Great new Sundance Channel talk show about the craft of music, without the Lipton-esque creepy fawning and self-congratulation. I'm not an Elton John fan, but I enjoyed his conversation with EC about underrated artists (I especially dug Elton John's anecdote about touring with Billy Stewart of "Sitting in the Park" fame).

Why was one of the girls from Degrassi: The Next Generation in the studio audience? Are there actresses that young who actually listen to EC albums?

I'm so angry these shows were all apparently filmed in NYC in the spring & I didn't know about them until about a month ago. It looks like the SNL studio to me, but I'm not sure about that.

There have been ads for this for weeks in the subway stating Wed @ 9:00 but no starting date. I'm not a huge Elton John fan but I adore Elvis Costello. I'm looking forward to the whole series.

I love how, for the most part, Costello just sits back and lets the guest do the talking. I loved hearing Elton John talk about music that HE loved. And James Burton on guitar!!

I actually wish Elvis would talk more, not less. He's so smart and so funny. I remember him being on the Letterman show ages ago and going off on some riff about Greenland that was hilarious.

I added the Sundance channel to my cable subscription just for this show - it's well worth the $3/month!

It is. Elvis was on "Bob Edwards Weekend" on NPR and mentioned doing them in 8-H.

I wish I got Sundance.

I just watched the Bill Clinton episode, and this show is now one of my favorite shows on television. Elvis is never going to be a hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners interviewer, but that's not what the show's about. He has guests that he's interested in meeting, or with whom he's already friends, but he asks questions that these people may not have answered in public, mostly about music. The Clinton episode, for example, was all about Clinton's interest in music - he told an anecdote about how his family went to New Orleans and he wanted to go to listen to Al Hirt play, and how he had to beg Hirt to be let in because he was underage. Or how Chelsea made him a hip-hop mix because he was a "dummy" (even though he admits it's still not his scene.) Just some cool stories that I had never heard before.

I also liked hearing Elton John kvell about Laura Nyro, and Lou Reed showing the "correct" way to play the intro to "Sweet Jane" were also fun moments.

I look forward to more episodes.

I want to watch this, but I can't figure out which day it's on. (?)

Hearing Clinton talk about NWA blew.my.mind. Cognitive dissonance, line one!

Answering my own question, it's on Sundance on Wednesday at 9 p.m.

This week, James Taylor.

Nice double dose of Elvis for me this week, watching him in this, with Clinton, and then finally seeing him in the genius Colbert Christmas special.

I really enjoyed the Taylor ep. ("That Lonesome Road," as it always has since I first heard it umpty years ago, sent chills up and down.)

It's fascinating to hear songwriters discuss their process. I can't get enough of it. I even liked to hear James describe how George Jones 'rolled that sound around in his mouth' -- it's a specific reference to how one makes music with one's voice, but unless you know what that means, it might not mean much to a listener.

James's admission that he's 'not a listener' is probably true in other aspects of his life, if I'm to believe what I've read around and about.

And it really was a treat to watch Elvis's face watch James play and sing.

This is the first time I've noticed that the stage has an LP record design to it. Has it had that for the other eps?

It was so interesting to hear Taylor interviewed by another musician, one so knowledgable about the artist and so engaged with the music (I loved their duets, even the off-key one). The blend of talk and performance is irresistable. (And, yes, I bet it's true that Taylor can be lost in his own little world and rather tuned out from others).

I liked Costello's ideas, even when they didn't particularly resonate with James Taylor. (For example, I would LOVE to hear him cover some of Bing Crosby's best songs. I agree completely about that relaxed singing quality--and some of the music would be perfect for his own voice and phrasing. Plus...the difference with guitar. Too bad he wasn't interested in doing that.

I only wish that directors didn't feel the need for constant cutting during a song. I can't be the only one who would be happy to just watch the artist PLAYING straight through. If people are interested enough to listen to conversations about music, I'm pretty sure they could sit happily actually watching the artist play the song.

Really looking forward to recording the reruns of all previous shows next week (starting at 5 p.m.) and then the Tony Bennett interview. I'm betting Elvis Costello will show himself to be pretty knowledgable about the Sinatra/Bennett catalogue as well.....

The Bennett ep is already available On Demand. Some more Bing Crosby appreciation (tho I can't stand his stuff myself -- yeah, he pioneered modern pop singing and his phrasing is inventive, but there's a complacency about his singing that I find off-putting).

