Influenced is a talk show hosted by Achieng Agutu, Cyrus Veyssi, Eyal Booker, Taryn Delanie Smith, and Tefi Pessoa, all of whom have large social media followings. The show is structured like a daytime talk show, with segments where the hosts conduct group discussions on specific topics, then interview guests and also showcase products or things that will help people (let’s face it, mostly Gen Z) in their online adventures.
INFLUENCED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: “Hey, are you browsing for something to watch? I have an idea… Why don’t you watch this show?” he says. Influenced co-host Teffi Pessoa.
The essence: Each episode of Influenced The show is loosely based on a theme, and in the first episode, the hosts talk about work, specifically the gig economy that is pretty much the norm for Zoomers. The hosts talk about tough work situations they’ve been in; Cyrus hated it when she was an assistant and had to accept being told she was wrong when she knew she was right. “That’s hard for me,” she says.
The hosts interview Allegra Edwards of Increasewho talks about some of the jobs she had when she was a struggling actress. Later, Christina Milian is also interviewed and talks about motherhood, her acting and singing career, and the beignet business she started with a partner.
In other segments, producers show hosts what an AI-generated LinkedIn profile photo of each of them would look like, and Cyrus gives advice on the best ways to list items in your closet that you might want to sell for quick cash.
What shows will it remind you of? Carry The view and rejuvenate the hosts, and you have it Influenced.
Our opinion: There is a temptation to say that InfluencedProduced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, it’s a half-hour TikTok meme, but when you get down to it, it’s just like we described above: a daytime talk show format geared toward people who are used to getting their information from social media. There’s an irony here; the idea behind the show is that it moves fast enough to appeal to those scrolling through it, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon posted snippets of these episodes on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram to promote the show.
The hosts are enthusiastic, to say the least, but they only drop clichés and jargon sometimes; there are times, especially during interviews, when they actually act like the real people they are and ask pertinent questions. Yes, there’s a lot of fandom when interviewees walk on set, but that’s not too different from what, say, Hoda and Jenna do, right?
We are not really sure if Influenced It will find an audience, given that even its 30-minute episodes can be too much for the attention span of social media users. The use of slang can be irritating at times, but it’s an interesting attempt to bring a tried-and-true television format into the 2020s and try to make it appealing to younger audiences.
Sex and skin: There are some sexy conversations here and there, but most of what’s on the show is pretty PG-13.
Parting shot: The program ends with an interview with Millán, including the presenters enthusiastically eating the fritters from his business.
Sleeping Star: Cyrus Veyssi is certainly positioning himself to be the show’s breakout star, being the most outgoing of the show’s five outgoing hosts.
Pilot’s most typical phrase: In the segment about selling items online, Cyrus suggests using a model, mentioning Eyal and Taryn as examples. We’ve never, ever seen items on Poshmark, Mercari, eBay, etc. modeled after people, for example, and most of us don’t have friends as attractive as Eyal and Taryn.
Our calling: PASS IT ON, but only because Influenced It’s sort of a hybrid between an old-school daytime talk show and a social media-driven show like After midnightIt’s irritating at times and we’re not quite sure if the show will reach its intended audience, Generation Z, but we appreciate the attempt.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV addict. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.
