169-410: The CBS Late Movie is a CBS television series (later known as CBS Late Night ) that aired during the 1970s and 1980s. The program ran in most American television markets from 11:30 p.m. ( ET / PT ) until 2:30 a.m. or later, on weeknights. A single announcer (in the early years, CBS staff announcer Norm Stevens) voiced the introduction and commercial bumpers for each program, but there
338-502: A "Weird Al" Yankovic album cut ; it was even used for the character Johnny Cage in the video game series Mortal Kombat . McMahon, who held the same role in Carson's ABC game show Who Do You Trust? for five years previously, would remain standing to the side as Carson did his monologue, laughing (sometimes obsequiously) at his jokes, then join him at the guest chair when Carson moved to his desk. The two would usually interact in
507-509: A 16:9 widescreen presentation, CBS and The CW were the only remaining networks that framed their promotions and on-screen graphical elements for a 4:3 presentation, though with CBS Sports' de facto 16:9 conversion with Super Bowl 50 and their new graphical presentation designed for 16:9 framing, in practice, most CBS affiliates ask pay-TV providers to pass down a 16:9 widescreen presentation by default over their standard definition channels. This continued for CBS until September 24, 2018, when
676-475: A 1966 poll of CBS affiliates revealed that approximately 80% of local outlets were demanding the network "supply a late evening entertainment show Mondays through Fridays" to fill the growing void in newer films. Thus, CBS tentatively targeted the spring of 1968 as the premiere date for a new network late night series. But CBS spokespersons admitted they "did not know whether its show would be similar to others, but it [was] hopeful of devising something different" from
845-428: A card that says, 'Go to commercial.' So Carson goes to a commercial and the whole team rushes up to his desk to discuss what had gone wrong, like a pit stop at Le Mans ." Actor Robert Blake once compared being interviewed by Carson to "facing the death squad" or "Broadway on opening night." The publicity value of appearing on The Tonight Show was so great, however, that most guests were willing to subject themselves to
1014-524: A comic spot for a short while before the first guest was introduced. McMahon stated in a 1978 profile of Carson in The New Yorker that "the 'Tonight Show' is my staple diet, my meat and potatoes—I'm realistic enough to know that everything else stems from that." After a 1965 incident in which he ruined Carson's joke on the air, McMahon was careful to, as he said, "never to go where [Carson]'s going." He wrote in his 1998 autobiography: My role on
1183-413: A commercial broadcast network, since most primetime classical music specials were relegated to PBS and A&E by this time. The program was a concert commemorating the re-opening of Carnegie Hall after its complete renovation. A range of artists were featured, from classical conductor Leonard Bernstein to popular music singer Frank Sinatra . To compete with NBC, which produced the televised version of
1352-409: A free agent since April of that year because his most recent contract had been signed in 1972. Carson cited a California law barring certain contracts from lasting more than seven years . NBC claimed that it had signed three agreements since then and Carson was bound to the network until April 1981. While the case was settled out of court, the friction between Carson and the network remained and Carson
1521-669: A guest appearance by Tallulah Bankhead (one of her last), was preserved on poor-quality home kinescope and audiotape in separate recordings by Beatles fans. Similarly, the Supremes ' May 22, 1967 appearance survives on poor-quality kinescope and an audio recording of their April 5, 1968 appearance honoring the recently slain Martin Luther King Jr. was preserved. The program archive is virtually complete from 1973 to 1992. Carson Productions has also made clips available on YouTube and Antenna TV . Although no footage
1690-534: A half-hour break for local news and features the game shows The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal , soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful , and talk show The Talk . CBS News programming includes CBS Mornings from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. weekdays and CBS Saturday Morning in the same period on Saturdays; nightly editions of CBS Evening News ;
1859-503: A larger audience than The Tonight Show . One CBS executive had a simple explanation for this sudden (though short-lived) good fortune: "People just like to watch movies." The CBS Late Movie/Late Night block, however, was not always cleared by every affiliate of the network; in several markets, the block was either delayed by one hour from its regularly-scheduled time (most notably in the Central and Mountain time zones ), picked up by
SECTION 10
#17328010004132028-588: A little-known German-American filmed production in 1965 (which was subsequently repeated three times and starred Edward Villella , Patricia McBride and Melissa Hayden ), and beginning in 1977, the Mikhail Baryshnikov staging of the ballet, starring the Russian dancer along with Gelsey Kirkland – a version that would become a television classic, and remains so today (the broadcast of this production later moved to PBS). In April 1986, CBS presented
2197-514: A local independent station (including those that later affiliated with the Fox network), or not seen at all in certain cities. Those stations that did not carry CBS Late Night instead broadcast movies from their own libraries and/or their own lineup of off-network syndicated sitcoms, drama reruns, and first-run syndication products. A large factor in the programming decisions of many CBS affiliates electing not to clear CBS Late Night (or delaying it)
2366-453: A mere two months later by popular demand, this time on videotape, rather than live. In later years, the program was shown as a standalone special on PBS ; the current DVD of the telecast omits the commentary by Charles Kuralt but includes additional selections not heard on the CBS telecast. In 1986, CBS telecast Carnegie Hall: The Grand Reopening in primetime, in what was then a rare move for
2535-558: A new television special. Under the agreement, CBS would videotape Presley's concerts during the summer of 1977; the special was filmed during Presley's final tour at stops in Omaha, Nebraska (on June 19) and Rapid City, South Dakota (on June 21 of that year). CBS aired the special, Elvis in Concert , on October 3, 1977, nearly two months after Presley died in his Graceland mansion on August 16. Since its inception in 1978, CBS has been
2704-535: A note following the accidental death of Carson's son Ricky in June 1991. On February 17, 2014, Rivers returned to the Tonight Show as part of a skit in which numerous celebrities paid new host, Jimmy Fallon , after having lost the bet that he would never become the host of the program. Rivers appeared for a full-length interview segment on March 27, 2014. The program of July 26, 1984, with guest host Joan Rivers,
2873-463: A place for repeats of Magnum, P.I. and other popular CBS shows. Night Heat , a production of Canada 's CTV network, also aired on CBS Late Night . Adderly , Hot Shots and Diamonds , other Canadian-filmed shows, later appeared. After T. J. Hooker was canceled by ABC in the summer of 1985, CBS picked up the show and produced new episodes and one two-hour TV movie titled "Blood Sport". The new episodes were shown later at night as
3042-698: A primary feed CBS affiliate has not yet upgraded their transmission equipment to allow content to be presented in HD. A small number of CBS stations and affiliates are also currently broadcasting at 1080p via an ATSC 3.0 multiplex station to simulcast a station's programming such as WNCN through WRDC in Durham, North Carolina , WTVF through WUXP-TV in Nashville , and KLAS-TV through KVCW in Las Vegas , Nevada . CBS began its conversion to high definition with
3211-430: A separate company in 1971. In 1974, CBS dropped its original full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the network in 1994, renaming its legal name to the current CBS Broadcasting Inc. two years later, and in 1997 adopted the name of the company it had acquired to become CBS Corporation . In 1999, CBS came under the control of the original incarnation of Viacom , which
3380-412: A show. In contrast to the avuncular mien ( Merv Griffin , Mike Douglas ) and loquacious erudition ( Dick Cavett ) evinced by his contemporaries, Carson was a comparatively "cool" host who only laughed when genuinely amused; additionally, it was not uncommon for him to abruptly cut short monotonous or embarrassingly inept interviewees. Mort Sahl recalled, "The producer crouches just off camera and holds up
3549-509: A slightly abbreviated version of Horowitz in Moscow , a live piano recital by pianist Vladimir Horowitz , which marked his return to Russia after over 60 years. The recital was televised as an episode of CBS News Sunday Morning (televised at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S., as the recital was performed simultaneously at 4:00 p.m. in Russia). It was so successful that CBS repeated it
SECTION 20
#17328010004133718-464: A sports anthology series that fills certain weekend afternoon time slots before (or in some cases, in place of) a major sporting event. CBS' daytime schedule is the longest among the major networks at 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours. It is the home of the long-running game show The Price Is Right , which began production in 1972 and is the longest continuously running daytime game show on network television. After being hosted by Bob Barker for 35 years,
