The Late Show (1986 TV series)
| The Late Show | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 'The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (1986–1987) |
| Genre | Comedy/Talk/Variety Show |
| Developed by | Fox Television Network |
| Written by |
Monty Aidem Hank Bradford Stan Burns Londos D'Arrigo Wayne Kline Toem Perew Michael Prescott Daniel Rosen Dennis Snee Levi Taylor Patric Verrone Billy Sammeth |
| Presented by |
Joan Rivers (1986–1987) Buck Henry (1987) Arsenio Hall (1987) Ross Shafer (1988) |
| Narrated by |
Clint Holmes (1986–1987) Daniel Rosen (1988) |
| Theme music composer |
Mark Hudson Michael Sembello |
| Composer(s) | Jay Richard Kennedy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Producer (s)Bruce McKay, John Scura, Nora Fraser |
| Editor(s) |
Wanda Armstrong (assistant editor) Jay Richard Kennedy (music editor) |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | October 9, 1986 – October 28, 1988 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The Arsenio Hall Show |
The Late Show is an American late-night talk show and the first series broadcast on the then-new Fox Network. Originally hosted by comic actress Joan Rivers, it first aired on October 9, 1986, under the title The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. It is also the first late-night show hosted by Arsenio Hall.
The talk show was a direct attempt at competing against NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where Rivers had been Carson's permanent guest host since 1983. The show was initially broadcast live.
Many in 1986, including top executives at NBC, thought it was possible that Johnny Carson would retire after reaching his 25th anniversary on October 1, 1987, as it was such a logical cut-off point. In spring 1986, a confidential memo between top NBC executives listing about 10 possible replacements in the event of Carson's retirement the next year was leaked. Rivers was shocked to see that she was not on the list.
In an article she wrote for People magazine, Rivers said that NBC offered her only a one-year contract in 1985 as permanent guest host while Carson's contract had been renewed for two years, which signaled to her that her future was uncertain as her previous one year contracts had run the same length as Carson's. In addition, Rivers noted numerous snubs from NBC executives over the years, such as not being invited to the annual Carson party until recently, and taking the fall for a controversial joke that management approved during rehearsal. Rivers had received higher-paying offers from other networks in prior years but declined them out of her loyalty to Carson, but in 1986 as NBC was unwilling to give assurances on her future and negotiations were fruitless, this was the impetus for Rivers to seriously consider the Fox offer.
Fox was looking for a host for a late-night talk show for the network's launch in October 1986 and offered Rivers the job at a salary higher than what NBC was paying. She accepted, and Carson was blindsided by the news when he saw the press conference on television. Moments later, when Rivers called him at home, he refused to take the call.
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