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Talk Shows (Late Night) - BROADWAY OPEN HOUSE was the first televised late night talk show
broadcast from 11:00-12:00 A.M. Monday through Fridays on NBC in 1950-51 and
hosted by Jerry Lester, Morey Amsterdam, and Jack E. Leonard. The program
featured the dumb blond bombshell Dagmar (aka "Virginia Ruth Egnor" &
"Jennie Lewis").
This format soon gave way to the classic late night program
THE TONIGHT SHOW which since September 27, 1954 has been the most popular
late night program on television playing host to the zany Steve Allen
(1954-57), Ernie Kovacs (1956-57), Jack Lescoulie & Al Collins (1957), Jack
Paar (1957-62), Johnny Carson (1962-92) and his replacement, Jay Leno
(1992-?).
Following the TONIGHT SHOW ran another successful late night NBC
series entitled THE TOMORROW SHOW/NBC/1973-82 which starred Tom Snyder, "The
Master of the Adversary Interview" whose topics included suicide,
witchcraft, prostitution and an unprecedented behind the prison bars
interview with Charles Manson.
Called arrogant, belligerent, intimidating
and opinionated Tom Snyder was still an enjoyable host to watch. Comedian
Dan Aykroyd often parodied his flamboyant style on NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
even to the point of playing a dejected Tom Snyder sitting in a bar after he
had found out his show was canceled from the NBC line-up.
Heir to Tom
Snyder's late night time slot was LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID
LETTERMAN/NBC/1982-93 starring David Letterman, a wise-cracking, irreverent
personality popular with the college crowd for his crazy late night stunts
including, "Stupid Pet Tricks" & "Stupid People Tricks." Once a viewer asked
to see a human head squashed in a hydraulic press. Letterman substituted the
head with a five pound canned ham.
In October of 1986, the syndicated talk
show THE LATE SHOW STARRING JOAN RIVERS/FOX/1986-87 became the first program
launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, (later hosted by Arsenio Hall, and
Ross Shafer), a consortium of 98 nationwide affiliate independent stations
that operated as a network. The show ran live via satellite five nights a
week from 11-12 midnight. The program was in direct competition with the
perennial favorite THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON.
A young black
star of the syndicated THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW/SYN/1989-94 aired opposite
either Johnny Carson or David Letterman (depending on the city), and
challenged NBC's dominant hold on the late night talk show territory.
There
have been a host (no pun intended) of late night competitors over the years
including THE JOEY BISHOP SHOW/ABC/1967-69, THE MERV GRIFFIN
SHOW/CBS/1969-72, and SAMMY & COMPANY/SYN/1975-77 with Sammy Davis, Jr. (all
running opposite THE TONIGHT SHOW); THE LARRY KING LIVE/CNN/1985+; THICKE OF
THE NIGHT/SYN/1983-84 with Alan Thicke; and LATE NIGHT WITH THE CONAN
O'BRIEN SHOW/NBC/1993+.
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