3887-511: A subchannel of a co-owned/co-managed full-power television station. CBS also maintains a sizeable number of subchannel-only affiliations, the majority of which are with stations in cities located outside of the 50 largest Nielsen-designated markets; the largest CBS subchannel affiliate by market size is KOGG in Wailuku, Hawaii , which serves as a repeater of Honolulu affiliate KGMB (the sister station of KOGG parent KHNL). Nexstar Media Group
4056-439: A syndicated Saturday morning block exclusive to ABC stations and later produced a block for CBS' sister network The CW that received its debut the following year, to launch a new Saturday morning block featuring live-action reality-based lifestyle, wildlife, and sports series. The Litton-produced CBS Dream Team block, aimed at teenagers 13 to 16 years old, began broadcasting on September 28, 2013, replacing Cookie Jar TV. The block
4225-497: A syndicated TV phenomenon, Griffin's CBS ratings could never compete with Johnny Carson's consistently high audience numbers. And thus, in pulling the plug on Griffin in early 1972, CBS committed its late night programming to classic feature films as well as the debut of more recent theatrical fare. This move proved an effective ploy because two months after The CBS Late Movie premiered, the Nielsen ratings recorded that it had drawn
4394-653: A three-year agreement with DIC Entertainment , which was acquired later that year by the Cookie Jar Group , to program the Saturday morning time slot as part of a deal that included distribution of select tape-delayed Formula One auto races. The KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS replaced Nick Jr. on CBS that September, with the inaugural lineup featuring two new first-run live-action programs, one animated series that originally aired in syndication in 2005, and three shows produced before 2006. In mid-2007, KOL,
4563-439: A week 37 weeks a year (a guest host would appear Monday nights and for most of Carson's 15 weeks of vacation and "Best of Carson" reruns would air Tuesdays) and also give him ownership of the show, as well as its back catalog, and of the time slot following the Tonight Show which became Late Night with David Letterman produced by Carson Productions. In September 1980, Carson's eponymous production company gained ownership of
4732-430: A week, 37 weeks a year. "Best of Carson" reruns aired on Tuesdays in the weeks that Carson was hosting new shows. Monday night shows and shows for most of the 15 weeks that Carson had off were hosted by guest hosts. Due to the frequent need for substitutes, starting in 1983 permanent guest hosts were hired in order to give the program more stability. The permanent guest hosts were Joan Rivers (1983–1986), then, after about
4901-417: A year where a wide range of guest hosts were used, Garry Shandling alternating with Jay Leno (1987–1988). Shandling, who guest-hosted 37 times, left to focus on his Showtime series It's Garry Shandling's Show . This left Leno alone as the sole permanent guest host from August 1988 on. Leno first guest hosted in 1986, and would do so 333 times before becoming the next Tonight Show host in 1992. Though
5070-767: Is a list of those who guest-hosted at least 50 times: Impressionist Rich Little guest hosted 12 times during the 1970s. Sammy Davis Jr. guest hosted on November 23, 1964, becoming the first African-American to host a talk show, and then guest hosted for a week in August 1966. Harry Belafonte guest hosted for a week in February 1968, and among Belafonte's guests were Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. , just months before both men were assassinated ( King in April ; Kennedy in June ). On April 2, 1979, Kermit
5239-408: Is a long time." He paused long enough for me to recognize my cue, so I asked, "How long is it?" "That's why you're here," he said, probably summing up my primary role on the show perfectly... I had to support him, I had to help him get to the punch line , but while doing it I had to make it look as if I wasn't doing anything at all. The better I did it, the less it appeared as if I was doing it....If I
The CBS Late Movie - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-524: Is also provided most weekend afternoons. Due to the unpredictable length of sporting events, CBS occasionally delays scheduled primetime programs to allow the programs to air in their entirety, a practice most commonly seen with the NFL on CBS . In addition to rights to sports events from major sports organizations such as the NFL , PGA , and NCAA , CBS broadcasts the CBS Sports Spectacular ,
5577-966: Is distributed through various free over-the-top platforms , including Stirr , Xumo and Pluto TV . Recently, The Roku Channel began streaming JohnnyCarsonTV on its multi-channel platform LiveTV. Jack Paar had often asked Carson to guest-host Tonight in its earliest years and repeatedly claimed he had been responsible for NBC's selection of Carson in 1962 as his replacement. Steve Allen also utilized guest hosts, including Carson and Ernie Kovacs , particularly after he began hosting The Steve Allen Show in prime time in 1956 and needed to reduce his workload on Tonight . The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson had guest hosts for entire weeks during Carson's vacations and other nights he had off. Many guest hosts were already large names in their own right, among them Frank Sinatra , Burt Reynolds , Don Rickles , Tony Danza , and Steve Martin . Comedian Woody Allen guest hosted three times between 1966 and 1971. The following
5746-463: Is enough. It's time to get out while you're still working on top of your game, while you're still working well." Carson hosted his penultimate show, featuring guests Robin Williams and Bette Midler , on May 21, 1992. The last of Carson's monologues was delivered on this episode and was written by Jim Mulholland, Steven Kunes and Rift Fournier. Once underway, the atmosphere was electric and Carson
5915-416: Is known to remain of Carson's first broadcast as host of The Tonight Show on October 1, 1962, photographs taken that night survive, including Carson being introduced by Groucho Marx , as does an audio recording of Marx's introduction and Carson's first monologue . One of his first jokes upon starting the show (after receiving a few words of encouragement from Marx, one of which was, "Don't go to Hollywood!")
6084-436: Is served by Boston O&O WBZ-TV and Burlington, Vermont , affiliate WCAX-TV ). CBS maintains affiliations with low-power stations (broadcasting either in analog or digital) in a few markets, such as Harrisonburg, Virginia ( WSVF-CD ), Palm Springs, California ( KPSP-CD ), and Parkersburg, West Virginia ( WIYE-LD ). In some markets, including both of those mentioned, these stations also maintain digital simulcasts on
6253-640: Is shared with its U.S. counterpart, whilst the Australian version also features numerous full seasons of local Network 10 shows, all commercial-free. It was announced in September 2020 that the service would be rebranded as Paramount+ in early 2021, and would feature content from the wider ViacomCBS library following the re-merger between CBS and Viacom. The name was also extended to international markets and services such as 10 All Access. The rebrand to Paramount+ took place on March 4, 2021. CBS' master feed
6422-468: Is the largest operator of CBS stations by numerical total, owning 49 CBS affiliates (counting satellites); Tegna Media is the largest operator of CBS stations in terms of overall market reach, owning 15 CBS-affiliated stations (including affiliates in the larger markets in Houston , Tampa and Washington, D.C. ) that reach 8.9% of the country. CBS provides video-on-demand access for delayed viewing of
6591-415: Is transmitted in 1080i high definition , the native resolution format for CBS Corporation's television properties. However, seven of its affiliates transmit the network's programming in 720p HD, while seven others carry the network feed in 480i standard definition either due to technical considerations for affiliates of other major networks that carry CBS programming on a digital subchannel or because
6760-510: The NBC Mystery Movie were added to the mix; the first of these was Banacek , which made its CBS Late Movie debut on January 7, 1975. However, these episodes were sometimes cut to fit into the 60-minute program frame (excluding time for commercials and public service announcements), especially on nights that they were paired up with another 60-minute drama. But not all evenings were devoted to reruns of television serials, for in
6929-860: The CBS Building in New York City and being part of the " Big Three " television networks, CBS has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and the headquarters of owner Paramount at One Astor Plaza (both also in that city) and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network , after the company's trademark symbol of an eye (which has been in use since October 20, 1951), and also
The CBS Late Movie - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-718: The David Lean Great Expectations (1946), and a severely edited 75-minute version of the David Lean Oliver Twist (1948). Some films were seen in two parts over two nights, such as The Dirty Dozen and Grand Prix . Another older film that was featured was the 1939 version of the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles , starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce . In 1975, repeats of episodes from
7267-652: The Library of Congress in the Armed Forces Radio collection. Many 1970s-era episodes have been licensed to distributors that advertise mail-order offers on late-night TV. The later shows that exist in full were stored by Carson in a bomb-proof underground salt mine outside Hutchinson, Kansas . The non-tape archives pertaining to Carson's show are held by the Elkhorn Valley Museum in Carson's hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska . Beginning in 2020,
