Tom Green's House Tonight

Syndicated talk show

Tom Green's House Tonight (formerly known as Tom Green Live!) is a talk show hosted by Tom Green. In addition to its primary Internet broadcast on TomGreen. com, the show has been syndicated on television stations throughout North America. Before moving to a regular television studio, the show was set inside Green's living room in the Hollywood Hills, where a fully functional low budget studio had been constructed. Beginning February 4, 2013, Green replaced Tom Green's House Tonight with Tom Green Radio, a weekly audio podcast recorded in a Hollywood studio. As of October 3, 2013, Tom Green Live returned to television with a weekly broadcast on AXS TV.

Tom Green conceived the idea for the show in 2005, deciding that if it were technically feasible and economically viable, he’d be happiest doing his own nightly talk show from his living room. On June 5, 2006, ManiaTV! announced they had signed Green to host a live talk show from his own home and would give him complete creative control. Green provided his desk, as used on The New Tom Green Show, and ManiaTV! provided the additional equipment. Early shows often included technical issues with the phone system, computers, streaming and audio.

While it is not the first Internet show, Tom Green's House Tonight may be the first Internet call in talk show, and Green frequently cites this as an innovation. With little reliance on advertisement funding, his show is similar to Public access television. and jokingly says he is broadcasting to "The National Internet", despite the show having a worldwide audience, and joked that his show is "the highest rated, longest running, and only talk show on the Internet." Fellow comedian Joe Rogan named the show as an influence on his own podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Green has likewise been cited by numerous podcasters and other online content creators as a pioneer in the medium. The show is not bound by FCC regulations, and therefore has very few content restrictions, such as a ban on swearing, nudity or drinking. The relaxed and unrestricted nature of the show, along with the fact they are in Green's own home, often leads to a very natural and open style of interview rarely found on other talk shows. Many notable guests have appeared on the show, including stars such as Pamela Anderson, Kat Von D, actors Val Kilmer, Brooke Shields, Crispin Glover and Thora Birch, hip hop artists Flavor Flav and Xzibit, talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Carson Daly, musicians Henry Rollins and Dave Navarro, pro wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, skateboarder Tony Hawk, as well as comedians Tim & Eric, Neil Hamburger, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Dice Clay. Despite Green's serious talk show demeanor, the show receives occasional prank calls, and Green often entices the callers during the resultant interactions. Green has decided not to use a call screener and has said: "There are nights when we’ve gotten like six prank phone calls in a row, but that becomes kind of funny, too. Whatever happens, happens". Most shows can be viewed in the Videos section of TomGreen. com, and had also been made available for download via iTunes.

Tom Green refers to his website as "The Channel". In 2008, The Channel embarked on its first road trip across the west coast of America. Green and his team travelled in an RV that had been equipped to allow cameras to be set up in remote locations whilst broadcasting a live video stream using wireless technology. The Channel broadcasts a video stream to the internet 24/7. Between live shows the feed either switches to a security camera within Green's living room, a selection of clips from previous episodes, or a test card consisting of the Tom Green's House Tonight title screen.

Samsung was the show's first sponsor, advertising the Samsung Upstage phone. Budweiser became the next sponsor. Bottles of the beer could also be seen in Green's fridge. ManiaTV! was Green's original partner and funded the installion of his living room studio. BitGravity CEO Perry Wu has been interviewed on the show. NewTek provide much of the video switching equipment.

On March 11, 2009, a new membership service was launched to provide funding for The Channel. Subscribers to the service receive access to the full video archive. Green's intention is for viewer funding to allow him total creative freedom over The Channel by removing the need for financial support from TV networks and corporate sponsors. To coincide with the television debut Tom Green Live! was renamed Tom Green's House Tonight, and bleachers were built in Green's living room to seat a small audience consisting of friends of his guests. Beginning January 7, 2008, the show appeared in a pared down version on conventional TV on The Comedy Network.

Tom Green Live was also the name of Green's standup special that was released on Showtime in August 2012 and on Netflix. This was recorded at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts in September 2011.

On October 3, 2013, Tom Green Live debuted on AXS TV. In addition to large amounts of alcohol, Green and his guest drank mustard and a bottle of salad dressing. It was the first show to be broadcast from outside of Green's home. The episode has reached 2.7 million views (as of June 2009). Green had spent his early childhood living on a Canadian Armed Forces base where his father served as a captain. On July 30, 2009, the longest live broadcast was shown during Green's 38th birthday party and lasted for over six hours. On May 20, 2010, the episode was guest hosted by comedian Norm Macdonald, allowing Tom Green to instead be interviewed as a guest on his own show for the first time. On October 3, 2013, Tom Green Live made its television debut on AXS TV, featuring comedian Richard Belzer as the guest.

On November 26, 2007, the show won the TV Guide award for “Best Web Talk Show”. On May 6, 2008, the show was announced as the winner of a Webby Award for "Best Variety Show" in the Online Film and Video category. On September 23, 2009, the show was listed among the best shows on the internet by the Los Angeles Times publication, Brand X.