat aired in the 1980s & 1990s, and does not reflect the views or opinions of KDOC-TV Los Angeles. - Friendly Enemy: A number of the people that Wally frequently sparred with on-camera were friends of his off-camera. One of them, radio DJ and fellow KDOC employee Richard Blade, would host a retrospective on Wally's life and career in 2013.
- Kayfabe: Years after the show ended, many guests came forward and revealed that most of what went on was an act. While most of the early guests tried to have an actual debate, later guests would be in on the act, deliberately acting as trollish as possible.
- Ms. Fanservice: Had quite a few of them as guests. One notable incident was when the guest was a stripper; Wally derisively told her he would never go to see her act. She responded "Wally, let me tell you something. You might be seeing it sooner than you think!" She proceeded to strip right then and there, only stopping when a security guard picked her up and carried her out!
- Once per Episode:
- Wally starting each episode by praising his audience, often exaggerating the size of it by claiming it numbered in the tens of thousands.
- Wally introducing his cast and crew.
- Wally giving his commentary on current events.
- The ticket plug call-and-response routines. So ubiquitous, he'd do them on the shows without an audience, with his crew filling in.
- Patriotic Fervor: Wally embodied this. He often talked about the greatness of America, and his set always included a picture of the Space Shuttle with the caption "USA IS #1".
- Straight Man: Wally's co-host, who would always discuss current events as calmly as possible, as well as introduce the guest that Wally was about to grill. David Kennedy held the position at first, with Bill Bancroft taking over later on.
- Talk Show with Fists: Somewhat downplayed in that actual fist fights were rare. Food fights happened once or twice, and the set took a beating a few times; Wally's desk was broken at least once.
- Unbuilt Trope: Wally didn’t call himself "The Father of Combat TV" for nothing. The audience chanting his name, the over-the-top guests, the security guards ready to eject unruly guests, the furniture abuse? All done on Wally’s show first, long before Jerry Springer and Geraldo Rivera.
- Unstoppable Rage: Wally, as well as most of his guests.
- Visual Pun: In the later episodes, Hot Seat's intro included a photo of a burning chair.
- YOU’RE OUTTA HERE!!!