Bennett is at that stage in life where he doesn't give a fuck about playing interviewing games -- just from the heart and to the point, no b.s., so that was amusing, tho not a lot of substance in either the interview (or, I suspect, Bennett himself).

I'm really starting to enjoy this program. It's becoming clear why Costello was only one of a handful of people that have filled in for David Letterman. Besides being a wonderful performer he appears to be pretty sharp in carrying on an intelligent conversation.

The Taylor program was in enlightening in so much that, having been a fan for many years, I thought he always seemed hideously uncomfortable on talks shows. "Spectacle" is different enough from the standard fare, and Costello's ability to conduct a thoughtful interview makes me think Taylor might actually be a bit of an odd duck. Elvis seemed to get him to open up more than I've seen elsewhere and I guess I was a little surprised and a little disappointed that, at least in conversation, Taylor's river doesn't appear to run all that deep.

Before the JT fan flame-fest starts, let me be clear, I've always really enjoyed his work, I think he's (as John Mayer said) the "blueprint of what a singer-songwriter should be" and was the voice in music of a generation. Props to Cosetello for a well executed effort.

No flames from me, kib, and I've long loved JT. I think it may be a situation wherein extreme self-reflection ('kay, maybe narcissism) is his creative fuel. Wouldn't be the first time that kinda thing happened. What's lucky is that his output manages to hit on universal themes, whether he means to or not.

I can't say I enjoyed the Bennett hour. Any guy who answers a thoughtful question with 'Hey! I'm no egghead!' or similar dumbing-down isn't about to sweep me off my feet. Which isn't to say his view isn't valid; it's only to say that it isn't my cup of tea.

Great point attica, whatever works huh?

BTW - The Bennett program is still sitting on the TiVo, but when I read "Hey! I'm no egghead" the first thing that came to mind was not Tony Bennett, but Alec Baldwin doing Tony Bennett...

So part of me really enjoyed the The Police show because I like when there isn't bickering and everyone's role was acknowleged but another slightly bigger part of me was like, "Really you dudes are in your late 50s you can't freaking suck it up and not behave like jealous children who have a timer on Elvis's questions. And also don't get me wrong, I adore Elvis, I loved the moment where he did an alternative Allison and Sting just joined in and he sung with the others but it's the FREAKING LAST TELEVISED show, seriously you guys can't just play together or at least not sit with a table between you on your sad one sentence answer round because they were worried there would be a fight! Lame.

That said does anyone know if they are releasing the music on itunes or as a CD because there have been some really nice performances.

What?! My DVR failed me last night. Thanks so much for posting, otherwise I wouldn't have checked the schedule - it's repeating at midnight today/tomorrow.

I don't know who or what caused all the problems in the band, but after watching yesterdays show I think having to spend more than 5 minutes with Steward Copeland would drive me insane.

OT-but I saw The Police in the 80s and at the end of their set, Stewart Copeland stood up from the drums, threw his sticks on the stage as hard as he could, and stormed off stage. So, yeah...I bet he could drive you nuts.

Suck it up, boys. In 2008 you made $150 million on the second part of your reunion tour, and $132 million in 2007. You'll never make that much again for the same songs, played in the same order, the same tempos, night after night.

Sundance is unavailable on my cable system. I hope these shows come out on dvd.

Yeah, I was put off by Stewart's numerous references to "MY band" even if it is true. Put on your big boy pants and act like an adult, ferchrissakes. That said, Sting does come across as a pretentious prig, and I'm saying that as a fan. I can see how that could be infuriating in a bandmate.

Anyhoo, it is Elvis' show and as usual, he rocks. I did love the rendition of "Allison" because they both seemed just tickled by it there at the end, with their giggles. "Sunshine of Your Love" was cool but I wanted to hear Elvis sing it. I have a feeling he would have rocked it more than Sting did. His guitar solo at the end was a hoot...how often do you see Elvis play lead?

</shameless Elvis fan gushing>

Yeah much like when I think of Metillica I think pour Kirk!, with The Police I feel bad for Andy.

Stewart has 7 kids? I didn't know that. I think Sting has 6 or 7 too. How many does Andy have? Sting claims he doesn't sing with a Jamaican accent (I think that was one of Elvis' digs at him back in the day) and then does Walking on the Moon, where the accent is most apparent.