7436-742: The Margaret Rutherford - Miss Marple series— Murder Most Foul (1964) and Murder at the Gallop (1963). CBS' new anthology also offered packages of 1950s Warner Bros. and MGM films that, up until then, had been run only on local and independent stations but never on a network. These included the Burt Lancaster medieval action-picture The Flame and the Arrow (1950), the Randolph Scott western Fort Worth (1951), and
7605-552: The Mary Martin Broadway production of Peter Pan , CBS responded with a musical production of Cinderella , with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II . Based upon the classic Charles Perrault fairy tale , it is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to have been written for television. It was originally broadcast live in color on CBS on March 31, 1957, as a vehicle for Julie Andrews , who played
7774-483: The Pillsbury Bake-Off , an annual national cooking contest, was broadcast on CBS as a special. Hosts for the broadcast included Arthur Godfrey , Art Linkletter , Bob Barker , Gary Collins , Willard Scott (although under contract with CBS' rival NBC), and Alex Trebek . The Miss USA beauty pageant aired on CBS from 1963 to 2002, during a large portion of that period, the telecast was often emceed by
7943-743: The Richard Widmark military drama Take the High Ground! (1953). But Warners also made available a new package to viewers that showcased the TV premieres of Visconti's controversial anti-Fascist work The Damned (1969), the Beau Bridges outback adventure Adam's Woman (1969) and the Hammer -horror Christopher Lee entry, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969). As mentioned above,
8112-754: The Tiffany Network , which alludes to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenure of William S. Paley (and can also refer to some of CBS's first demonstrations of color television , which were held in the former Tiffany and Company Building in New York City in 1950). The network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. , a radio network founded in Chicago by New York City talent agent Arthur Judson in January 1927. In April of that year,
8281-441: The Tonight Show by a half-hour—would begin preempting the program entirely and replace it with syndicated reruns to generate extra revenue from local advertising. In an onscreen eulogy to Carson in 2005, David Letterman said that every talk show host owes his livelihood to Johnny Carson during his Tonight Show run. In 1979, when Fred Silverman was the head of NBC, Carson took the network to court, claiming that he had been
8450-476: The Tonight Show specifically to disprove the Israeli performer's claims. Randi later wrote, "that Johnny had been a magician himself", so prior to the date of taping, Randi was asked "to help prevent any trickery." Per Randi's advice, the show prepared their own props without informing Geller, and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them." When Geller joined Carson on stage, he appeared surprised that he
8619-427: The Tonight Show. These spoofs typically ran in the sitcom's usual spot on the broadcast schedule and featured one of the sitcom's main characters as the guest host. In September 1983, Joan Rivers was designated Carson's permanent guest host, a role she had been essentially filling for the previous year. In 1986, after years as a guest and 190 total appearances as guest host, she left the program for her own show on
SECTION 50
#17328010004138788-568: The next 12 months. After May 1973, however, the show remained in Burbank exclusively until Carson's retirement. The show's house band , the NBC Orchestra , was led by Skitch Henderson , until 1966 when Milton Delugg took over, who was succeeded by Doc Severinsen less than a year later. The series has been ranked as one of the greatest TV shows of all time in polls from both 2002 and 2013. Johnny Carson's Tonight Show established
8957-403: The 1940s to 1951, consisted of an oval spotlight which shone on the block letters "CBS". The present-day Eye device was conceived by William Golden, based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign and a Shaker drawing. While the logo is commonly attributed to Golden, some design work may have been done by CBS staff designer Georg Olden , one of the first African-Americans to attract some attention in
9126-411: The 1970s, was used for the title logo). The word "SPECIAL", in all caps and repeated multiple times in multiple colors, slowly zoomed out from the frame in a spinning counterclockwise motion against a black background, and rapidly zoomed back into frame as a single word, in white, at the end; the sequence was accompanied by a jazzy though majestic up-tempo fanfare with dramatic horns and percussion (which
9295-490: The 1980s. The "Reach for the Stars" campaign used during the 1981–82 season features a space theme to capitalize on both CBS's stellar improvement in the ratings and the historic launch of the space shuttle Columbia . 1982's "Great Moments" juxtaposed scenes from classic CBS programs such as I Love Lucy with scenes from the network's then-current classics such as Dallas and M*A*S*H . From 1983 to 1986, CBS (by now firmly atop
9464-472: The 2010–11 season, while ABC was broadcasting its entire schedule in HD by the 2011–12 midseason). All of the network's programming has been presented in full HD since then (except for certain holiday specials produced before 2005 – such as the Rankin-Bass specials – which continue to be presented in 4:3 SD, although some have been remastered for HD broadcast). On September 1, 2016, when ABC converted to
9633-606: The Columbia Phonograph Company, parent of Columbia Records ' record label, invested in the network, resulting in its rebranding as the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System ( CPBS ). In early 1928, Judson and Columbia sold the network to Isaac and Leon Levy, two brothers who owned WCAU , the network's Philadelphia affiliate, as well as their partner Jerome Louchheim. They installed William S. Paley, an in-law of
9802-586: The Cosby Kids , Jim Henson's Muppet Babies , Garfield and Friends , and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . In 1997, CBS premiered Wheel 2000 , a children's version of the syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune which aired simultaneously on the Game Show Network . In September 1998, CBS began contracting the time out to other companies to provide programming and material for its Saturday morning schedule. The first of these outsourced blocks
9971-577: The Dome ) and Netflix . Notably, however, CBS is the only major broadcast network that does not provide recent episodes of its programming on Hulu (sister network The CW does offer its programming on the streaming service, albeit on a one-week delay after becoming available on the network's website on Hulu's free service, with users of its subscription service being granted access to newer episodes of CW series eight hours after their initial broadcast), due to concerns over cannibalizing viewership of some of
10140-584: The Frog was guest host. In addition, many other Muppets appeared for skits and regular segments: Frank Oz voiced Fozzie Bear and Animal, while Jerry Nelson performed Uncle Deadly, a Vincent Price –inspired Muppet during a segment with the real Price. Richard Dawson guest hosted 14 times during 1979 and 1980, and was being considered as a full-time replacement should Carson have retired during his 1980 contract dispute with NBC. Carson's contract, that took effect in 1981, reduced his work schedule to three nights
10309-597: The Grenadines . The network has a national reach of 95.96% of all households in the United States (or 299,861,665 Americans with at least one television set). Currently, New Jersey , New Hampshire and Delaware are the only U.S. states where CBS does not have a locally licensed affiliate (New Jersey is served by New York City O&O WCBS-TV and Philadelphia O&O KYW-TV; Delaware is served by KYW and Salisbury, Maryland , affiliate WBOC-TV ; and New Hampshire
SECTION 60
#173280100041310478-556: The Hall and The Midnight Hour . In March 1991, CBS retooled their late night by airing original series under a new umbrella title of Crimetime After Primetime ; new shows included, but were not limited to, Silk Stalkings , Forever Knight , Stephen J. Cannell 's anthology series Scene of the Crime , Tropical Heat (shown as Sweating Bullets on CBS), and Dark Justice . By that fall, CBS added two original game shows to
10647-495: The Lepus , the latter of which featured giant rabbits on the loose, becoming a source of embarrassment for one of its stars, Star Trek actor DeForest Kelley , who refused to discuss the film later in interviews. Well-known theatrical movies were also occasionally featured, such as the 1951 Show Boat (which had made its network TV debut on NBC in 1972, and was shown on CBS as both a Thanksgiving and Fourth of July special),
10816-662: The Levys, as president of the network. With the Columbia record label out of ownership, Paley rebranded the network as the Columbia Broadcasting System . By September 1928, Paley became the network's majority owner with 51 percent of the business. Paramount Pictures then acquired the other 49 percent of CBS in 1929, but the Great Depression eventually forced the studio to sell its shares back to
10985-542: The Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants and moving them to that network as part of an initial five-year contract, which began in 2003 and ended in 2015 after 12 years amid Trump's controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants during the launch of his 2016 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination . On June 1, 1977, it was announced that Elvis Presley had signed a deal with CBS to appear in
11154-614: The Pops , hosted by Nia Peeples and featuring some performances from the BBC version of the program, alongside those taped in Hollywood. The show was presented on late Friday nights, and lasted almost a year. In 1989, CBS Late Night was replaced by The Pat Sajak Show . A year later, CBS Late Night returned after The Pat Sajak Show was shortened from 90 to 60 minutes in February 1990 and then cancelled altogether on April 13, 1990. During
