Claudia's obvious wig was off putting from the start. Hair doesn't hang like that and the sheen is wrong - it looks fake. Add in the fringe which got in her way on a couple of occasions which she noticeably didn't touch but just wiggled her head (probably because if she touches she may nudge the wig out of place). I love her style and normally it's not an issue but in this setting it just almost goes off like a klaxon because there's nothing else to focus on.
Claudia's strength is in managing chaos. The problem with a chat show with these type of guests is everyone is out to be polite for the most part. Cos PR and staying on brand. When she did youth chat shows they were chaos because of the characters on them and the levels of drugs and alcohol. These guests weren't shit faced before going on. Instead they were rather vacuous.
That's another issue Claudia's strength is in making real people come forward and shine. This lot are just dull and vacuous and really rather fake. This is probably why Tom Allen looked good. Not just because he's a comedian but because he brought that ordinariness with him.
"Hey I've got a book to sell, but my publisher has told me not to say anything about x, y or z not do anything controversial or not within my pr brand" generally doesn't make for good TV. This is the issue.
So Claudia needs guests with big personalities who are likely to clash or be slightly awkward together. The problem with Jennifer and Vanessa is they blended into each other and were like brown paint on brown wallpaper against the rather brown set. Probably mates of Claudia but just dullsville.
And yes the decor probably is affecting the interviews. It's dull and sober as a backdrop rather than more fun.
I agree she's gone for more conventional chat show - the decor is a nod to 70s and 80s chat shows. I don't know how she is going to find her niche against Graham and Jonathan for this reason. She needs guests liable to fall off the back of that sofa or start a fight with each other. Or have someone ordinary with an amazing back story no one has heard.
I almost want her to have someone ordinary but interesting on the sofa with the guests to completely throw everything off. Someone who isn't PR briefed and isn't trying to flog shit. Bring on a busker and make Jeff sing along. (This is probably what the dog was about but it was half arsed and not stupid enough). The audience was contrived and really boring - they all dressed the same and were really polite and respectful. Again doesn't work.
Claudia made a name for herself in live TV and that's worth remembering. She was never the straightman - that was Tess. She was always moving around, not stock still. The audience expects something more - something lively and a bit kooky.
With that in mind and those guests I think in a way she was doomed to fail on that first episode because it didn't hit those notes and expectations. Instead you kept looking at the wig because that's where the greatest amount of action ended up happening.