I found the various commenting on the questions he was asked quite interesting because they were coming from someone who does a lot of interviews.
I didn't take the "Great question" as phony exuberance at all because of that, but that could just be me. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I once had a sales guy say "here's what I'm going to do for you" and I walked out on the spot.
I simply can't deal with unctuous people.