Critique, Review, And Advice: Just KeKe

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Finally got around to watching Just KeKe. For some reason I kept missing it, and no one was putting the recording online...well nowhere I could find it. 

I think it's such a cool idea to have someone a part of our generation, actually being the one talking about OUR GENERATION. KeKe Palmer has a strong social media following, and appears as someone you could kick back with. She's a 20 year old girl who's comes off as just a normal person.

By incorporating her own personal videos and pictures into the shows and bringing her friends along, she really brings something different into the talk show game. It’s a more personal experience.

The personal aspect helps her come off as say a Youtuber, but just on television instead. I think that’s an extremely smart angle for the producers and Palmer to take in the making of Just KeKe.

I was really excited to finally get around to watching the show, and I think the show has INCREDIBLE potential to be really good. The kind of potential that elevates BET to new audiences and demographics. It really has massive potential if it's produced and executed the right way. 

I know the show is just starting out and Palmer needs to get accustomed to the talk show format, it is very different than  just acting, however a lot of things on the production side are off. Palmer needs time to find her voice and forge her own auteur in this arena, however how the show is set up right now at a whole won’t allow Just KeKe to ever reach the potential it is possible of. 

There are some very well produced contents on Just KeKe some of my favorites being the initial way each episode is formatted. It begins with a theme, todays being about whether or not side chicks are winners. I think having a theme very much follow how Tyra Banks own talk show was formatted, and it worked excellently for her. 

While I like the idea of starting with a theme that’s central to a younger audience Palmer doesn’t delve in deeply enough to talk about it. The conversation about side chicks is rushed, and is almost TOO planned. It is easily apparent that these audience members were prechosen to talk on the matter, yet the producers want to make it seem as if it was just a natural chance they were picked. I think making it preplanned is smart, and there should be maybe experts or people with moving stories that should intervene.

Which brings me to the awkward way people are interacted with on Just KeKe. I understand that she is trying to forge her own path in this talk show scene, but I don’t think how the set is crafted works. It is kind of a framing disaster and looks cluttered visually. The audience actually situated on set with Palmer makes them come off a bit like props, they just clap and dance. 

I actually think it would be more affective and accessible if the audience were centered in a half circle/C around the initial set Palmer stays on. They can be on different levels and still be in the lounge chairs, so the same vibe is present, but the clutters gone. It allows them to still be in the frame with Palmer in the center, but unclutters the overall floor space. 

Palmer is just starting out in this arena and I think she can be amazing at this, we just need to give it a month or two so the production team and she can get acquainted with this new endeavor. Palmer persona is very much like Tyra Banks in a sense. Meaning that I think she can stand alone and talk about issues plaguing the "millennials" without having to use a celebrity talent section to the format. Serious issues kept light hearted by a good host.