Oh snap!  Get the "Dog Pound" ready, cause it's about to go down.  My man Arsenio Hall is officially making a come-back to late-night TV.

 

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The 56-year-old veteran talk show host/actor and currant Celebrity Apprentice will take another shot at late-night with a TV comeback September 2013 on CBS.  I can't wait either! I love that dude.  His career as far as late night, goes back about 20 years.  Back then you didn't make "It" unless you were on The Arsenio Hall Show.

HERE'S A LOOK BACK AT ONE OF THE FIRST SHOW'S WITH THE LATE WHITNEY HOUSTON, OF WHOM HE HAD A HUGE CRUSH ON:

 

 

It really was ahead of it's time.  Not only was he the ONLY black host in late night TV, but when The Arsenio Hall Show took to the air on January 2, 1989, it quickly transformed the face of late night TV.  For the first time, late-night TV had swagger and because of that  appealed to a younger audience than the legendary "Tonight Show".  Late-night TV was cool.  Arsenio would come out and greet his audience/ Dog Pound with his signature fist-pumping "wuff, wuff, wuff" and you knew it was on after that.

Arsenio had the hottest guest list every night, of course including his "Coming To America" "Harlem Nights" homeboy Eddie Murphy, but also people Iron Mike Tyson to Bill Cosby, as well as some of the hottest rappers in the game including Eazy-E, Heavy D even 2-Pac.

 

HERE'S A LOOK BACK ON THE EPISODE WITH PAC:

 

 

Who could forget when 20 years ago presidential candidate Bill Clinton dropped by, slipped on some Wayfarer shades and sat in with the band on saxophone for a cover of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel."  That 1992 appearance in many was put The Arsenio Hall Show on the map and single-handedly gave a major boost to Clinton's appeal to young and minority voters, who incidentally won him the presidency.

So what happened? For starters ratings started to slip by 1994 and after Hall devoted an entire hour to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in February of that year, tension with the suites of the shows network rose and the Emmy Award-winning show was canceled that May.  Hall attempted a comeback in 1997 with a self-titled sitcom and also hosted a revival show of "Star Search" in 2003, but his second crack at showbiz didn't work.  So, he focused on something even more important than TV....being a dad to his son Arsenio Jr.

HERE'S A LOOK BACK AT HIS FINAL SHOW:

 

 

The third times a charm and acknowledging that the Late-night schedule is pretty full, Arsenio said, "In the end I'm a comic, and nothing fits the talk-show mode like a stand-up comic.  I know there are a lot of shows, but I think there's a space for my show."  No doubt attention generated by his "Apprentice" win raised interest in Arsenio and helped land him the new TV deal.

We're ready for you Arsenio!

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