Morton Downey Jr. was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program The Morton Downey Jr. Show.
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or Podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation. A talk show is distinguished from other television programs by certain common attributes. In a talk show, one person discusses various topics put forth by a talk show host. This discussion can be in the form of an interview or a simple conversation about important social, political or religious issues and events. The personality of the host shapes the tone and style of the show. A common feature or unwritten rule of talk shows is to be based on "fresh talk", which is talk that is spontaneous or has the appearance of spontaneity.
Christopher Nash Elliott is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and author. He appeared in comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series Get a Life (1990–1992) on Fox, and wrote and starred in the film Cabin Boy (1994). His writing has won four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards. His other television appearances include recurring roles on Everybody Loves Raymond (2003–2005) and How I Met Your Mother (2009–2014), starring as Chris Monsanto in Adult Swim's Eagleheart (2011–2014) and starring as Roland Schitt in Schitt's Creek (2015–2020). He also appeared in the film Groundhog Day (1993), There's Something About Mary (1998), Snow Day (2000) and Scary Movie 2 (2001).
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 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.
Jerry Springer is an American syndicated tabloid talk show that aired from September 30, 1991, to July 26, 2018. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Jerry Springer, it aired for 27 seasons and nearly 5,000 episodes. The television series was produced by Multimedia, Inc., then NBCUniversal, for over 26 years, peaking in popularity around 1997 and 1998.
MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film industry, and later expanded into television production. MCA published music, booked acts, ran a record company, represented film, television, and radio stars, and eventually produced and sold television programs to the three major television networks, especially NBC.
John Morton Downey, also known as Morton Downey, was an American singer and entertainer popular in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, enjoying his greatest success in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Downey was nicknamed "The Irish Nightingale".
Gimme a Break! is an American television sitcom created by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.
WWOR EMI Service was a New York City-based American cable television channel that operated as a superstation feed of Secaucus, New Jersey-licensed WWOR-TV. The service was uplinked to satellite from Syracuse, New York, by Eastern Microwave, Inc., which later sold the satellite distribution rights to the Advance Entertainment Corporation subsidiary of Advance Publications, a Syracuse-based company that also owned various print, broadcast and cable television properties.
WWOR-TV is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW. Both stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood, while WWOR-TV's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
Hot Seat was a Saturday late night syndicated, politically oriented, though often satirical and comedic television talk-show that began in the early 1980s, hosted by conservative commentator Wally George. It was shot in the studios of KDOC, a UHF television station licensed to in Anaheim, California. The first edition of the series aired on Saturday July 16, 1983.
Rolland G. Smith is an American retired television news reporter and anchor who was based in New York City for most of his long career.
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, in the United States. Its predecessors include NBC Enterprises, Universal Television Distribution, Multimedia Entertainment, PolyGram Television, and Sky Vision. At some point in its history, it was also known as "NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution" and "NBC Universal Television and New Media Distribution.” This unit is possibly the parent for the similarly named "NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution" unit.
Alan S. Burke was an American conservative television and radio talk show host who was on the air primarily in New York City from 1966 to 1969 on WNEW-TV.
Steampipe Alley is a children's television program that aired on Secaucus, New Jersey station WWOR-TV from February 7, 1988 to April 18, 1993. The program was hosted by comedian Mario Cantone, with announcing duties handled by longtime station staff announcer Ted Mallie.
A tabloid talk show is a subgenre of the talk show genre that emphasizes controversial and sensationalistic topical subject matter. The subgenre originated in the United States and achieved peak viewership from the mid-1980s through the end of the 1990s. Airing mostly during the day and distributed mostly through television syndication, tabloid talk shows originated in the 1960s and early 1970s with series hosted by Joe Pyne, Les Crane, and Phil Donahue; the format was popularized by personal confession-filled The Oprah Winfrey Show, which debuted nationally in 1986. The format has since been emulated outside the United States, with the United Kingdom, Latin America and the Philippines all having popular shows that fit the format.
The Richard Bey Show is a syndicated American talk show hosted by Richard Bey which aired from September 28, 1992 to December 27, 1996. The program was originally produced from and aired on WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey, from 1992 to late 1996. It was nationally syndicated by All American Television from January 2, 1995 to December 27, 1996. The talk show was executive produced by Bob Woodruff and David Sittenfeld.
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie is a 2012 documentary film that chronicles the history of The Morton Downey Jr. Show and Downey's influence on "trash TV."
The Howard Stern Show was an American late night variety television show hosted by radio personality Howard Stern and starred members of his radio show staff, namely Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, Gary Dell'Abate, Jackie Martling, and John Melendez. It aired weekly on Saturday nights from July 14, 1990, to August 1, 1992, from WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey, and was nationally syndicated by All American Television from 1991. It is informally known as "The Channel 9 Show".
The Universal Pictures Debut Network, or simply the Debut Network, was a syndicated movie package that MCA Television sold to independent stations. The service reached agreements with ten stations in larger American markets such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago by late 1984. The Debut Network was a precursor of sorts to the Action Pack, which was also a syndicated package created by Universal Television.
