A little night schmoozing

A little night schmoozing

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Lepas Malam, hosted by Farhan
Trans TV
Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
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Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

From the Jakarta-at-night backdrop to the strategically placed
branded mug on the host's desk, the similarities between Lepas
Malam (End of the Night) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are
glaringly obvious.

It is, in fact, an almost total lifting of the format of the
U.S. show, with a few select modifications. There is the opening
monolog, here pared down to a joke or two for local host Farhan;
his casual jacket and pants paralleling the neat and tidy attire
of Mr. Leno; and even the sometimes forced comic banter between
him and his drummer, the latter the Indonesian equivalent of
Leno's resident stooge, Kevin the guitarist.

It also sticks to the formula of a couple of celebrity guests
paired with a musical performer. Watching it all, one almost
expects Farhan to come out with a chin prosthetic.

The inevitable assumption is that the show, trapped by its
formulaic format, will be a wooden and labored nonstarter,
another fumbling attempt to transport a foreign vehicle to these
shores.

Also stacked against it is the somewhat checkered history of
the Indonesian talk show. It's still a relatively new style of
programming, the pioneer being Ebet Kadarusman's show -- also
owing much to The Tonight Show -- on RCTI in the early 1990s.

With the rise of TV production houses in recent years, a few
more have bravely tried to show their gift of the gab in the
genre, from the late Indra Safera's noteworthy but sometimes
overly sentimental show, Meutia Kasim's stilted, almost
judgmental one-on-one's (no surprise, then, that she is now
trying her darndest to be the high priestess of mean on
Indonesian Idol) to the coquettish probing by '80s TVRI
newsreader Anita Rachman in a thankfully shortlived outing.

In late 2000, entertainer Hughes provided a breath of fresh
air on Angin Malam (Night Breeze), using her smarts and gift for
quick repartee to make the show a success. Her departure a couple
of years later brought into sharp focus the importance of a good
host in keeping the audience satisfied; while her replacement
Peggy Melati Sukma gradually found her hosting feet, the next one
in line, former Miss Indonesia Angelique Sondakh, seemed
desperately out of her depth.

It's a mighty pleasant surprise that Farhan is a natural for
the TV show format, creating a lively and interesting late-night
schmooze. In a sense, however, it is only to be expected, because
his training ground was radio deejaying, before he moved onto a
highly successful spell as the host of the TV variety show Pesta
on Indosiar.

On both of those, he was paired with Indy Barends in what
became a truly complementary male-female partnership, each of
them feeding off each other with smart, sassy, sometimes risque
comebacks.

Farhan obviously relishes the opportunity to shine on his own
this time round. He knows that the art of the interviewer in
subjugating his ego to listen to what someone else has to say. He
eschews both kid gloves or claws; attentive in his responses, he
can toss out an aside to defuse the situation when his subject
seems uncomfortable. He does not gush or fawn, but neither does
he needle, which was sometimes the downfall of Hughes.

His clout in the entertainment industry has allowed him to get
A-list guests, from actresses Sukma Ayu, Sophia Latjuba, Ayu
Azhari and Maudy Kusnaedi, the singer Nicky Astria and political
movers and shakers such as Minister of Communications Agum
Gumelar and A.M. Hendropriyono.

Coaxing the notoriously media-shy Ayu on his show, and then
engaging her in a relaxed discussion of living in the media glare
and her new dangdut record decrying social injustice, was a minor
coup. He dealt gently with an understandably uneasy Sukma (in a
show broadcast shortly before she fell sick), avoiding any
judgmental badgering about the recent sex photo scandal.

Everybody gets into the spirit of fun; the sight of a leather
jacket-clad Hendropriyono, now chief of the country's
intelligence service, singing a few lines of I'm Every Woman as
the credits rolled at the end of Wednesday's show was priceless.

Lepas Malam is formulaic, without a doubt, but it may prove
the formula for success.