Tonight Live with Steve Vizard | |
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Created by | Artist Services |
Starring | Steve Vizard |
Country of origin | Australia |
No. of episodes | Approx 1,000 |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | Seven Network |
Original release | February 1990 – November 1993 |
Tonight Live with Steve Vizard was a nightly Australian comedy chat show broadcast on Seven Network in Australia. It was a one-hour live studio based show broadcast nationally 5 nights a week from February 1990 to November 1993, usually commencing at 10:30 pm every week night. Presented by Australian lawyer,comedian and writer Steve Vizard, the show's format was an eclectic mix of a traditional Tonight Show, such as the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Jay Leno, In Melbourne Tonight with Graham Kennedy with more off-beat, often deconstructionist elements, such as broadcasting a rehearsal of the show, a rained out show, a parallel Tonight show, using the floor manager and cameramen as on air talent, using the studio audience to replace high-profile guests and the like.
The show won the late night ratings around Australia and won several awards, including Variety Club Awards, Television Society Awards and Logie Awards, including in 1991 a Gold Logie for Steve Vizard as Most Popular Person on Australian Television and nominations on three other occasions.
One of the main features of the show was the diversity of its guests. An average show featured at least 3 interviews with often unexpected disclosures. Over the shows history, in excess of 2,000 guests appeared on Tonight Live With Steve Vizard.
Some of the best known guests to appear on Tonight Live With Steve Vizard included Bob Hope, Tim Robbins, Deborah Blando, Mel Gibson, Chevy Chase, Duran Duran, Cilla Black, Steve Allen, Barry Humphries, Lou Rawls, Tom Jones, Britt Ekland, Cleo Lane, Tiny Tim, Kylie Minogue, Brigitte Nielson, Audrey Hepburn, Elle Macpherson, Shirley MacLaine, Alice Cooper, BB King, Rob Lowe, Dionne Warwick, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Hall, Kirk Douglas, Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Peter Allen, Sir Peter Ustinov, David Bellamy, Kim Wilde, Michael Aspel, Sally Field, Charles Dance, Whoopi Goldberg, John Thaw, Quincy Jones, Priscilla Presley, Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rooney, Martin Sheen, M C Hammer, Lynn Redgrave, ZZ Top, Leo McKern, Kathy Bates, Jane Seymour, Daryl Hannah, Jeremy Irons, Jeffrey Archer, Edward de Bono, Robert Ludlum, James Wood, Diana Ross, Jackie Collins, Harry Connick Jr, Sir Harry Secombe, Gloria Estefan, Gérard Depardieu, George Benson, Fred Schepsi, Colleen McCullough, Burt Reynolds, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Ben Elton, Phyllis Diller, Alexei Sayle, Elliott Gould, Oliver Reed, Oliver Stone, Macaulay Culkin, Spinal Tap, Robin Williams and Cindy Crawford, Stevie Starr, and various Prime Ministers and politicians.