This entry in Saluting The Heroes Of Late Night TV focuses mostly on much-ballyhooed and anticipated shows that for one reason or another, didn't make it, got steamrollered during that 1980's stretch when Johnny Carson was still king.
Throughout his 1980's NBC years and into his time hosting The Late Show at CBS, David Letterman continued to redefine late-night, presenting a different style of comedy from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
David Letterman booked guests seldom seen on the Tonight Shows hosted by Steve Allen, Jack Parr and Johnny Carson.
Some of the late-night train wrecks ended up profiled on 13 Week Theatre, journalist, radio show host and pop culture historian Pab Sungenis' series on TV shows that ignominiously crashed and burned.
In 1984, Jerry Lewis tried again to take on Johnny Carson, at least make a bit of a dent in The Tonight Show's rule, with comedian/musician Charlie Callas as his sidekick.
The Jerry Lewis Show succeeded Thicke Of The Night, Metromedia's syndicated late-night show starring producer, songwriter and Fernwood 2 Night/America 2 Night writer Alan Thicke.
Thicke Of The Night regulars including actress Chloe Webb and comics Richard Belzer, Gilbert Gottfried and Charles Fleischer. It got spoofed mercilessly by SCTV as Maudlin O' The Night. The late great Joe Flaherty as Sammy Maudlin darn near kills himself to entertain his fans!
Since Jerry Lewis was quite funny riffing with Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo on a November 1983 episode of Saturday Night Live and did excellent work playing a Carson-style host stalked by a psychopath played by Robert DeNiro in Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy, the notion that Jerry could succeed in late-night is not all that far fetched.
While the possibility that Jerry's ultra-goofy slapstick take on The Tonight Show might actually work does not seem entirely preposterous, his show crashed and burned and was cancelled after five episodes.
Too bad Charlie Callas, a professional jazz musician and big band drummer who was a comedian/impressionist on the side, didn't play drums on The Jerry Lewis Show.
Somebody somewhere in the CBS network boardrooms had the notion that Wheel Of Fortune co-host Pat Sajak would be a good late night ringmaster and give Johnny Carson a run for his money. Whoever it was must have been a friend of Ed Grimley! After all, Pat must be a decent guy I must say.
The Pat Sajak Show ran on CBS from 1989-1990. Some of the Pat Sajak shows are up on YouTube and elicit the response "what were they thinking?"
The Pat Sajak Show would be the CBS network's last effort at late night until David Letterman was convinced to bring his show from NBC in 1993. It wasn't the first, as in 1969-1972, vocalist and entertainer Merv Griffin hosted a late-night show on CBS, no doubt a response to his extremely popular weekday afternoon program. Inexplicably, have found absolutely no clips of late-night Merv on YouTube, Daily Motion, Vimeo, etc.
Arguably, even worse than Pat Sajak - I must say - as late night host was Chevy Chase.
His 1993 late night show most assuredly was from Pimento U. . . old P.U. That said, there are enjoyable individual bits here and there in the premiere episode, such as the scat-singing musical interlude a la Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and Eddie Jefferson starting at 11:37. Perhaps what Chevy really wanted was to play some jazz!
Late-night found its way to the Fox Network when the Lex Luthor-like Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch shelled out $255 million in 1985 for a 50% interest in TCF Holdings, the parent company of the 20th Century Fox film studio.
The new FBN's first program, before The Tracey Ullmann Show, Married With Children, etc. was The Late Show with Joan Rivers. This made sense as an entry into the late-night sweepstakes, as Joan consistently killed both as Tonight Show guest and Tonight Show guest host.
Fox, then known as FBC, outbid NBC, which had offered Joan Rivers a one-year contract as Tonight Show guest host, while giving her a shot at hosting her own late-night series.
This ended up as the first late night wars donnybrook after Jack Parr walked off The Tonight Show in 1960 and caused a permanent rift between Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers. After seeing her work on numerous shows over decades, now regard Joan Rivers, a versatile comedy writer, improv performer (Second City Chicago) and unstoppable one-liner ace a la Rodney Dangerfield, as under-rated.
While the late night TV fans here contend that Joan Rivers presided over a very good, entertaining and funny show, it was considered a flop back in the 1980's. Johnny Carson, seriously ticked off over her signing with Fox, had something of a blacklist going and made it emphatically clear that those who appeared on The Late Show with Joan Rivers would never work in showbiz or appear on The Tonight Show again!
Did The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers merit an episode of 13 Week Theatre? Maybe, maybe not, but one wonders what would have happened had Joan informed Johnny about the offer from Fox, especially how they substantially outbid NBC while giving her a late-night show - and received the King Of Late Night's blessing.
One reason among many to like Joan Rivers is that Pee-wee Herman, late lamented comic and cast member from The Groundlings, was a frequent guest on her Late Show.
Pee-wee Herman actually guest-hosted The Late Show. Have not yet found any clips of Groucho or Mort Sahl hosting The Tonight Show, but much enjoy seeing Pee-wee, a funny and original comedian, in the Jack Parr/Johnny Carson chair.
One of Joan's guest hosts was actor and comedian Arsenio Hall, who, after Fox sacked Ms. Rivers, hosted for 13 weeks with great success and high ratings. He turned Fox down to work with Eddie Murphy on his 1988 feature Coming To America. Arsenio's stretch as successful late-night host would come later - and not with the Fox Network.
The Arsenio Hall Show was such a big hit that Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman spoofed it on Saturday Night Live as The Carsenio Hall Show. Arsenio's show, especially in its late 1980s early 1990s heydey, was very good and presented music rarely seen on late night, from hard rock to hip hop to jazz.
Will return next weekend with a look at the music of late night TV.
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