Maybe he decided it wasn't worth trying to compete with two raging egos. I'm surprised the group could agree on anything with Sting and Copeland constantly trying to prove whose is bigger. Yikes.

I felt bad for Andy when he was reduced to being the band leader for Dennis Miller's ill-fated late night talk show. As long as they split the profits from their tour three ways, I don't feel bad for any of them now.

Did you see Sting on the Golden Globes? I thought the natural colored beard and no mustache look was bad, but the dyed brown full Grizzly Adams is worse. WTF?

I did and agree with you entirely. I also noticed he was sporting the same (or same enough) shiny black shirt opened at the neck that he wore with Elvis. Perhaps that's his Sunday-go-to-meeting Best?

Responding to a very early post . . some of the episodes were shot in New York's Apollo theater.

I've enjoyed this series immensely. Elvis is intelligent and low-key with just enough wry humor to keep it all light and fun. My only quibble with the show is that audience reaction is 'sweetened' with a very heavy hand in post production.

Just got through another batch of programs on the Tivo, I'm finding that even the guests that I didn't think I would enjoy watching have made for a good program.

I hope during production, someone was running a high-quality audio capture because a 'Spectacle' compilation would make a great CD !!! Is there any kind of music Costello can't perform well? ("If I Only Had A Brain" through the Cash/Kristofferson/et al) Remarkable.

Orphie - brilliant comment RE: 'sweetend' audience. I'm sure it's all done for program time, but it almost reminds me of the pre-electronic razor blade video editing done back in the day on those 'Celebrity Roast' programs... just hideous.

Well he didn't try to sing opera with Renee Fleming last night. I was impressed with the breadth of his knowledge of opera and classical music and performance technique. She did a great job of showing that it actually is possible for a classical singer to do jazz and country/folk and not sound totally weird. I did think it odd he brought on Rufus Wainwright for a third of the show when he was on himself a week or so ago.

This show is new to me. I just caught the Elton John episode on Bravo here in Canada. Next week, The Police! I noticed the posting died out; is the show still on the Sundance channel, or has it been canceled?

The entire season has already aired on Sundance, no word on a second season yet.

Thanks for the info!

I watched this show a few weeks ago (the one with The Police) and I thought it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I mean most talk shows have a host asking a guest pretty standard questions and the guest replying with standard answers and throwing in a few anecdotes. This was the complete opposite of that, it was much more like watching as two people had a conversation with each other about their lives and their careers, and we the viewers got to learn things about both of them through that.

Elvis Costello is really one of the most accomplished artists of our times. Kept missing this show for whatever reason....catching "The Police" episode now...what a fabulous show. Costello is a fantastic interviewer/conversationalist. Look forward to watching the other shows.

And yes...it's a wonder the Police ever did those reunion tours...what raging egos!!!

I don't know, you throw $200 million in front of some folks, and they can get along for a few hours a day.

Is this going to come out on dvd? I don't want to give TWC another dime since it's considered "Premium" on my system.

Elvis Costello was recently (Sept. 15th) in Toronto taping the premiere of season 2 of Spectacle.

He was interviewing U2, who were in town for two sold out concerts.

Season 1 is available on iTunes. DVD/Blu-Ray will be released on Nov. 10th.

I was at a taping last night--took the overnight train back to D.C., so I'm nodding off at work now. But it was TOTALLY worth it.

The guests were Richard Thompson, Nick Lowe, Allen Toussaint, and Levon Helm. Larry Campbell, who's been touring with Helm, was onstage a lot, and Ray Lamontagne dropped by for guest vocals on one song.

Elvis' enthusiasm was engaging, and he was very gracious with the audience.

Other guests whose shows have taped this week at the Apollo include Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Sheryl Crow, and Ray Lamontagne...I can't remember them all.

Does anyone know when Season 2 is going to air?

How did you hear about the taping/get a ticket? I've been checking Sundance's site, and haven't seen anything.

I heard about it through Richard Thompson's website.

I don't know how many more shows (if any) they're taping for this season. I believe there were tickets distributed through a promotion company named 1iota.

EC was recently at the Apollo Theater interviewing Bruce Springsteen.

Here's an in-depth account from someone who was there.