Bill Carter
Late Night
June 24, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
In the late 1980's and early 1990's, the late night television arena was a free-for-all.
With Johnny Carson leaning toward the exit, Jay Leno and David Letterman battled for the dream job of any comedian -- host of The Tonight Show.
Bill Carter captures the behind-the-scenes action in his excellent book -- The Late Shift.
Arsenio Hall attracted younger viewers when he debuted the first-run syndicated The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989.
With friends including Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, Arsenio redefined 'hip' in the era of Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli and the first George Bush.
As Jimmy Durante used to say, Everybody wants to get into the act.
CBS attempted to bring a powerhouse game show host into its nighttime galaxy.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak got the 11:30 pm job on the Eye Network. He competed with Johnny Carson for a little more than a year from January 1989 to April 1990.
It was a standard talk show format.
Pat Sajak performed a monologue.
Dan Miller was the announcer.
Couch for guests on the left, desk for host on the right.
Miller and Sajak worked together on WSM-TV newscasts in Nashville back in the day.
Tom Scott was the band leader.
Scott was also the band leader for another short-lived offering -- The Chevy Chase Show. It debuted in the Fall of 1993 concurrently with Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Radio DJ Rick Dees gave late night a try on ABC with Into the Night. It debuted in 1990.
Like Sajak, Dees' tenure could be measured in months, Chase's in weeks.
The Arsenio Hall Show ended in 1994 after a five-year run.
During this era, television entered a transition phase with a passing of the baton to the future custodians of late night television.
Why didn't these shows work?
Perhaps Sajak was overexposed because of his daily air time on Wheel of Fortune.
Perhaps Dees simply couldn't compete with Arsenio for the younger viewers.
Perhaps Arsenio Hall got too political during the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
And, of course, the Johnny factor.
America could always revert to Johnny for familiarity, which breeds comfort.
At least the decision makers tried to take on the late night Goliath. In the cases of Dees and Sajak, the networks jumped into the fray. For Arsenio Hall, the strength of a network was absent.
Now, late night is dominated by the next generation -- Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, and the new eminence grise, David Letterman.
david@davidkrell.com
In the late 1980's and early 1990's, the late night television arena was a free-for-all.
With Johnny Carson leaning toward the exit, Jay Leno and David Letterman battled for the dream job of any comedian -- host of The Tonight Show.
Bill Carter captures the behind-the-scenes action in his excellent book -- The Late Shift.
Arsenio Hall attracted younger viewers when he debuted the first-run syndicated The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989.
With friends including Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, Arsenio redefined 'hip' in the era of Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli and the first George Bush.
As Jimmy Durante used to say, Everybody wants to get into the act.
CBS attempted to bring a powerhouse game show host into its nighttime galaxy.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak got the 11:30 pm job on the Eye Network. He competed with Johnny Carson for a little more than a year from January 1989 to April 1990.
It was a standard talk show format.
Pat Sajak performed a monologue.
Dan Miller was the announcer.
Couch for guests on the left, desk for host on the right.
Miller and Sajak worked together on WSM-TV newscasts in Nashville back in the day.
Tom Scott was the band leader.
Scott was also the band leader for another short-lived offering -- The Chevy Chase Show. It debuted in the Fall of 1993 concurrently with Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Radio DJ Rick Dees gave late night a try on ABC with Into the Night. It debuted in 1990.
Like Sajak, Dees' tenure could be measured in months, Chase's in weeks.
The Arsenio Hall Show ended in 1994 after a five-year run.
During this era, television entered a transition phase with a passing of the baton to the future custodians of late night television.
Why didn't these shows work?
Perhaps Sajak was overexposed because of his daily air time on Wheel of Fortune.
Perhaps Dees simply couldn't compete with Arsenio for the younger viewers.
Perhaps Arsenio Hall got too political during the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
And, of course, the Johnny factor.
America could always revert to Johnny for familiarity, which breeds comfort.
At least the decision makers tried to take on the late night Goliath. In the cases of Dees and Sajak, the networks jumped into the fray. For Arsenio Hall, the strength of a network was absent.
Now, late night is dominated by the next generation -- Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, and the new eminence grise, David Letterman.
Private Parts
June 15, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The 1997 movie Private Parts, based on Howard Stern's autobiography of the same title, has fairly rich television connections.
The shock jock plays himself in Private Parts. His gang of Robin Quivers, Gary Dell'Abate, Fred Norris, and Jackie Martling also play themselves.
But Private Parts does more than merely take Howard Stern's storybook rise to fame from the page to the silver screen.
The movie features future stars of the small screen.
