{"id":48952,"date":"2016-02-21T22:55:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T22:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=48952"},"modified":"2016-02-21T22:55:02","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T22:55:02","slug":"tinseltown-talks-vintage-cavett-returns-to-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/02\/21\/tinseltown-talks-vintage-cavett-returns-to-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinseltown Talks – Vintage Cavett returns to TV"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tinseltown<\/a>

With Groucho Marx.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

With Marlon Brando.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

With Katharine Hepburn.<\/p><\/div>\n

The battle for late-night talk show dominance is nothing new to TV audiences. In the 60s and 70s, three prominent hosts sometimes went head-to-head for the coveted ratings bragging rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time when Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and myself were all opposite each other,\u201d noted Dick Cavett from his home in New York.<\/p>\n

With the addition of \u201cThe Dick Cavett Show\u201d to the Decades Network line-up at the beginning of February (see www.decades.com for schedule), the trio of former competitors are again filling late-night niches, this time as reruns on cable networks \u2013 Carson\u2019s \u201cTonight Show\u201d on Antenna TV since January and \u201cThe Merv Griffin Show\u201d on getTV since last October.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all had great entertaining guests, but it was also a rough period for America \u2013 Vietnam, Nixon, civil rights and a bevy of assassinations,\u201d said Cavett. \u201cPeople seem to like the nostalgia of these old shows, even if it means looking back at troubled times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transplanted from the Midwest to New York, Cavett began his journey to late-night as a copy boy for Time magazine in 1960. After sending some jokes to then \u201cTonight Show\u201d host Jack Paar, he was soon hired as a writer.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 60s, Cavett continued to write for others, including Carson, as well as tackling stand-up himself, but eventually inherited his own daytime show at ABC in 1968.<\/p>\n

Known for his in-depth and well-researched interviews, enlivened with a touch of witty commentary, Cavett soon graduated from daytime to late-night attracting guests that competitors envied.<\/p>\n

\u201cFred Astaire rarely gave interviews, but wanted to come on my show,\u201d said Cavett. \u201cWhen he did, he danced for God\u2019s sake, and the audience went wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not all Cavett\u2019s guests were so obliging, such David Bowie\u2019s 1974 tense appearance in which the singer fidgeted with a cane throughout the interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the single most nervous guest I ever had,\u201d noted Cavett. \u201cI wanted to take that cane and throw it in the orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year earlier, Marlon Brando\u2019s appearance was a scoop, although the actor preferred to discuss the plight of Native Americans rather than acting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I asked for his thoughts on the success of \u2018The Godfather\u2019 movie, he mumbled that he didn\u2019t want to talk about films,\u201d recalled Cavett. \u201cSo I quipped \u2018Did you like the book, The Godfather?\u2019 That got a big laugh from the audience and after he paused, he threw me that million dollar Brando grin.\u201d<\/p>\n

A huge Marx Brothers fan, Groucho Marx was one of Cavett\u2019s early guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroucho came on with his writing friend Harry Ruby and it was pure gold. But that\u2019s one of the early episodes that went missing, probably recorded over when studios reused videotapes. It still gives me bad dreams to think the tape might have been turned into \u2018Let\u2019s Make a Deal.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cavett became friends with Groucho, but says that was an exception, rather than the rule. He was also more than just a rival to one of his late-night competitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohnny Carson and I were actually good friends,\u201d said Cavett, who turns 80 in November. \u201cAbout a year before he died, I had a wonderful evening with him at a restaurant and we talked for hours about our shows and some of the guests we had over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many were among the greatest celebrities of the Twentieth Century (see www.dickcavettshow.com).<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been asking me constantly over the years if they will ever see all those full episodes of \u2018The Dick Cavett Show\u2019 on TV again,\u201d he said. \u201cWell now they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 600 magazines and newspapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The battle for late-night talk show dominance is nothing new to TV audiences. 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