{"id":179851,"date":"2023-02-09T20:25:05","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T01:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/learn-english-conversation\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T07:03:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T11:03:39","slug":"learn-english-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/learn-english-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Famous American and British Talk Shows to Learn English"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to learn English through pop culture and humor, there’s a special type of TV show you can’t miss: English talk shows<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A talk show<\/em> is a show with a host<\/em> (the person hosting or running the show) who has different celebrities as guests on each episode and interviews them. They talk about upcoming<\/em> (soon to come) projects, play games and have short comedy segments.<\/p>\n

They can be pretty addicting and funny, so here are our top recommendations for English talk shows in 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Popular American Talk Shows<\/h2>\n

1. “Late Night”<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"late<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “Late Night”
\n<\/a>T<\/strong>V Network:<\/strong> NBC<\/p>\n

This show has been on air since 1982, and has had four hosts. The current host is Seth Meyers, who used to write for Saturday Night Live, a comedy show. There are thousands of episodes and guests have mainly been musicians and actors, but also politicians. There is also a\u00a0house band<\/em>, which plays the theme song and all the songs before the music guests perform.<\/p>\n

There are so many great jokes on the show, and sometimes Seth Meyers lists his favorite jokes of the week<\/a>!<\/p>\n

2. “The Tonight Show”<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"tonight<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “The Tonight Show”
\n<\/a>TV Network:<\/strong> NBC<\/p>\n

“The Tonight Show” is currently hosted by Jimmy Fallon, who used to be the host of “Late Night.” The show has been on air since 1954 and has had six official hosts. The house band right now is The Roots, who travel with Jimmy Fallon.<\/p>\n

This show is famous for its games, and clips of them are often shared on social media. One of my favorite parts is when he reads thank you notes<\/a>, or when he has a\u00a0lip sync battle with the guests, like Emma Stone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. “Jimmy Kimmel Live”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"jimmy<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:\u00a0<\/strong>“Jimmy Kimmel Live”<\/a>
\n<\/a>TV Network:<\/strong>\u00a0ABC<\/p>\n

The Jimmy Kimmel show\u00a0has celebrities and politicians as well, but they also have a lot of segments<\/em> (parts of the show) with people on the street and people who submit their own videos. This show is more family-friendly and good to watch with children around.<\/p>\n

You can see a lot of ordinary people on this show from around the world, and see how they ask and answer questions. A lot of people love to watch his “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets<\/a>” segments, and the first clip I watched from his show was the Halloween prank on viewers’ kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. “Conan”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"conan<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “Conan”
\n<\/a>TV Network:<\/strong> TBS<\/p>\n

Running from 1993 to 2021, this show was hosted by Conan O’Brien, who has been a host for many others including “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show.” He is also a musician, actor and comedian. Because he has been friends with a lot of famous people, their conversations are more like friends than an interview.<\/p>\n

You’ll see ways to be funny during a conversation without being offensive, and also how to talk to old friends you haven’t seen in a while. Sometimes he goes out to different places for filming, like the time he went to a Korean spa with Steven Yeun<\/a>\u00a0from “The Walking Dead.”<\/p>\n

5. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"ellen<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
\n<\/a>TV Network: <\/strong>NBC
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This show was made more for families and parents who stay at home during the day, and it has more than 3,000 episodes from 2003 all the way to its finale in 2022. Ellen interacted with the audience at her live show, had giveaways, played games and also interviewed celebrities.<\/p>\n

You can learn a lot about comedy and how to talk to people you don’t know\u2014because she talked to members of the audience a lot. Ellen has even made games that people play at home, like The Marshmallow Game<\/a>, which is hilarious to watch! Most of the topics are fun and relate to pop culture from\u00a0social media, so pay attention to how she mentions these things.<\/p>\n

If you love learning with talk shows and comedians, then you’ll also love the FluentU English YouTube channel<\/a>. The video below breaks down some great vocabulary and common English phrases that Ellen uses during her stand-up<\/em> performance. If you want to learn heaps of great vocabulary like <\/span>stand-up<\/span><\/em>, then be sure to check out the video below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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6. “Oprah”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"oprah<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:\u00a0<\/strong>“Oprah”<\/a><\/p>\n

Oprah Winfrey is probably the most famous talk show host that there is. Although there are no longer new episodes, her show aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011, so there are more than enough episodes to watch. Oprah now has her own channel, magazine, shows, movies and several organizations. Because she does a lot of charity work, you can learn related phrases\u00a0and ways to talk about current tough issues in the world.<\/p>\n

On her talk show, Oprah\u00a0also recommended\u00a0books and things to do, so\u00a0you can do\u00a0those suggested activities to meet new people and be in a community that talks about the same topics. She is especially famous for giving away cars to people<\/a> in her audience.<\/p>\n

Popular British Talk Shows<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

7. “The Graham Norton Show”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “The Graham Norton Show”<\/a>
\nTV Network:<\/strong> BBC and BBC America<\/p>\n

This is a famous British talk show hosted by Graham Norton, and it has been around since 2007. The guests usually come on together, so you can see how they talk and interact with each other and not just with the host.<\/p>\n

People on here are from all over the world, though\u00a0mainly from the UK, so you can hear their different accents. If you like Chris Pratt you will love the time he was on the show<\/a>!
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8. “Chatty Man”<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"chatty<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel:<\/strong> “Chatty Man”<\/a>
\nTV Network:<\/strong> Channel 4 (in the UK)<\/p>\n

This was a show hosted by Alan Carr, who interviewed celebrities and talks about news\u2014both about global issues and pop culture. He talks faster, so watching this show can help you keep up with fast talkers that you know.<\/p>\n

This show aired from 2009 to 2016, and it won awards for being the best entertainment program. If you like “Game of Thrones,” check out the time Maisie Williams was on the show and talked about behind-the-scenes fun from “Game of Thrones.”<\/a>
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9. “Loose Women”<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"loose<\/p>\n

YouTube Channel: <\/strong>“Loose Women”<\/a>
\nTV Network:<\/strong>\u00a0ITV (in the UK)<\/p>\n

This show has been around since 1999 and has four women who talk with each other and interview guests. This show has the hosts chatting with each other about current events and gossip. You can watch this to see how to\u00a0stay on topic and easily\u00a0move things along when having conversations in a group.<\/p>\n

Being able\u00a0to talk with several people at once in English is a useful skill for parties or events, so you can pay attention to\u00a0how they include everyone when talking.\u00a0Taylor Swift was even on the show<\/a> once when she was first starting out!<\/p>\n

Why Use Talk Shows to Learn English Conversation<\/h2>\n

A lot of people who watch TV for the purpose of learning English will watch sitcoms<\/em> (situation comedies)<\/a>,\u00a0where the focus is the characters’ everyday lives. These shows are fun, but they also are very scripted and can have really unusual situations.<\/p>\n

Here are several reasons why talk shows are awesome for learning English conversation:<\/p>\n