11323-436: The Restless became the first daytime soap opera to broadcast in HD on June 27, 2001. CBS' 14-year conversion to an entirely high-definition schedule ended in 2014, with Big Brother and Let's Make a Deal becoming the final two series to convert from 4:3 standard definition to HD (in contrast, NBC, Fox, and The CW were already airing their entire programming schedules – outside of Saturday mornings – in high definition by
11492-562: The Saint , Thriller ). Repeats of several of the network's situation comedies were also shown in rotation during the 1970s and early 1980s, including The Jeffersons , M*A*S*H , Alice , Archie Bunker's Place and WKRP in Cincinnati . The original series Behind the Screen was part of CBS Late Night from October 1981 to January 1982. The Late Movie ' s time slot
11661-735: The Snowman are the only two pre-1990 animated specials remaining on CBS; the broadcast rights to the Charlie Brown specials are now held by Apple, The Grinch rights by NBC, and the rights to the Garfield specials by Boomerang . All of these animated specials, from 1973 to 1990, began with a fondly remembered seven-second animated opening sequence, in which the words "A CBS Special Presentation" were displayed in colorful lettering (the ITC Avant Garde typeface, widely used in
11830-508: The Sunday political talk show Face the Nation ; early morning news program CBS Morning News ; and the newsmagazines 60 Minutes , CBS News Sunday Morning , and 48 Hours . On weeknights, CBS airs the talk shows The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden (until 2023, which is now replaced by game show After Midnight ). CBS Sports programming
11999-624: The Tonight Show writing staff from 1970 to 1975. If the laughter fell short when a line bombed (as it often did), "Carnac" would face the audience with mock seriousness and bestow a comic curse: "May a diseased yak befriend your sister!" or "May a rabid holy man bless your nether regions with a power tool!" Some bits are desk pieces, others are stand-ups , however the multiperson sketches are collectively referred to as by The Mighty Carson Art Players , with sketch series that include Tea Time Movie with Art Fern , and Home Shopping Network(?) with Sheila McShallow . Jack Paar 's last appearance
12168-862: The United States, some also available in Canada via pay-television providers or in border areas over-the-air. As of 2013 , CBS provides 87 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week. The network provides 22 hours of primetime programming to affiliated stations Monday through Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time (7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday in Central/Mountain time). The network also provides daytime programming from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific weekdays (subtract 1 hour for all other time zones), including
12337-772: The World Turns , Love of Life , Search for Tomorrow , The Secret Storm , The Edge of Night , and Capitol . CBS broadcast the live-action series Captain Kangaroo on weekday mornings from 1955 to 1982, and on Saturdays until 1984. From 1971 to 1986, CBS News produced a series of one-minute segments titled In the News , which aired between other Saturday morning programs. Otherwise, CBS's children's programming has mostly focused on animated series such as reruns of Mighty Mouse , Looney Tunes , and Tom and Jerry cartoons, as well as Scooby-Doo , Fat Albert and
12506-599: The app were limited until the release of its Google Play and Windows 8 apps in October 2013, expanded the selections to include full episodes of all CBS series to which the network does not license the streaming rights to other services. On October 28, 2014, CBS launched CBS All Access , an over-the-top subscription streaming service – priced at $ 5.99 per month ($ 9.99 with the no commercials option) – which allows users to view past and present episodes of CBS shows. Announced on October 16, 2014 (one day after HBO announced
12675-493: The band played a slightly truncated version of the theme that transitioned from the bridge to the closing phrase without reprising the first few notes of the main melody. The NBC Orchestra was the last in-house studio orchestra to perform on American television. Behind the scenes, motion picture director/producer Fred de Cordova joined The Tonight Show in 1970 as producer, graduating to executive producer in 1984. Unlike many people of his position, de Cordova often appeared on
12844-553: The block by CBS affiliates increased during the 1980s, and into the early 1990s, as the syndication market began to grow more, and several stations deciding it would be more financially beneficial to air syndicated programming, thus keeping all advertising revenue for themselves. The debut of The Pat Sajak Show in January 1989 gained some affiliates back to the CBS Late Night lineup; however, some CBS affiliates elected to air The Arsenio Hall Show in syndication instead; in
13013-520: The case of CBS' Chicago station, WBBM-TV , both shows aired back-to-back after the late newscasts. It was not until 1999, when the final stations agreed to carry The Late Late Show in its default time slot, that CBS' late night programming (excluding Nightwatch/Up to the Minute ) was cleared across the entire network. Even before that, full clearance of the Late Show with David Letterman across
13182-509: The children's service of AOL , withdrew sponsorship from CBS' Saturday morning block, which was subsequently renamed KEWLopolis. Complementing CBS's 2007 lineup were Care Bears , Strawberry Shortcake , and Sushi Pack . On February 24, 2009, it was announced that CBS would renew its contract with Cookie Jar for another three seasons through 2012. On September 19, 2009, KEWLopolis was renamed Cookie Jar TV . On July 24, 2013, CBS agreed with Litton Entertainment , which already programmed
13351-406: The concept of using "permanent" guest hosts was fairly strictly adhered to, occasionally illness or some other situation necessitated a substitute guest host, as when David Brenner filled in for Joan Rivers on October 31 and November 1, 1985, when Rivers' husband was briefly hospitalized. During the show's run, its cast and crew collaborated with a number of NBC sitcoms to produce spoof episodes of
13520-869: The decline in audience that occurred a few months after the program's initial telecasts. Also televised during The CBS Late Movie ' s first five years were repeats of made-for-TV movies previously seen on CBS and other networks (including some that first appeared as an ABC Movie of the Week ), and movies not well-suited for prime time due to content. (Violence was often the main factor, with true crime stories and police drama , and occasionally controversial subject matter, or strong suspense , horror , or sci-fi themes.) Among these were The Abominable Dr. Phibes , its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again , and Theatre of Blood (all three of which starred Vincent Price ), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde , The Valley of Gwangi , 7 Faces of Dr. Lao , The Creeping Flesh (with
13689-809: The early 1970s, and is occasionally broadcast on various cable networks to this day; both versions are available on DVD. CBS was also the original broadcast home for the primetime specials produced by the National Geographic Society . The Geographic series in the U.S. started on CBS in 1964, before moving to ABC in 1973 (the specials subsequently moved to PBS – under the production of Pittsburgh member station WQED – in 1975 and NBC in 1995, before returning to PBS in 2000). The specials have featured stories on many scientific figures such as Louis Leakey , Jacques Cousteau , and Jane Goodall , that not only featured their work but helped make them internationally known and accessible to millions. A majority of
13858-574: The early 1970s, but then thrown out to free storage space after the show moved to Burbank, California . When Carson later learned of their destruction, he was furious. Other surviving material from the era has been found on kinescopes held in the archives of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service , or in the personal collections of guests of the program, while a few moments such as Tiny Tim 's wedding, were preserved. New York meteorologist Dr. Frank Field , an occasional guest during
14027-683: The eloquent commentaries of Bernstein. The specials were nominated for several Emmy Awards , including two wins in 1961 and later in 1966, and were among the first programs ever broadcast from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts . Over the years, CBS has broadcast three different productions of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker – two live telecasts of the George Balanchine New York City Ballet production in 1957 and 1958 respectively,
14196-406: The financing required for such a production would prove cost-prohibitive. No official poll was taken among the executives, however, and this may have been due to the fact that in 1966 when a similar offer was dangled before affiliates, only 70% of CBS stations desired a late-evening talk show. Yet in 1969, this is just what was offered to them—in the person of Merv Griffin . But despite his success as
14365-526: The first few weeks of The CBS Late Movie proved a winner with late night television audiences. Here is the lineup of feature films that initially drew viewers away from Johnny Carson and the rest of CBS' late night competition: As the graph above indicates, films that had never before been shown on television proliferated during The CBS Late Movie ' s first couple of weeks. But later on in this period, older films that had been run previously on local stations began to increase in number. This may help explain
