AllMovie

Hosted by Ted Koppel, the nightly, half-hour ABC interview series UpClose was broadcast in tandem with Koppel's long-running Nightline. Designed as an interim show to air between the cancellation of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect and Jimmy Kimmel's new comedy-variety series (scheduled to premiere in January of 2003), the program was dedicated to "exploring humanity, one person at a time," with the host handling the one-on-one interviews and a team of correspondents providing special features. As a gimmick to stir up audience interest, Ted Koppel's first guest was CBS late-night host David Letterman, who had earlier been courted by ABC as a potential Koppel replacement. UpClose debuted on July 8, 2002.