Mary McCormack plays Alison Stern, the wife of the self-proclaimed King of All Media. She steadfastly supports her husband as he finds his unique broadcasting voice.
In the final years of The West Wing, McCormack played Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper.
Currently, she stars in the USA drama In Plain Sight where she plays Deputy US Marshal Mary Shannon. Shannon is responsible for shepherding federal witnesses through the Witness Protection Program in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Allison Janney also shares a West Wing - Private Parts connection.
In Private Parts, she plays Dee Dee, a radio executive.
In The West Wing, she plays Press Secretary extraordinaire C.J. Cregg who later gets promoted to President Bartlet's Chief of Staff.
Kelly Bishop plays Howard Stern's mother in Private Parts.
We also know her as the matriarch on the poignant, successful, and thoughtful mother-daughter drama Gilmore Girls. Bishop played Emily Gilmore -- mother of Lorelai, grandmother of Rory, and wife of Richard.
Film is a director's medium. Private Parts benefits from a television veteran who draws on her experience to create a definite realism in her productions.
Betty Thomas got her big break as Officer (later Sergeant) Lucy Bates on Hill Street Blues, the highly acclaimed 1980's television drama. Thomas directed the HBO tv-movie The Late Shift based on the book of the same title by Bill Carter. The Late Shift recounts the controversy concerning who would ultimately succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Thomas has also directed other movies with roots in television -- I Spy, The Brady Bunch Movie.
And lastly, Paul Giamatti.
This fine character actor has starred in American Splendor, Sideways, and Cinderella Man.
In March - April 2008, Giamatti starred in the title role of the HBO miniseries John Adams based on the book of the same title by David McCullough. Giamatti won an Emmy for his portrayal of the unsung founding father.
In Private Parts, Giamatti plays Pig Vomit, Howard Stern's corporate nemesis during his days at WNBC-AM radio in New York City. Stern supplied the moniker.
david@davidkrell.com
The 1997 movie Private Parts, based on Howard Stern's autobiography of the same title, has fairly rich television connections.
The shock jock plays himself in Private Parts. His gang of Robin Quivers, Gary Dell'Abate, Fred Norris, and Jackie Martling also play themselves.
But Private Parts does more than merely take Howard Stern's storybook rise to fame from the page to the silver screen.
The movie features future stars of the small screen.
Mary McCormack plays Alison Stern, the wife of the self-proclaimed King of All Media. She steadfastly supports her husband as he finds his unique broadcasting voice.
In the final years of The West Wing, McCormack played Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper.
Currently, she stars in the USA drama In Plain Sight where she plays Deputy US Marshal Mary Shannon. Shannon is responsible for shepherding federal witnesses through the Witness Protection Program in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Allison Janney also shares a West Wing - Private Parts connection.
In Private Parts, she plays Dee Dee, a radio executive.
In The West Wing, she plays Press Secretary extraordinaire C.J. Cregg who later gets promoted to President Bartlet's Chief of Staff.
Kelly Bishop plays Howard Stern's mother in Private Parts.
We also know her as the matriarch on the poignant, successful, and thoughtful mother-daughter drama Gilmore Girls. Bishop played Emily Gilmore -- mother of Lorelai, grandmother of Rory, and wife of Richard.
Film is a director's medium. Private Parts benefits from a television veteran who draws on her experience to create a definite realism in her productions.
Betty Thomas got her big break as Officer (later Sergeant) Lucy Bates on Hill Street Blues, the highly acclaimed 1980's television drama. Thomas directed the HBO tv-movie The Late Shift based on the book of the same title by Bill Carter. The Late Shift recounts the controversy concerning who would ultimately succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Thomas has also directed other movies with roots in television -- I Spy, The Brady Bunch Movie.
And lastly, Paul Giamatti.
This fine character actor has starred in American Splendor, Sideways, and Cinderella Man.
In March - April 2008, Giamatti starred in the title role of the HBO miniseries John Adams based on the book of the same title by David McCullough. Giamatti won an Emmy for his portrayal of the unsung founding father.
In Private Parts, Giamatti plays Pig Vomit, Howard Stern's corporate nemesis during his days at WNBC-AM radio in New York City. Stern supplied the moniker.
Desperate Networks
April 18, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
A television show actually reaching the airwaves is a combination of talent, creativity, and luck.
Pitches. Pilots. And the selection of the few that will be broadcast from the many that are proposed.
Focus groups. Research. And certainly instinct play important roles in the process.
Desperate Networks by Bill Carter outlines the process in painstaking detail.