14534-524: The first fifteen minutes of the show between February 1965 and December 1966 without Carson, who then took over at 11:30. Finally, because he wanted the show to start when he came on, at the beginning of January 1967 Carson insisted the 11:15 segment be eliminated (which, he claimed in a monologue at the time, "no one actually watched except the Armed Forces and four Navajos in Gallup, New Mexico "). By
14703-469: The first line, Carson joined in and turned it into an impromptu duet. Midler finished her appearance from center stage, where she slowly sang the pop standard " One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) ." Carson became unexpectedly tearful, and a shot of the two of them was captured by a camera angle from across the set that had never before been used on the show. The audience became tearful as well and called
14872-469: The first portion of CBS Late Night , with each episode's runtime extended to 70 minutes (or one hour and 10 minutes) to allow CBS affiliates time for increased availability for advertisements. The TV movie and the penultimate episode were both aired by CBS on May 21, 1986, with the finale one week later on May 28, 1986. In 1987, CBS aired an Americanized version of the BBC 's long running pop music show, Top of
15041-479: The horror team of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee ), Asylum , Baron Blood , Frogs , the killer-rats-on-the-loose film Willard and its sequel Ben . Richard Burton 's Doctor Faustus , Monty Python and the Holy Grail , and The Monkees ' Head made their network television debut on this series, as did such lower-budget schlock horror films as The Giant Spider Invasion and Night of
15210-417: The host of one of the network's game shows including Bob Barker from 1967 to 1987 (at which point Barker, an animal rights activist who eventually convinced producers of The Price Is Right to cease offering fur coats as prizes on the program, quit in a dispute over their use), succeed by Alan Thicke in 1988, Dick Clark from 1989 to 1993, and Bob Goen from 1994 to 1996. The pageant's highest viewership
15379-509: The hour-long series The Young and the Restless , which debuted in 1973, and the half-hour series The Bold and the Beautiful , which debuted in 1987. CBS has long aired the most soap operas out of the Big Three networks, carrying 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of soaps on its daytime lineup from 1977 to 2009, and still retains the longest daily schedule. Other than Guiding Light , notable daytime soap operas that once aired on CBS include As
15548-466: The introduction of the Eye logo, featuring special IDs of logo versions from previous CBS image campaigns being shown during the network's primetime lineup. CBS historically used a specially-commissioned variant of Didot , a close relative to Bodoni , as its corporate font until 2021. CBS has developed several notable image campaigns, and several of the network's most well-known slogans were introduced in
15717-790: The late 1960s to the early 1970s). The eye logo has served as inspiration for the logos of Associated Television (ATV) in the United Kingdom, Canal 4 in El Salvador, Televisa in Mexico, France 3 , Latina Televisión in Peru, Fuji Television in Japan, Rede Bandeirantes and TV Globo in Brazil, and Canal 10 in Uruguay. In October 2011, the network celebrated the 60th anniversary of
15886-443: The latter, retiring altogether. In order to work fewer days each week, Carson began to petition network executives in 1974 that reruns on the weekends be discontinued, in favor of showing them on one or more nights during the week. In response to his demands, NBC created a new comedy/variety series to feed to affiliates on Saturday nights that debuted in October 1975, Saturday Night Live . In 1980, Carson renewed his contract with
16055-422: The launch of its over-the-top service HBO Now ) as the first OTT offering by a USA broadcast television network, the service initially encompassed the network's existing streaming portal at CBS.com and its mobile app for smartphones and tablet computers ; CBS All Access became available on Roku on April 7, 2015, and on Chromecast on May 14, 2015. In addition to providing full-length episodes of CBS programs,
16224-596: The launch of its simulcast feed CBS HD in September 1998, at the start of the 1998–99 season . That year, the network aired the first NFL game broadcast in high-definition, with the telecast of the New York Jets – Buffalo Bills game on November 8. The network gradually converted much of its existing programming from standard definition to high definition beginning with the 2000–01 season , with select shows among that season's slate of freshmen scripted series being broadcast in HD starting with their debuts. The Young and
16393-403: The mid-1970s Tonight was the most profitable show on television, making NBC $ 50 to $ 60 million ($ 230 to $ 280 million in 2023) each year. Carson influenced the scheduling of reruns (which typically aired under the title The Best of Carson ) in the mid-1970s and, in 1980, the length of each evening's broadcast, by threatening NBC with, in the first case, moving to another network, and in
16562-451: The mid-2000s. In 2014, Turner Classic Movies would begin rerunning select interviews from the program for a new series called "Carson on TCM" presented by Conan O'Brien , who himself hosted The Tonight Show briefly. The digital multicast network Antenna TV acquired rerun rights to whole episodes of the series in August 2015. Unlike the previous clip shows , Antenna TV's airings feature full broadcasts as they were originally seen, with
16731-557: The modern format of the late-night talk show: a monologue sprinkled with a rapid-fire series of 16 to 22 one-liners (Carson had a rule of no more than three on the same subject) was sometimes followed by sketch comedy , then moving on to guest interviews and performances by musicians and stand-up comedians , in no fixed order. Occasionally, Carson interviewed prominent politicians such as Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan , Bill Clinton , Robert F. Kennedy , and Hubert Humphrey , however Carson refused to discuss his personal political views on
16900-492: The monologue, the other that listed the guests and re-announced the host, starting at 11:30 p.m. The two openings gave affiliates the option of screening either a fifteen-minute or thirty-minute local newscast preceding Carson. Since 1959, the show had been videotaped earlier the same broadcast day. As more affiliates introduced thirty minutes of local news, Carson's monologue was being seen by fewer people. To rectify this situation, Ed McMahon and Skitch Henderson co-hosted
17069-462: The multiple-voting shares held by National Amusements) were given a 72% stake in the combined Entercom, CBS no longer owns or operates any radio stations directly; however, it still provides radio news broadcasts to its radio affiliates and the new owners of its former radio stations, and licenses the rights to use CBS trademarks under a long-term contract. The television network has over 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated television stations throughout
17238-564: The museum began working with the National Comedy Center to preserve the archive. A large amount of material from Carson's first two decades of The Tonight Show (1962–1982), much of it not seen since it had first aired, appeared in a half hour "clip/compilation" syndicated program known as Carson's Comedy Classics that aired in 1983. Audio clips from the show were featured nightly on WHO-AM in Des Moines, Iowa , in
17407-666: The name Tomorrow Coast to Coast . This was short-lived as a year and a half later, Snyder had quit and Tomorrow Coast to Coast had been canceled. Carson was given authority to fill the vacant time slot and used it to create Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993). Today, The Tonight Show remains one hour in length and is still followed by Late Night , currently under the title Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014–). In May 1991, following positive viewer reception during tests in St. Louis ( KSDK ) and Dallas – Fort Worth ( KXAS ), NBC reached an agreement with Carson Productions to delay
17576-616: The network (which premiered in August 1993) wouldn't happen until the end of 1994. First airing on February 14, 1972, The CBS Late Movie initially ran titles from a new package of MGM films that had not been previously televised. These included the Richard Chamberlain courtroom drama Twilight of Honor (1963), the original version of the sci-fi classic Village of the Damned (1960), Sidney Lumet 's prisoner-of-war entry The Hill (1965), as well as two installments from
17745-415: The network converted its on-screen graphical elements to a 16:9 widescreen presentation for all non-news and sports programs. Litton Entertainment continues to frame the graphical elements in their programs for Dream Team within a 4:3 frame due to them being positioned for future syndicated sales, though all of its programming has been in high definition. The CBS television network's initial logo, used from
17914-494: The network in 1932. CBS would then remain primarily an independent company throughout the next 63 years. Under Paley's guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States and eventually one of the Big Three American broadcast television networks. CBS ventured and expanded its horizons through television starting in the 1940s, spinning off its broadcast syndication division Viacom to
18083-643: The network include Beat the Clock and To Tell the Truth . Two long-running primetime-only games were the panel shows What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret . The network is also home to The Talk , a panel talk show similar in format to ABC's The View . It debuted in October 2010. As of the show's thirteenth season, the panel features Sheryl Underwood , Amanda Kloots , Jerry O'Connell , Akbar Gbajabiamila , and Natalie Morales who serves as moderator. CBS Daytime airs two daytime soap operas each weekday:
