TheBuzz Erika Engle

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NightTime show-biz show happy to have bigger digs

Honolulu's first show-biz-geared night-time TV talk show has grown to the point where it is about to move from its incubator to a larger nest; from its crib to a big-kid-bed; from mom and dad's house to its own apartment; from, well, you get the idea.

That was the reason behind the production's move to the Tropics Showroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa next month, after taping wraps at the Honolulu Design Center this month.

The show, hosted by comedian Andy Bumatai, airs week-nights on KFVE-TV at 9:30 p.m. and at midnight on the CW on Oceanic digital Channel 93.

The move will mean increased visibility for Hilton Hawaiian Village, more free entertainment for hotel guests and kamaaina, a bigger studio audience for the show and increased money being made by somebodies along the way.

All involved in the show have been on a learning curve and as the "bugs" have gotten ironed out, "the viewership started responding," said executive producer Jim Bryan.

"The sponsors are happy, the stations are happy," he said.

"The Design Center has been terrific," though staging of the show is somewhat constricted, "and I'm sure we've caused some disruption," of store operations, but the show has grown and crowds have been coming down for tapings.

There are only 20 to 25 audience seats available in the furniture store, while Bryan estimates the Tropics seating could accommodate as many as 300 people.

The Design Center is "going to help us build the new set and will continue on as an advertising partner with us," he said.

Seating will be arranged in rows, according to Dara Young, the hotel's public relations manager. Beyond that, many details are still being worked out.

Bryan said, "It's going to be like the Ed Sullivan Theater," where the Late Show with David Letterman is taped, in that "NightTime" will have "total use of that room."

Bryan plans twice-weekly Tropics tapings, "but I think we'll end up going to that once-a-night basis a lot faster than I thought we would."

Initially, that was not to happen until the middle of next year, "but we'll probably re-evaluate that shortly after the first of the year," said Bryan.

Taking it nightly also has Bryan and Bumatai thinking that "national syndication (could happen) a lot sooner than we thought, too."

The last long-running show in the Hilton's Tropics Showroom was Charo's "Tropical Heat," which lasted several years back in the late 1990s.

Since then, the Tropics has largely been a venue for special events.