• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Which show was REALLY worse?

S

soundsandsports

Over the years, there's been an ongoing debate as to what late night show was worse between Joan Rivers, Chevy Chase, and Magic Johnson.

For the short time it was on, I'd give Joan Rivers a passing grade, like a low C, Chevy Chase gets a D, and "The Magic Hour" gets an F.

At least Rivers and Chase got in more than one good punchline over the course of there runs, but Magic Johnson couldn't make me laugh even if he got kicked the the groin by a donkey.

Agree or disagree?
 
I never saw Magic, but I'd have to vote for Chevy Chase. Joan Rivers is a taste I never acquired, but that's just my personal taste.

I caught Chevy Chase a couple of times. The show was an unbelievable train-wreck. He seemed very nervous, like he was suffering from uncontrollable stage-fright. He couldn't consistently deliver a punch-line without stumbling verbally - nothing like the Chevy I was familiar with from SNL and his films. I tuned in one more time a few nights later to see if it was an aberration. It was just as awful. My primary emotion was to feel embarrassed for the guy.
 
I saw part of the first episode of Chevy's show. I recall that he actually started crying during the opening monologue. I figured that it would only go downhill from there and I quickly turned it off. Guess I was right. That was downright pathetic.
 
Joan Rivers: Standup comic - a good foundation if one wants to be a talk show host, whether one likes her particular style or not.

Chevy Chase: Movie actor most of his career, despite his one year of live TV on SNL. Would anyone watch a late-night comedy/interview show hosted by Brad Pitt? Actors are out of their element here.

Magic Johnson: Basketball player & businessman. Smart guy but not a show-biz guy. Who in the world thought he would be good on TV? He's not even a good studio analyst on NBA games. The only ex-athlete that might have gotten away with doing late-night TV was Bob Uecker, but that would have been 30 years ago.
 
Chevy Chase was really, really bad. Hard to top that one.

Stephanie Miller's show was pretty bad too. Particularly the meltdown she
went into on the last show after she learned she'd been canceled.
 
And let's not forget these late night train wreck hosts-- Allan Thicke and Pat Sajak. But I would have to agree with other posters claiming Chevy Chase as the most memorable flop. But I say that in context; so much more was expected from CC because he had set his own bar so high on SNL. He was much more comfortable there because of the developmental license & laditude NBC & Lorne Michaels allowed him, especially for his skills at improvising.
 
What about Rick Dees? I think his "Into the Night" show lasted a season on ABC...

-crainbebo
 
Of those three that were mentioned originally, I would have to say that Chevy Chase had the worst talk show-He seemed to have a wooden personality.
 
rnigma said:
Didn't Rick Dees take over Joan Rivers' show?
Click to expand...
Dees, as mentioned earlier, was on ABC. Rivers was on Fox. It's possible that Dees might have been among the revolving door of guest hosts on Fox after Rivers was shown the door, but I can't say for sure. (Dees had hosted Solid Gold for a year, so anything was possible.)

One guest host that I specifically remember was Suzanne Somers. One of her guests was Robin Leach. She actually asked him something to the effect of "does your voice irritate you as much as it does everyone else?" :eek:
 
I remember Into The Night With Rick Dees on ABC around 1990 or so. Didn't see much with him for TV after that failed.
 
Never saw Chase but I am surprised someone so good at improvisation would have been as bad as he apparently was. I though Sajack got a bad rap. I saw his show several times and he really wasn't bad, just too much of a throwback. I'd forgotten about Allan Thicke. God he was awful. I worked for an independent TV station at the time and management thought he would be the next big thing. One look and it was apparent he was not even yesterday's big thing. Sooooo boring and lacking in personality.
 
John-Summers said:
Never saw Chase but I am surprised someone so good at improvisation would have been as bad as he apparently was.
Click to expand...

I have noticed on TV that the Marquee performer, in this case the "host", lives and dies ALONE by opening night's success or failure. Overcoming a clumsy opening night is not impossible, but very difficult. SNL on the other hand offered safety in numbers for CC, especially early on. He was a member of the ensemble, not the "host". Viewers notice when a cast player drops a line, but they soon forget. Hosts don't enjoy such free passes.
 
Magic Johnson had a late show? I never knew.

Too bad Howard Stern didn't take his syndicated weekend show and make it a network weeknight show. Putting Howard Stern on after Late Night with David Letterman would have been cool... back in the day. Late Night Lesbians!
 
poledo said:
Magic Johnson had a late show? I never knew.

Too bad Howard Stern didn't take his syndicated weekend show and make it a network weeknight show. Putting Howard Stern on after Late Night with David Letterman would have been cool... back in the day. Late Night Lesbians!
Click to expand...

Howard Stern actually appeared on the Magic Hour. To say that was a poor decision by the show's booking staff is polite. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwiJJlLcFdQ
 
I never watched Chevy Chase (frankly, he lasted what, about a month?) but
I've heard he was doing for real what he might have satirized on "SNL." TV
Guide put him among the worst shows ever. Kevin Allman, whose "TV Turkeys"
came out before Chevy's show ever debuted, ranked "Thicke Of The Night" among
the worst shows ever (hard to believe, with hindsight, that some NBC affiliates were
gullible enough to drop Carson for Alan Thicke).

As for Sajak, I think if his show had been syndicated and aired in the morning
(say 9 AM, even if it would have put him against Regis) it might have had a chance.
He was essentially doing what his boss from "Wheel Of Fortune," Merv Griffin, did
for years and he was not successful in late night but thrived in daytime.
 
firepoint525 said:
One guest host that I specifically remember was Suzanne Somers. One of her guests was Robin Leach. She actually asked him something to the effect of "does your voice irritate you as much as it does everyone else?" :eek:
Click to expand...
...sounds like a question left over from her early '70s days on Man Trap ;-) ...

Joan Rivers -- too shrill.
Chevy Chase -- simply didn't want to be there.
Magic Johnson -- no broadcasting chops whatsoever.
Rick Dees -- too stiff.
Stephanie Miller -- burned out too quick.
Pat Sajak -- deserved better than he got.
 
Magic Johnson show was over hyped

Alan Thicke had a very popular late night Talk Show in Canada. Just didn't translate here in the U.S. His promos were funny, but just didn't follow through on the show.

Chevy Chase just was not even funny.

Stephanie Miller was not funny in the least bit.

The Wilton North Report, was plain stupid.
 
1069_KIFR said:
Magic Johnson show was over hyped

Alan Thicke had a very popular late night Talk Show in Canada. Just didn't translate here in the U.S. His promos were funny, but just didn't follow through on the show.

Chevy Chase just was not even funny.

Stephanie Miller was not funny in the least bit.

The Wilton North Report, was plain stupid.
Click to expand...

The *only* reason that I remember The Wilton North Report was that I was seeing someone for a time and we watched part of this one night at her place....simply awful.
 
I laughed out loud at that last post. I too saw barely one show, and could not for the life of me, see anything at all funny. It was hosted by a radio team from Sacramento, Paul and Phil. The show lasted less than a month.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom