History of shows after Johnny Carson's Tonight Show

[Markxxx]

Ever since it was announced Jimmy Fallon is taking over for Conan O'Brien, I was wondering what was the history of this time slot.

I know Tom Synder used to follow Johnny Carson, but did he do it five weeknights?

If someone could clue me in about the history I'd appreciate it. I'm interested in the slot after "The Tonight Show," when Johnny hosted it not prior to him, but of course, if you want to throw that in, it'd be cool too

Thanks

 

[dhett]

No, Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show was Monday - Thursday only, with The Midnight Special airing on Friday nights.

Midnight Special aired from February 1973 to May 1981 and was replaced by SCTV, which lasted until June 1983 when it was replaced by Friday Night Videos.

The Tomorrow Show began in October 1973 and ran until January 1982, when it was replaced by Late Night with David Letterman, originally also a four-night show. It expanded to include Friday nights in May 1987.

Before Midnight Special and Tomorrow, it seems that most stations simply signed off after The Tonight Show, which was originally a 105-minute (11:15 PM - 1:00 AM), then cut back to 90 minutes in January 1967 (11:30 PM - 1:00 AM), then to 60 minutes in September 1980 (11:30 PM - 12:30 PM). (All times ET/PT)

 

[KML0224]

Also throw in the start time shifting to 11:35 PM ET in September of 1991 in Johnny's last days as host. Technicallt, it starts today at 11:34:30 PM, but who's counting, right?

 

[Markxxx]

What I was trying to see is how many or if there were failures with shows after the "Tonight Show," time slot.

Seems like every place on the Internet people seem to be routing for Fallon to fail, and I was thinking what was the history and failure rate of hosts or shows after the tonight show. And secondly if Fallon can't pull in ratings like Conan would NBC try something different or look for another host?

 

[Ultimajock]

Before Midnight Special and Tomorrow, it seems that most stations simply signed off after The Tonight Show

...although a handful did run syndicated fare post-"Tonight." I distinctly recall the first time I ever saw The Phil Donahue Show it was over WMAQ-TV/5 in Chicago (NBC's O&O there) immediately after Carson circa '72...I also recall seeing a listing on this board indicating some station was running David Frost after Carson as well...

 

[firepoint525]

What I was trying to see is how many or if there were failures with shows after the "Tonight Show," time slot.

Seems like every place on the Internet people seem to be routing for Fallon to fail, and I was thinking what was the history and failure rate of hosts or shows after the tonight show. And secondly if Fallon can't pull in ratings like Conan would NBC try something different or look for another host?

Another thought occurred to me, and it was almost the opposite thought from the one that you had. What if Fallon is overly successful? Will there be pressure on Conan to step aside, and let Fallon have the Tonight Show? If the 11:35 (CST) spot comes to be seen as the spot for the "Tonight Show host in waiting," won't the overall turnover in late-night talk show hosts be even faster in the years to come than it has been in the past?

And if that 11:35 spot eventually does come to be seen as the slot for future Tonight Show hosts, don't you know that David Letterman will be pissed off? After all, he sat in that spot for 11 years at NBC himself! (But, of course, getting the 10:35 timeslot at CBS might have placated him somewhat! ;D)

 

[dxnemo78]

Although Letterman's ass was thoroghly burned at the time, he's had 15 years and a mountain of $$$$ to make it all better. Another question is who's CBS gonna tag when he hangs it up? Dave's getting close to Johnny's phenomanal 30 year milestone, albeit on two different networks and timeslots.

The stability of NBC's late night shows occured because for many years there was virtually no competition whatsoever. When I was a youngster
CBS and ABC tried Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett repectively without much success. CBS gave up and started the good ol' "CBS Late Movie", and didn't try late night talk again until "The Pat Sajak Show" in 1989. That lasted about a year, and they resumed the movies and crime dramas until Letterman's arival in '93. ABC's counterattack was even more pathetic, with the exception of "Nightline". I vaguley recall shows titled "Thicke of the Night" and "Into the Night", but they disappeared about as fast as you could say their names, and I'm not gonna do the research right now. Aresenio Hall's syndicated show was in its heyday around the time of the Leno-Letterman feud, but he was soon gone after things calmed down. NBC has had its ups and downs in primetime, as they all have, but up until the last 15 years it was the undisputed champion of late night programming for as long as there's been TV...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Although Letterman's ass was thoroghly burned at the time, he's had 15 years and a mountain of $$$$ to make it all better. Another question is who's CBS gonna tag when he hangs it up? Dave's getting close to Johnny's phenomanal 30 year milestone, albeit on two different networks and timeslots.