18252-572: The network's most prominent programs; however, episode back catalogs of certain past and present CBS series are available on the service through an agreement with CBS Television Distribution. Upon the release of the app in March 2013, CBS restricted streaming of the most recent episode of any of the network's programs on its streaming app for Apple iOS devices until eight days after their initial broadcast to encourage live or same-week (via both DVR and cable on demand) viewing; programming selections on
18421-402: The network's programming through various means, including via its website at CBS.com; the network's apps for iOS , Android , and newer version Windows devices; a traditional VOD service called CBS on Demand available on most traditional cable and IPTV providers; and through content deals with Amazon Video (which holds exclusive streaming rights to the CBS drama series Extant and Under
18590-474: The network, which he would continue to control until James Corden's run began in March 2015, when it came under network ownership. CBS revived the concept of running late night crime and police procedural reruns, using the umbrella title CBS Summer Showcase , in the summer of 2015 between the May 20 finale of Late Show with David Letterman and the September 8 premiere of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , and
18759-455: The next 30 years. The CBS eye has since become a widely recognized symbol. While the logo has been used in different ways, the Eye device itself has never been redesigned. As part of a then-new graphical identity created by Trollbäck + Company that was used by the network during the 2006–2007 network television season, the eye was placed in a "trademark" position on show titles, days of the week and descriptive words, an approach highly respecting
18928-582: The only edits being removal of The Tonight Show name, with the show being renamed simply as Johnny Carson (as of January 2018, the broadcasts air opposite the current edition of The Tonight Show in much of the United States, and NBC still owns the trademark on that name), and with bumpers, walk-on music and the closing theme being replaced by generic music cues from the Warner/Chappell Production Music library. Most musical guest segments are also removed. Antenna TV began airing
19097-414: The postwar graphic design field. The Eye device made its broadcast debut on October 20, 1951. The following season, as Golden prepared a new "ident", CBS President Frank Stanton insisted on keeping the Eye device and using it as much as possible. Golden died unexpectedly in 1959, and was replaced by Lou Dorfsman , one of his top assistants, who would go on to oversee all print and on-air graphics for CBS for
19266-769: The ratings of The Late Late Show with James Corden , which follows the Late Show . In an interview with Vulture , Corden stated that he would not have been interested in having The Late Late Show temporarily moved up into the Late Show timeslot instead, explaining that "if it goes really well, then I’m just bummed in September. And if it goes terribly, then I’m the guy, 'Ah, well he can’t do it,' when in fact we’re only 25 shows in." These fears were not realized, as The Late Late Show received ratings consistent with what it had garnered previously, and Summer Showcase itself usually maintained Letterman's ratings share, even beating first-run episodes of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! in
19435-592: The ratings) featured a campaign based on the slogan "We've Got the Touch". Vocals for the campaign's jingle were contributed by Richie Havens (1983–84; one occasion in 1984–85) and Kenny Rogers (1985–86). The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC . The show is the third installment of The Tonight Show . Hosted by Johnny Carson , it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing Tonight Starring Jack Paar and
19604-406: The ratings. Corden subsequently used the lead-ins as an opportunity to spoof companion aftershows such as Talking Dead , with cold open sketches such as Talking Mentalist and Talking Hawaii Five-0 . CBS CEO Les Moonves made a cameo appearance during the series premiere of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , manning a lever that he could use to switch back to The Mentalist reruns if he
19773-401: The remainder of the staff handled; Brickman remarked in a 2009 interview that this was the main reason why he, at 25, got his position without any major experience, since all of the other writers under Cavett declined the offer. Brickman was succeeded as head writer by Hank Bradford, a writer and stand-up comedian who had performed his routine on the show multiple times in the 1960s, and who lead
19942-793: The restoration of the Ed Sullivan Theater between those dates. From May 21, 2015, until September 7, 2015, the network aired reruns of police procedurals and scripted dramas in the Late Show slot beginning with The Mentalist (May 21–June 5) and continued throughout the summer with Hawaii Five-0 (June 8–12, July 27–31), CSI: Cyber (June 15–19, August 17–21), Elementary (June 22–26), Blue Bloods (June 29-July 5), The Good Wife (July 6–10, August 24–28), NCIS: Los Angeles (July 13–17), NCIS (July 20–24, September 7) Scorpion (August 3–7), NCIS: New Orleans (August 10–14) and Madam Secretary (August 31-September 4). The network dismissed concerns that it could hurt
20111-654: The risk. The series' announcer and Carson's sidekick was Ed McMahon , who from the first show would introduce Carson with a drawn-out "Here's Johnny!" (something McMahon was inspired to do by the overemphasized way he had introduced reporter Robert Pierpoint on the NBC Radio Network program Monitor ). The catchphrase was heard nightly for 30 years, and ranked top of the TV Land poll of U.S. TV catchphrases and quotes in 2006; it has been referenced in lots of media going from The Shining to Johnny Bravo to
20280-453: The same two-month time-span, CBS Late Night also televised reruns of Patrick McGoohan's classic spy series, The Prisoner (1967–68). The network also continued to show reruns of other old prime time shows such as Wiseguy and shows from other networks including Fox's 21 Jump Street and NBC 's Stingray . The line-up also featured original programming; for example, there was Overtime... with Pat O'Brien as well as The Kids in
20449-543: The service allows live programming streams of local CBS affiliates in 124 markets reaching 75% of the United States. CBS All Access offered the most recent episodes of the network's shows the day after their original broadcast, as well as complete back catalogs of most of its current series and a wide selection of episodes of classic series from the CBS Television Distribution and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks program library to subscribers of
20618-564: The service. CBS All Access also carried behind-the-scenes features from CBS programs and special events. Original programs aired on CBS All Access included Star Trek: Discovery , The Good Fight , and Big Brother: Over the Top . In December 2018, the service was launched in Australia under the name 10 All Access , due to its affiliation with CBS-owned free-to-air broadcaster Network 10 . Due to local programming rights, not all content
20787-488: The show after owning it from 1969 to the early 1970s. Only 33 complete episodes of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show that had originally aired prior to May 1, 1972, are known to exist. All other shows during this period, including Carson's debut as host, are now considered lost. Carson himself initially encouraged the erasure of his archives thinking that the shows were of no real value and that NBC should "make guitar picks" out of them. Carson's shows were preserved by NBC into
20956-580: The show has been hosted since 2007 by actor and comedian Drew Carey . The network is also home to the current incarnation of Let's Make a Deal , hosted by singer and comedian Wayne Brady . CBS is the only commercial broadcast network that continues to broadcast daytime game shows. Notable game shows that once aired as part of the network's daytime lineup include Match Game , Tattletales , The $ 10/25,000 Pyramid , Press Your Luck , Card Sharks , Family Feud , and Wheel of Fortune . Past game shows that have had both daytime and prime time runs on
21125-439: The show never was strictly defined. I did what had to be done when it had to be done. I was there when he needed me, and when he didn't I moved down the couch and kept quiet. ... I did the audience warm-up , I did commercials, for a brief period I co-hosted the first fifteen minutes of the show..., and I performed in many sketches . On our thirteenth-anniversary show Johnny and I were talking at his desk and he said, "Thirteen years
21294-409: The show out of concern it might alienate his audience and resisted efforts from his writing staff, particularly head writer and admitted liberal Marshall Brickman , to include more political material in the show. Other regulars were selected for their entertainment or information value, in contrast to those who offered more cerebral conversation. His preference for access to Hollywood stars caused
21463-419: The show seven days a week beginning January 1, 2016. Currently, 60-minute episodes (from September 1980 – May 1992) air Monday through Friday nights, and 90-minute episodes (from 1972 – September 12, 1980) Saturday and Sunday nights. Selected episodes of Carson's show are available on NBC's Peacock streaming service. Shout! Factory launched a 24/7 streaming channel devoted to the series in August 2020, which
21632-546: The show ten times, and psychologist Joyce Brothers was one of Carson's most frequent guests. Carson, in general, did not feature prop comedy acts (Carson was not averse to using prop comedy himself); such acts, with Gallagher being a prominent example, more commonly appeared when guest hosts helmed the program. Carson almost never socialized with guests before or after the show; frequent interviewee Orson Welles recalled that Tonight Show employees were astonished when Carson visited Welles's dressing room to say hello before
