Longtime Los Angeles radio personality Jimmy O'Neill, who gained national fame in the mid-1960's as host of ABC-TV's "Shindig", has died at 73.
After a stint in Pittsburgh radio following his high-school graduation, O'Neill moved to Los Angeles and was a charter member of the famed group of air personalities when KRLA-1110 flipped from country to top-40 in 1959.
Becoming one of Southern California's most popular deejays, O'Neill was tapped by British TV producer Jack Good in 1964 to host "Shindig", a prime-time rock-music show on ABC. O'Neill was just shy of 25 when the show premiered.
"Shindig" was the second prime-time show to exclusively feature performances by rock artists (as opposed to occasional spots by rock acts on variety shows like Ed Sullivan's; "The Dick Clark Show" from 1958 to 1960 was the first). In contrast to many other such shows of the period, music on "Shindig" was performed live as opposed to lip-syncing.
Despite the fact that "Shindig" holds a major place in the history of rock music on TV and the popular culture of the middle 1960's, it was on the air for only sixteen months (September, 1964 through January, 1966).
Initially, "Shindig" was broadcast Wednesday nights from 8:30 to 9 P.M. ET/PT and became the first show to give the top-rated "Beverly Hillbilles" strong competition, especially among younger viewers. The folllowing January, "Shindig" was expanded to a full hour, from 8:30 to to 9:30 ET/PT.
For it's second season, the show was split into two half-hours: Thursdays and Saturdays from 7:30 to 8 Eastern/Pacific both nights. The move, in retrospect, killed the show since the Thursday half-hour competed against CBS' "The Munsters" and NBC's "Daniel Boone"; while the Saturday edition not only faced CBS's "Jackie Gleason Show" and NBC's "Flipper", but also had competition from out-of-home activities that the show's prime demographic (teenagers and adults under 35) were likely to be doing on a Saturday night. There may have been some young people in the Central time zone who saw the Saturday edition at 6:30 P.M. local before heading out, but not enough to warrant continuing the show.
Another potential problem in Season Two was the fact the show was still in black-and-white: "Daniel Boone" and "Flipper" were in color that season; I think Gleason went to color sometime that season (but maybe not while it was competiting against "Shindig").
The ratings plunged and "Shindig" would soon be cancelled; it's last episode aired January 8th, 1966.
Los Angeles Times obituary:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/14/local/la-me-jimmy-oneill-20130115
BTW, O'Neill and "Shindig" were parodied on "The Flintstones" in the 1965/66 season. During that episode, a "Jimmy O'Neillstone" (voiced by O'Neill himself) hosted a stone-age rock-music TV show titled "Shinrock" over the "Abadaba Broadcasting Company" with musical guests the "Beau Brummelstones" (around this time, there was a real-life rock band called the Beau Brummels whose biggest hit was "Laugh, Laugh"; their recording of that song was in the episode's soundtrack).
After a stint in Pittsburgh radio following his high-school graduation, O'Neill moved to Los Angeles and was a charter member of the famed group of air personalities when KRLA-1110 flipped from country to top-40 in 1959.
Becoming one of Southern California's most popular deejays, O'Neill was tapped by British TV producer Jack Good in 1964 to host "Shindig", a prime-time rock-music show on ABC. O'Neill was just shy of 25 when the show premiered.
"Shindig" was the second prime-time show to exclusively feature performances by rock artists (as opposed to occasional spots by rock acts on variety shows like Ed Sullivan's; "The Dick Clark Show" from 1958 to 1960 was the first). In contrast to many other such shows of the period, music on "Shindig" was performed live as opposed to lip-syncing.
Despite the fact that "Shindig" holds a major place in the history of rock music on TV and the popular culture of the middle 1960's, it was on the air for only sixteen months (September, 1964 through January, 1966).
Initially, "Shindig" was broadcast Wednesday nights from 8:30 to 9 P.M. ET/PT and became the first show to give the top-rated "Beverly Hillbilles" strong competition, especially among younger viewers. The folllowing January, "Shindig" was expanded to a full hour, from 8:30 to to 9:30 ET/PT.
For it's second season, the show was split into two half-hours: Thursdays and Saturdays from 7:30 to 8 Eastern/Pacific both nights. The move, in retrospect, killed the show since the Thursday half-hour competed against CBS' "The Munsters" and NBC's "Daniel Boone"; while the Saturday edition not only faced CBS's "Jackie Gleason Show" and NBC's "Flipper", but also had competition from out-of-home activities that the show's prime demographic (teenagers and adults under 35) were likely to be doing on a Saturday night. There may have been some young people in the Central time zone who saw the Saturday edition at 6:30 P.M. local before heading out, but not enough to warrant continuing the show.
Another potential problem in Season Two was the fact the show was still in black-and-white: "Daniel Boone" and "Flipper" were in color that season; I think Gleason went to color sometime that season (but maybe not while it was competiting against "Shindig").
The ratings plunged and "Shindig" would soon be cancelled; it's last episode aired January 8th, 1966.
Los Angeles Times obituary:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/14/local/la-me-jimmy-oneill-20130115
BTW, O'Neill and "Shindig" were parodied on "The Flintstones" in the 1965/66 season. During that episode, a "Jimmy O'Neillstone" (voiced by O'Neill himself) hosted a stone-age rock-music TV show titled "Shinrock" over the "Abadaba Broadcasting Company" with musical guests the "Beau Brummelstones" (around this time, there was a real-life rock band called the Beau Brummels whose biggest hit was "Laugh, Laugh"; their recording of that song was in the episode's soundtrack).
