Entertainment TV Why Harry Connick Jr. Finally Changed His Mind About Hosting a TV Show "I didn't feel like I had lived long enough to have any particular point of view," Connick admits on the latest episode of The Jess Cagle Interview By Jordan Runtagh Jordan Runtagh Twitter Jordan Runtagh is an Executive Podcast Producer at iHeartRadio, where he hosts a slate of pop culture shows including Too Much Information, Inside the Studio, Off the Record and Rivals: Music's Greatest Feuds. Previously, he served as a Music Editor at PEOPLE and VH1.com. He's written about art and entertainment for more than a decade, regularly contributing to outlets like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and appearing as a guest on radio and television. Over the course of his career, he's profiled the surviving Beatles, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Roger Waters, David Byrne, Pete Townshend, Debbie Harry, Quincy Jones, Brian May, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Taylor and many more. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he lives in Brooklyn, where he can be found DJing '60s soul records. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 20, 2016 08:35 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Harry Connick Jr. and television go together like peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly, or – yes – a wink and a smile. But amazingly, the multi-talented star had wasn’t sure he wanted to fill a slot on the small screen. While speaking with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle for The Jess Cagle Interview, Connick admitted that he’d previously “steered away” from TV hosting gigs. “I didn’t feel like I had lived long enough to have any particular point of view or perspective,” he says from the set of his new show daytime program Harry. “I was 25, 30 years old and I didn’t feel like I had anything to offer. So the conversation has been out there for a while.” • View The Jess Cagle Interview now at People/Entertainment Weekly Network. It’s free, and it’s available on streaming devices, including Apple TV, Roku, etc. Just download the PEN app on your Smart TV, mobile and Web devices, or you can check it out at people.com/PEN. What changed? For a start, he got a little older and wiser (Connick turned 49 last Sunday). And he also crossed paths with Justin and Eric Stangel – former executive producers for The Late Show with David Letterman. Together, they hatched a scheme to bring the late night party to daytime. “We started talking about what it would be like to have a show that featured me, [and] was built around my skill set and the things I like to do … I love having conversations with people; celebrities and every day folks. I love playing music, I love spontaneity. How are we gonna do that?” For Connick, spontaneity was the most crucial ingredient. “I don’t want to have big production meetings about what I’m doing on the show that day. I want to walk out on set and not have any idea what I’m doing until the camera’s rolling. I like that feeling of being out of control.” The final result is emphatically not a “talk show,” but show tailor made to showcase Connick’s versatility and humor. Even the elaborate set was made to fulfill his very specific vision. “I wanted to have a place that felt like a real destination – a place where people could turn on their TVs and feel like they were getting something that was not like their house. They could fantasize about being in some really cool club in New York City. That’s what I was trying to do.” For more on Harry, check your local listings or visit HarryTV.com for details.