21801-810: The show's move to the West Coast on May 1, 1972. The show would however would continue to have episodes filmed in New York until 1973 when production moved to Hollywood permanently. The Tonight Show would not return to New York until 2014 when Jimmy Fallon took the hosting reins. When asked about intellectual conversation on The Tonight Show , Carson and his staff invariably cited " Carl Sagan , Paul Ehrlich , Margaret Mead , Gore Vidal , Shana Alexander , Madalyn Murray O'Hair " as guests; one television critic stated, however, "he always presented them as if they were spinach for your diet when he did [feature such names]." Family therapist Carlfred Broderick appeared on
21970-493: The show's start time by five minutes beginning September 2, allowing its stations to include more commercials during their local newscasts. (The timeshift would also affect Late Night , Later with Bob Costas , and station-programmed overnight syndicated shows.) NBC executives had been proposing the five-minute delay idea to Carson since 1988, only to be repeatedly rebuffed, amid concerns that some of its affiliates—particularly those that had unsuccessfully sought permission to delay
22139-458: The show, Carson regretted that the first 10 years of his tenure as host no longer exist saying that he would have loved to show the audience clips of Jayne Mansfield with Boris Karloff , Peter Lorre talking to Tallulah Bankhead and even the first appearance of Bette Midler (who had appeared on Carson's penultimate episode the night before) on the show. More than fifty million people tuned in for this finale, which ended with Carson sitting on
22308-421: The show, bantering with Carson from his chair off-camera (though occasionally a camera would be pointed in his direction). Dick Cavett was Carson's original head writer. He was succeeded by Marshall Brickman when Cavett left to pursue a stand-up career in 1964. The Tonight Show writing staff was structured so that the head writer was responsible for all of the material except for the nightly monologues, which
22477-610: The sole broadcaster of The Kennedy Center Honors , a two-hour performing arts tribute typically taped and edited in December for later broadcast during the holiday season. CBS has 15 owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with 228 additional television stations encompassing 50 states, the District of Columbia, two U.S. possessions (Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Bermuda and St. Vincent and
22646-690: The specials were narrated by various actors, notably Alexander Scourby during the CBS run. The success of the specials led in part to the creation of the National Geographic Channel , a cable channel launched in January 2001 as a joint venture between the National Geographic Society and Fox Cable Networks . The specials' distinctive theme music, by Elmer Bernstein , was also adopted by the National Geographic Channel. From 1949 to 2002,
22815-417: The start of the late night lineup playing off the popularity of the syndicated dating game show Studs ; the first to premiere in September 1991 was Personals , hosted by Michael Burger , paired a month later with Night Games , starring comedian Jeff Marder and Playboy Playmate Luann Lee as announcer. Both were adult-oriented game shows that followed a format similar to The Dating Game . Night Games
22984-411: The stipulation that the show lose its last half-hour. On the last 90-minute show (September 12, 1980), Carson explained that by going to an hour, the show would feel more fast-paced, and have a greater selection of guests. For a year, Tom Snyder 's existing talk show, Tomorrow , was expanded to 90 minutes and forced to change its format, adding gossip reporter Rona Barrett as a co-host and taking on
23153-752: The summer of 1976, classic British films enjoyed a short revival on The CBS Late Movie . These included the Nigel Patrick mystery Sapphire (1959), Carol Reed 's I.R.A. drama Odd Man Out (1947), and the Powell and Pressburger fantasy, Stairway to Heaven (1946). After 1976, the show also featured back-to-back reruns of different one-hour television series, some popular ( Barnaby Jones , Kojak ), some lesser known ( Kolchak: The Night Stalker , Black Sheep Squadron , Dan August , Harry O ), and some originally made for British television ( The Avengers and The New Avengers , Return of
23322-592: The then-new Fox Network . According to Carson, Rivers never personally informed him of the existence of her show. Rivers, on the other hand, disagreed. Nevertheless, Rivers' new show was quickly canceled, and she never again appeared on The Tonight Show with Carson. Nor did she appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , a ban maintained by Leno out of respect for Carson. She also never appeared during Conan O'Brien's seven-month run. After Carson's death in 2005, Rivers told CNN that Carson never forgave her for leaving, and never spoke to her again, even after she wrote him
23491-461: The three performers out for a second bow after the taping was completed. This show was immediately recognized as a television classic that Midler considered one of the most emotional moments of her life and eventually won an Emmy for her role in it. Carson had no guests on his final episode of The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, which was instead a retrospective show taped before an invitation-only studio audience of family, friends, and crew. During
23660-564: The time of the deal, Nickelodeon and CBS were corporate sisters through the latter's then parent company Viacom as a result of its 2000 merger with CBS Corporation. From 2002 to 2005, live-action and animated Nickelodeon series aimed at older children also aired as part of the block under the name Nick on CBS . Following the Viacom-CBS split, the network decided to discontinue the Nickelodeon content deal. In March 2006, CBS entered into
23829-422: The title role; that broadcast was seen by over 100 million people. It was subsequently remade by CBS in 1965, with Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon, Ginger Rogers , and Walter Pidgeon among its stars; the remake also included the new song "Loneliness of Evening", which was originally composed in 1949 for South Pacific but was not performed in that musical. This version was rebroadcast several times on CBS into
23998-707: The two separated companies agreed to re-merge to become ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Global). Following the sale, CBS and its other broadcasting and entertainment assets were reorganized into a new division, CBS Entertainment Group. CBS operated the CBS Radio network until 2017 when it sold its radio division to Entercom (now known as Audacy, Inc. since 2021). Before this, CBS Radio mainly provided news and feature content for its portfolio of owned-and-operated radio stations in large and mid-sized markets, as well as its affiliated radio stations in various other markets. While CBS Corporation common shareholders (i.e. not
24167-408: The usual talk format exemplified by Johnny Carson's Tonight Show on NBC or Joey Bishop , who was about to bring his own brand of chat to ABC audiences. In 1967, at its annual convention, CBS met with 750 affiliate executives and told them the network could provide a Carson-style late night program by the following spring—but only if 85% of station-owners would commit to airing it. Otherwise,
24336-798: The value of the design. The logo is alternately known as the "Eyemark", a branding used for CBS' domestic television syndication division , under the Eyemark Entertainment name, in the mid-to-late 1990s after Westinghouse Electric bought CBS, but before the King World acquisition (which Eyemark was folded into), and subsequent merger with Viacom; Eyemark Entertainment was the result of the merger of MaXaM Entertainment (an independent television syndication firm which Westinghouse acquired shortly after its merger with CBS in 1996), Group W Productions (Westinghouse Broadcasting's own syndication division), & CBS Enterprises (CBS's syndication arm from
24505-727: The works of Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), beginning with How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1966, as well as several specials based on the Garfield comic strip during the 1980s (which led to Garfield getting his Saturday-morning cartoon on the network, Garfield and Friends , which ran from 1988 to 1995). Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , produced in stop motion by Rankin/Bass , has been another annual holiday staple of CBS; however, that special first aired on NBC in 1964. As of 2011 , Rudolph and Frosty
24674-404: The years he was weather forecaster for WNBC-TV , showed several clips of his appearances with Carson in a 2002 career retrospective on WWOR-TV ; Field had maintained the clips in his own personal archives. There are also two appearances by Judy Garland in 1968 that still survive. John Lennon and Paul McCartney 's joint appearance on the May 14, 1968 episode guest-hosted by Joe Garagiola , with
24843-459: Was "So Old, So Young" by CBS West Coast musical director Morton Stevens , which also served as the theme music for CBS' prime time movies until 1978. Until 1969, CBS programming had never ventured into the late hours. However, three years earlier, scheduling coordinators at many of the network's affiliates, who were programming old movies after nightly local newscasts, took notice of the dwindling stock of new films available for acquisition. In fact,
