Monday, October 24, 2016

Classic TV: The Dick Cavett Show (1969)

Dick Cavett had already had two short-lived programs in as many day-parts under his belt when ABC decided to bring him back as their latest challenger to Johnny Carson's Tonight Show at the end of 1969. Because he had done talk shows for so long, people forget that Cavett is also a comedian.

Cavett had been tried out as a morning host a year earlier, and earlier in 1969, he was given a primetime berth. The late night show would last until 1975, and after stints at CBS, USA, & PBS, Cavett would return to ABC with a twice-weekly talk show in 1986, which lasted just 3 months.

In between talk show stints, Cavett also hosted the documentary miniseries, Time Was, for HBO, which ran in 1979 for 7 episodes.

The first late night series is what we're looking at here. Musical director Bob Rosengarden would also serve in that capacity for New York-based editions of Jerry Lewis' long-running Muscular Dystrophy telethons for several years. Announcer Fred Foy, of course, is better known for similar work on The Lone Ranger in the 50's. Since it was a late night entry, I have no rating.

We'll leave you with a 1971 episode with John Lennon & Yoko Ono, which wraps with the premiere of "Imagine".

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