The stability of NBC's late night shows occured because for many years there was virtually no competition whatsoever. When I was a youngster
CBS and ABC tried Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett repectively without much success. CBS gave up and started the good ol' "CBS Late Movie", and didn't try late night talk again until "The Pat Sajak Show" in 1989. That lasted about a year, and they resumed the movies and crime dramas until Letterman's arival in '93. ABC's counterattack was even more pathetic, with the exception of "Nightline". I vaguley recall shows titled "Thicke of the Night" and "Into the Night", but they disappeared about as fast as you could say their names, and I'm not gonna do the research right now. Aresenio Hall's syndicated show was in its heyday around the time of the Leno-Letterman feud, but he was soon gone after things calmed down. NBC has had its ups and downs in primetime, as they all have, but up until the last 15 years it was the undisputed champion of late night programming for as long as there's been TV...

Also throw in Fox's foray into the talk-show wars when they arrived on the scene--"The Late Show with Joan Rivers" (1986-87) and "The Chevy Chase Show" (1993)--need I say more (although many Fox stations carried Arsenio Hall during his syndicated run).

 

[Ultimajock]

Also throw in Fox's foray into the talk-show wars when they arrived on the scene--"The Late Show with Joan Rivers" (1986-87) and "The Chevy Chase Show" (1993)--need I say more (although many Fox stations carried Arsenio Hall during his syndicated run).

...and "The Wilton North Report" for its half-a-can-of-soda run in '87 (tho that's where Conan first saw network TV time, wasn't it?)...

 

[azumanga]

ABC's counterattack was even more pathetic, with the exception of "Nightline". I vaguley recall shows titled "Thicke of the Night" and "Into the Night", but they disappeared about as fast as you could say their names...

"Thicke of the Night", hosted by Alan Thicke (later of Growing Pains fame), was a syndicated program, seen on indies as well as some ABC and CBS affiliates. Nevertheless, the stations still took a bath in that one.

 

[Markxxx]

In the lean years between 1977 and the Cosby Show, "The Tonight Show," produced 25% of NBC's revenue. (According to the book "Three Blind Mice,")

I think NBC thought Leno was more in line with the style of Johnny Carson and that Letterman, while he would be miffed would stay on and NBC would have it's too hit shows. Of course CBS finally got a "beachhead" in late night, like ABC did with "Nightline."

I was just looking for the failures of shows post Carson so I could see how it'd go it Fallon doesn't make a go of it. I know I never found anyone I liked after Bob Costas left his show. But it went on..

 

[chris319]

There was a show on ABC called "Into the Night" hosted by Rick Dees. It was the brainchild of Jay Wolpert and I believe Mike Brockman, ex of CBS' Pat Sajack Show, was also involved.

There was a brief golden era of post-Tonight shows in the late '80s: Letterman and Bob Costas' Later on NBC, then over to CBS for Charlie Rose's interview show. In L.A. KNBC reran their 11pm newscast, then of all things they would run a game show, at various times Family Feud, Crosswits and Classic Concentration (owned by NBC).

Let's see:

11:30 pm - 12:30 pm Tonight Show

12:30 pm - 1:30 am Letterman

1:30 am - 2:00 am Costas

2:00 am - 2:30 am KNBC News

2:30 am - 3:00 am Game show

 

[dxnemo78]

Also throw in Fox's foray into the talk-show wars when they arrived on the scene--"The Late Show with Joan Rivers" (1986-87) and "The Chevy Chase Show" (1993)--need I say more (although many Fox stations carried Arsenio Hall during his syndicated run).

...and "The Wilton North Report" for its half-a-can-of-soda run in '87 (tho that's where Conan first saw network TV time, wasn't it?)...

The Joan Rivers and Chevy Chase exstravaganzas I've only read about, as we didn't receive Fox in this area until sometime in the mid-late 90's ;D Ditto Wilton North.

I'm quite sure our ABC affiliate (KTVO) carried "Thicke of the Night", hence me assuming it was an ABC property. My night-owl years are long behind me, but I believe 2000-2001 was when NBC brought back one of my favorites, "SCTV", for the late late slot (12:30 Central)

 

[KML0224]

I saw Joan's show a couple of times at least. Except for news, there was nothing else to watch in southern Maine in 1986-87 at 11 PM. Thankfully, I never watched Chevy's show. I know that Thicke Of The Night was definitely syndicated, since it aired on WTXX-TV (CW) channel 20 of Waterbury/Hartford here. They were an independent station from 1982 until they picked up UPN in 1996.