With a writing style that makes the reader feel as if he or she was in the room at the time of decision, Carter succeeds in his effort to get beyond the sex appeal of television and break down the business aspects in an easy-to-read fashion.
For example, Carter shows us how three monster hits successfully completed the maze of the network programming process after initial reactions that may have been lukewarm at best.
NBC heard the pitch for Desperate Housewives and rejected it before ABC took it and made suburbia sexy. More than just Knots Landing redux, Desperate Housewives is funny, dramatic, and at times, poignant.
ABC used it to capture the Sunday night female audience after Sex and the City left HBO.
CBS heard the pitch for CSI and, to the surprise of CBS chief Les Moonves, the script lured character actor William Petersen, a journeyman actor for whom CBS was trying to find a show. There are now three versions of CSI.
Mark Burnett created Survivor. Burnett, a former military man and nanny, had some experience with a prior show focused on physical tests.
Carter also shows us how 2004 belonged to ABC with the alphabet network benefiting from two rookie shows, Desperate Housewives and Lost. The last time a network rebounded with similar rookie sensations was 1994 when NBC debuted Friends and ER, thereby launching Must See TV.
Carter’s description of the journey Lost took to ABC is wonderful, that is to say, the reader will be full of wonder why this gigantic hit almost didn’t make it.
Desperate Networks benefits from Carter’s behind-the-scenes access, a journalist’s eye, and years of credibility from his work as a reporter at The New York Times and author of The Late Shift, a book about the succession to Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night.
In the 80’s, networks grew concerned about the impact of VCR’s on the number of people watching television shows at the time of broadcast. Why would somebody watch a show when he or she could simply tape it and watch it at a time more convenient. Advertisers grew concerned because that time-shifting ability could result in less eyeballs watching the commercials.
Twenty years later, the concerns are bigger and Desperate Networks shows the concerns and their impact in the executive suites quite nicely.
More cable channels.
More improvements in video games.
More use of the Internet.
More, more, more, means less, less, less viewers watching television.
Desperate Networks shows that the stories in network offices about how some shows are created, produced, and marketed are sometimes more compelling than the shows themselves.
david@davidkrell.com
A television show actually reaching the airwaves is a combination of talent, creativity, and luck.
Pitches. Pilots. And the selection of the few that will be broadcast from the many that are proposed.
Focus groups. Research. And certainly instinct play important roles in the process.
Desperate Networks by Bill Carter outlines the process in painstaking detail.
With a writing style that makes the reader feel as if he or she was in the room at the time of decision, Carter succeeds in his effort to get beyond the sex appeal of television and break down the business aspects in an easy-to-read fashion.
For example, Carter shows us how three monster hits successfully completed the maze of the network programming process after initial reactions that may have been lukewarm at best.
NBC heard the pitch for Desperate Housewives and rejected it before ABC took it and made suburbia sexy. More than just Knots Landing redux, Desperate Housewives is funny, dramatic, and at times, poignant.
ABC used it to capture the Sunday night female audience after Sex and the City left HBO.
CBS heard the pitch for CSI and, to the surprise of CBS chief Les Moonves, the script lured character actor William Petersen, a journeyman actor for whom CBS was trying to find a show. There are now three versions of CSI.
Mark Burnett created Survivor. Burnett, a former military man and nanny, had some experience with a prior show focused on physical tests.
Carter also shows us how 2004 belonged to ABC with the alphabet network benefiting from two rookie shows, Desperate Housewives and Lost. The last time a network rebounded with similar rookie sensations was 1994 when NBC debuted Friends and ER, thereby launching Must See TV.
Carter’s description of the journey Lost took to ABC is wonderful, that is to say, the reader will be full of wonder why this gigantic hit almost didn’t make it.
Desperate Networks benefits from Carter’s behind-the-scenes access, a journalist’s eye, and years of credibility from his work as a reporter at The New York Times and author of The Late Shift, a book about the succession to Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night.
In the 80’s, networks grew concerned about the impact of VCR’s on the number of people watching television shows at the time of broadcast. Why would somebody watch a show when he or she could simply tape it and watch it at a time more convenient. Advertisers grew concerned because that time-shifting ability could result in less eyeballs watching the commercials.
Twenty years later, the concerns are bigger and Desperate Networks shows the concerns and their impact in the executive suites quite nicely.
More cable channels.
More improvements in video games.
More use of the Internet.
More, more, more, means less, less, less viewers watching television.
Desperate Networks shows that the stories in network offices about how some shows are created, produced, and marketed are sometimes more compelling than the shows themselves.