History of Late Night TV

In 1966, Ed Sullivan announced stand-up comedian Dick Cavett as "A young collegian from Yale". He had worked as a comedy writer for Tonight Show hosts Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. He also was a writer for the short-lived Jerry Lewis variety show in the 1960s. Writing for others was paying the bills, but Cavett wanted to try to be a late night host where he could perform his own jokes for a nationwide audience. 

 

Cavett has hosted many shows in various time slots for various networks including ABC, CBS, PBS, USA, CNBC and TCM.  He is a cerebral guy who is good friends with Woody Allen. The two of them share a similar comedic style. You could say that Dick Cavett is a "thinking person's" host.

 

His late night show on ABC had him going head-to-head against Johnny Carson from 1968-1974. This time slot was previously occupied by Joey Bishop. The show was directed by Arthur Forrest, who had directed the Jerry Lewis Telethon and the Mike Douglas Show. His bandleader was drummer Bobby Rosengarden. The show originated from 58th Street in Manhattan. Sometimes his show began with a monologue, and other times he would take questions from the audience. 

 

President Richard Nixon was not a fan of Cavett since he would have anti-war people on the show as guests such as Jane Fonda and John Lennon. 

 

Cavett and Johnny Carson are both from Nebraska. They both share a humble midwest attitude and they tended to tell clean jokes.

 

A DVD box set has been released that has clips from Cavett's show where his guests included some of the biggest legends in the world of comedy such as Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball and more.