25012-935: Was about to pack up the next day and go back to Tel Aviv . I thought, That's it — I'm destroyed." However, this appearance on The Tonight Show , which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham, To Geller's astonishment, he was immediately booked on The Merv Griffin Show . He was on his way to becoming a paranormal superstar. "That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller," Geller said. To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure only made his gifts seem more real: If he were performing magic tricks, they would surely work every time. As his retirement approached, Carson tried to avoid sentimentality but would periodically show clips of some of his favorite moments and again invited some of his favorite guests. He told his crew, "Everything comes to an end; nothing lasts forever. Thirty years
25181-502: Was absent or filling in for McMahon as the announcer (this usually happened when a guest host substituted for Carson, which generally gave McMahon the night off as well). The series' instrumental theme music , " Johnny's Theme ", was a re-arrangement of the Paul Anka composition "Toot Sweet", which Anka and Annette Funicello had separately recorded, with lyrics, as "It's Really Love". During shows when Newsom filled in for Severinsen,
25350-436: Was actively courted by rival network ABC , which was willing to double Carson's salary and offer him a lighter work schedule and ownership of the show. NBC, in turn, was ready to offer The Tonight Show to Carson's most frequent guest host at the time, Richard Dawson . Eventually, Carson reached an agreement that paid $ 25 million a year while reducing his workload from 90 to 60 minutes, with new shows airing only three nights
25519-413: Was also at times taken over by tape-delayed sports events, such as NBA playoffs and finals games . TV movies from other networks ( Something for Joey , Birth of The Beatles ) began to appear during the 1980s, and in 1985 the series was retooled as CBS Late Night . The expansion of cable and satellite television during the 1980s took over much of the show's movie fare, and it became mostly
25688-464: Was being "pressed" to perform by Carson. According to Adam Higginbotham's Nov. 7, 2014 article in the New York Times : The result was a legendary immolation, in which Geller offered up flustered excuses to his host as his abilities failed him again and again. "I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated," Geller told me, when I spoke to him in September. "I went back to my hotel, devastated. I
25857-530: Was canceled in June 1992, replaced by A Perfect Score , a similar show also hosted by Marder. Both Score and Personals continued until December 1992, to be replaced by an earlier Crimetime After Primetime until being dropped for Late Show with David Letterman by the following August. Letterman's agreement with the network also came with the ability to produce programming in the hour after his show. In January 1995, Letterman's company Worldwide Pants began producing The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder for
26026-558: Was dissatisfied with the new program. CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. , commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System ), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global and is one of the company's three flagship subsidiaries, along with namesake Paramount Pictures and MTV . Headquartered at
26195-421: Was due to head-to-head competition with NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , and starting in 1980, ABC News ' Nightline . ABC themselves went with a similar format to CBS Late Night , with Wide World of Entertainment , which later gave way to ABC Late Night , which consisted of reruns of that network's prime time series, original movies, and some first-run programming. Preemptions and delays of
26364-838: Was edited incidental music from the CBS crime drama Hawaii Five-O , titled "Call to Danger" on the Capitol Records soundtrack LP). This opening sequence appeared immediately before all CBS specials of the period (such as the Miss USA pageants and the annual presentation of the Kennedy Center Honors ), in addition to animated specials. CBS was also responsible for airing the series of Young People's Concerts , conducted by Leonard Bernstein . Telecast every few months between 1958 and 1972, first in black-and-white and then in color beginning in 1966, these programs introduced millions of children to classical music through
26533-455: Was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971. In 2005, Viacom split itself into two separate companies and re-established CBS Corporation through the spin-off of its broadcast television, radio and select cable television and non-broadcasting assets, with the CBS network at its core. CBS Corporation was controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements , which also controlled the second incarnation of Viacom until December 4, 2019, when
26702-570: Was going to play second fiddle , I wanted to be the Heifetz of second fiddlers....The most difficult thing for me to learn how to do was just sit there with my mouth closed. Many nights I'd be listening to Johnny and in my mind I'd reach the same ad lib just as he said it. I'd have to bite my tongue not to say it out loud. I had to make sure I wasn't too funny—although critics who saw some of my other performances will claim I needn't have worried. If I got too many laughs, I wasn't doing my job; my job
26871-407: Was greeted with a sustained, two-minute intense standing ovation. Williams was especially uninhibited with his trademark manic energy and stream-of-consciousness lunacy. Midler was more emotional. When the conversation turned to Johnny's favorite songs, " I'll Be Seeing You " and " Here's That Rainy Day ," Midler mentioned that she knew a chorus of the latter. She began singing the song, and after
27040-468: Was no host per se, or closing credits besides those of the night's presentation. (The bumpers announcing the stars of the movie rotated names, two or three at a time, so more of the players would be mentioned.) The program was launched following the cancellation of The Merv Griffin Show , CBS' late night talk show from 1969 to 1972, which went on to have a long run in first-run syndication following CBS' cancellation. The CBS Late Movie theme music
27209-409: Was not going to be interviewed, but instead was expected to display his abilities using the provided articles. Geller said "This scares me." and "I'm surprised because before this program your producer came and he read me at least 40 questions you were going to ask me." Geller was unable to display any paranormal abilities, saying "I don't feel strong" and he expressed his displeasure at feeling like he
27378-466: Was on March 29, 1962, and due to Carson's commitment to the ABC game show Who Do You Trust? , he could not take over until October 1 (the day his ABC contract expired). His first guests were Rudy Vallée , Tony Bennett , Mel Brooks , and Joan Crawford . Carson inherited from Paar a show that was 1 3/4 hours (105 minutes) long. The show broadcast two openings, one starting at 11:15 p.m. and including
27547-502: Was recorded in the early 1980s when it regularly topped the Nielsen ratings on the week of its broadcast. Viewership dropped sharply throughout the 1990s and 2000s, from an estimated viewership of 20 million to an average of 7 million from 2000 to 2001. In 2002, Donald Trump (owner of the Miss USA pageant's governing body, the Miss Universe Organization ) brokered a new deal with NBC, giving it half-ownership of
27716-488: Was renamed CBS WKND in 2023. CBS was the original broadcast network home of the animated primetime holiday specials based on the Peanuts comic strip, beginning with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965. Over 30 holiday Peanuts specials (each for a specific holiday such as Halloween ) were broadcast on CBS until 2000 when the broadcast rights were acquired by ABC. CBS also aired several primetime animated specials based on
27885-557: Was replaced by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . Ed McMahon served as Carson's sidekick and the show's announcer . For its first decade, Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show was based at the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza , New York City, with some episodes recorded at NBC Studios in Burbank, California ; on May 1, 1972, the show moved to Burbank as its main venue with extended returns to New York for several weeks over
28054-468: Was the CBS Kidshow , which ran until 2000 and featured programming from Canadian studio Nelvana such as Anatole , Mythic Warriors , Rescue Heroes , and Flying Rhino Junior High . After its agreement with Nelvana ended, the network then entered into a deal with Nickelodeon to air programming from its Nick Jr. block beginning in September 2000, under the banner Nick Jr. on CBS . By
28223-477: Was the first MTS stereo broadcast in U.S. television history, though not the first television broadcast with stereophonic sound . Only NBC's flagship local station in New York City, WNBC , had stereo broadcast capability at that time. NBC transmitted The Tonight Show in stereo sporadically through 1984 and on a regular basis beginning in 1985. According to Skepticism activist James Randi , Carson invited Uri Geller , who claimed paranormal powers, onto
28392-467: Was to be part of a team that generated the laughs. The Tonight Show had a live big band for nearly all of its existence. The NBC Orchestra during Carson's reign was originally led by Skitch Henderson (who had previously led the band during Tonight Starring Steve Allen ), followed briefly by Milton DeLugg . Starting in 1967 and continuing until Jay Leno took over, the band was led by Doc Severinsen , with Tommy Newsom filling in for him when he
28561-416: Was to pretend to panic and say, "I want my nana!" (This recording was played at the start of Carson's final broadcast on May 22, 1992.) The oldest surviving video recording of the show is dated November 1962, while the oldest surviving color recording is from April 1964, when Carson interviewed Jake Ehrlich Sr. as his guest. The 30-minute audio recordings of many of the "missing" episodes are contained in
#412587