Late Night with David Letterman is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the Late Night franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company, Space Age Meats, and Carson Productions. Letterman had previously hosted his own morning talk show on NBC from June to October 1980. The show's house band, The World's Most Dangerous Band, was led by music director Paul Shaffer. In 1993, Letterman announced that he would leave NBC to host the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. The final episode of Late Night was broadcast on June 25, 1993. The series has continued as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Second City Television, commonly shortened to SCTV and later known as SCTV Network and SCTV Channel, is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe. It is an example of a Canadian show that moved successfully to U.S. television, where it aired on NBC in 1981–1983.
Martin Hayter Short is a Canadian and American actor, comedian, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television shows. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Short was awarded as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compère or host. The variety format made its way from the Victorian era stage in Britain and America to radio and then television. Variety shows were a staple of English language television from the late 1940s into the 1980s.
Trio was an American cable and satellite television network.
David William Thomas is a Canadian actor, comedian and television writer, known for being one half of the duo Bob and Doug McKenzie with Rick Moranis. He appeared as Doug McKenzie on SCTV, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award out of two nominations, and in the film Strange Brew (1983), which he also co-directed. As a duo, they made two albums, The Great White North and Strange Brew, the former gaining them a Grammy Award nomination and a Juno Award.
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the Olympic Games and National Football League broadcasts.
Saturday Night Live is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and streams on Peacock. Michaels currently serves as the program's showrunner. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that was usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves Somebody".
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
Antonio Rosato was an Italian-Canadian actor and comedian, who appeared in television and films. He was best known as a cast member on both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and for voicing Luigi in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. It began originally on Saturday morning at 8am and continued through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday. After the first few months, the full weekend broadcast was shortened when the midnight-to-dawn hours were dropped since few NBC stations carried it.
Friday Night Videos is an American music video show first broadcast July 29, 1983 on NBC, the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularity of music videos as seen on MTV. Shortened to Friday Night between 1994 and 2000, the show added a variety of entertainment content to supplement, and eventually surpass, the music videos. The format changed again between 2001 and 2002, with Late Friday dedicated solely to showcasing new stand-up comedy talent.
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert is an American television music variety show that ran during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Don Kirshner and syndicated to television stations, initially through Viacom Enterprises, and later through Syndicast. It premiered on September 27, 1973, with a performance by The Rolling Stones and The Doobie Brothers; its last episode was in 1981.
Later is a nightly half-hour-long late-night talk show that ran on NBC from 1988 until 2001.
The Tomorrow Show is an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder which aired on NBC in first-run form from October 1973 to December 1981, at which point its reruns continued until late January 1982.
Fright Night was the name of two science fiction and horror film programs. One ran from 1970 to 1981, and the other ran from 1973 to 1987. Both programs were broadcast by KHJ-TV Los Angeles, and its sister-station WOR-TV New York City.
A late-night talk show is a popular genre of talk show, originating in the United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is characterized by spontaneous conversation, and for an effect of immediacy and intimacy as if the host were speaking alone to each of the millions of audience members. Late-night talk shows are also fundamentally shaped by the personality of the host, which constitutes the "trademark" of the show.
In regard to children's programming, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) has aired mostly programming from Walt Disney Television or other producers. This article outlines the history of children's television programming on ABC including the various blocks and notable programs that have aired throughout the television network's history.
