History of Late Night TV

Pat Sajak is known as the host of Wheel of Fortune, created by talk show legend Merv Griffin.

 

But, Sajak made a deal with CBS to try his hand at hosting a late night talk show. His program aired from January of 1989 to April of 1990.

 

His announcer and sidekick was Dan Miller. The two had worked together many years earlier at WSM-TV, channel 4, in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

The bandleader was Tom Scott, who was also the musical director for the short lived Chevy Chase late night show. Ironically the first guest on Sajak's show was Chevy Chase.

 

Sajak's show was originally 90 minutes in length but was trimmed down to 60 minutes in October of 1989.

 

The ratings for the show were low, and it was hard to compete with Johnny Carson and Arsenio Hall.

 

CBS struggled for many years to find late night programming that would generate impressive ratings. NBC had a long history of success in late night, with shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder and David Letterman. NBC also did well on the weekends with Saturday Night Live. Finally when David Letterman moved to CBS in 1993 and subsuquently created the show that would follow his, The Late Late Show, CBS had a late night lineup that attracted impressive numbers.

 

Sajak's show was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. His old studio is currently being used by The Late Late Show with James Corden. CBS soaps and The Price is Right are also taped at Television City.