Hello Wato,
Thank you for your question.
I’ve organized a digest of links to articles about the history of TV
talk shows during the last five decades where we are able to observe
how TV talk shows have evolved and how the earliest shows differ from
today’s versions. In addition to the evolution of daytime and late
night TV talk shows, I am including a list of top men in television
talk show history, the 25 greatest TV talk show hosts of all time and
the top syndicated TV talk shows of 2001.
In the article “Talk Shows”, the author Bernard M. Timberg discusses
the different kinds of television talk shows, the hosts and the talk
formats. He defines the term “talk show” as well.
According to Bernard Timberg there are four main cycles of talk shows
which are illustrated with the following short excerpts:
“In all, from 1948 to 1993 over two hundred talk shows appeared on the
air. These shows can be broken down into four cycles of television
talk show history corresponding to four major periods of television
history itself.”
“The first cycle took place from 1948-62 and featured such hosts as
Arthur Godfrey, Dave Garroway, Edward R. Murrow, Arlene Francis, and
Jack Paar. These hosts had extensive radio experience before coming to
television and they were the founders of television talk. During this
time the talk show's basic forms--coming largely out of previous radio
and stage traditions--took shape.”
“The second cycle covers the period from 1962 to 1972 when the
networks took over from sponsors and advertising agencies as the
dominant forces in talk programming. A small but vigorous syndicated
talk industry grew during this period as well. In the 1960s and early
1970s three figures established themselves on the networks as talk
hosts with staying power: Johnny Carson, Barbara Walters, and Mike
Wallace.”
“The third cycle of television talk lasted from 1970 to 1980. During
this decade challenges to network domination arose from a number of
quarters. While the networks themselves were initiating few new talk
shows by 1969, syndicated talk programming exploded. Twenty new talk
shows went on the air in 1969 (up to then the average number of new
shows rarely exceeded five). It was a boom period for television
talk--and the time of the first nationally publicized "talk show
wars."
“The fourth cycle of television talk took place in the period from
1980 to 1992, a period that has been commonly referred to as the
"post-network" era.”
Source: Museum TV Website
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/talkshows/talkshows.htm
The Televison and Talk Show Pioneer
“Steve Allen created and hosted the Tonight Show from September 27,
1954 - January 25, 1957. When Steve left the show, the format was
continued by Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. It remains the
highest rated series on late night television, and is the longest
running entertainment series in television history.”
http://www.steveallenonline.com/television_pioneer/pioneer.htm
Steve Allen and the Tonight Show
http://www.steveallenonline.com/television_pioneer/tonight.htm
The following are links to informative articles describing late night
TV talk shows from 1950 to the present. I am including a snippet from
each article.
Late-Night TV Talk Shows: 1950 - 1957
“Late-night talk shows also had their roots in radio, but music and
comedy were the primary segments of late-night programming, rather
than political or philosophical discussions.”
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa041999.htm
Late-Night Talk Shows: 1957 – 1962
“Steve Allen left the Tonight Show in January of 1957 and the new
Tonight show debuted on July 29, 1957 with Jack Paar and Hugh Downs as
his announcer-sidekick.”
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa042699.htm
Late-Night Talk Shows: 1962 – 1972
“The Jack Paar era of the Tonight Show ended on March 29, 1962. (..)
Johnny Carson had originally turned down NBC's late-night offer.
Luckily he reconsidered and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
premiered on October 1, 1962. Skitch Henderson stayed on as band
leader, but Johnny brought Ed McMahon with him as his announcer.”
Source: About Website
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa050399.htm
Late-Night Talk Shows: 1972 – 1992
“In 1972 Johnny Carson began taping The Tonight Show from the NBC
studios in Burbank. After the relocation it was much easier for Johnny
to book the hottest Hollywood celebrities, and his show became the
ultimate showcase for up and coming young stars. New comics were
especially eager to appear on The Tonight Show”
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa051099.htm
Late-Night Talk Shows: 1992 – present
“Jay Leno made the first of many appearances on The Tonight Show in
1977, and had been Johnny's designated guest host since 1988. (..) The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno premiered on May 25, 1992, with Billy
Crystal as the first guest.”
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa051799.htm
Evolution of Daytime Talk Shows
- The rapid growth of broadcast television from the end of World War
II to 1951.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa092799.htm
- The Fifties, and the introduction of Today, the longest running
network daytime series.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa100499.htm
- The Syndicated Sixties. Today still ruled early morning, and the
syndicators controlled daytime talk.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa101899.htm
- Issues in the Seventies. Good Morning America provided competition
for Today, and Phil Donahue started a new type of Talk Show.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa102599.htm
- The Eighties. Today loses its lead to Good Morning America. Sally,
Geraldo, and Oprah follow Phil Donahue's lead.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa110199.htm
- Trash TV in the Nineties. Trash TV has ruled daytime programming for
more than a decade. How long will it continue?
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa111099.htm
“According to this E-Online article by Bridget Byrne, "foul language,
overt sexual references and violent behavior have all increased on
television nearly 31 percent in three years." But this is not a new
issue. The debate has gone on for almost 50 years now. Founder and
publisher of Mad Magazine, William Gaines, in his testimony to a
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in the '50s stated,
"Delinquency is the product of the real environment in which the child
lives and not of the fiction he reads." Concerned viewers,
legislators, and press are worried about television show content in
general; however, some of our trashy Talk Shows have received more
than their fair share of attention in the last few years.”
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa053199.htm
TV talk shows with trashy subject matter:
http://www.verypink.com/talk.htm
At the Talkers Magazine Online there is a list of the 25 greatest
television talk show hosts of all time with links to more in depth
information for each one.
Source: Talkers magazine Online
http://www.talkers.com/greatest/
Top Ten Men in TV Talk Show History
There is a list of the top ten men in TV talk show history with a
brief description of each one.
Source: About Website
http://talkshows.about.com/cs/merchandise/tp/toptenmen.htm
The top syndicated TV talk shows based on average Nielsen ratings for
the fall 2001 season.
http://talkshows.about.com/library/weekly/aa012902a.htm
Additional information that may interest you:
Abstracts taken from studies that are focused on TV talk shows.
http://www.missouri.edu/~advcf/tv_talk_shows.html
“Talk shows are an important part of TV programming. They are
relatively cheap to produce, and, in taking humanity as their subject,
have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of new material. (..) Daytime TV
talk shows are considered filler TV as they are cheap and easy to
produce and can fill up large parts of the daytime TV schedule.”
Source: Mediaknowall Website
http://www.mediaknowall.com/talkshow.html
History of Television from Grolier Encyclopedia
Article by Mitchell Stephens
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm
Search Criteria:
history of television talk shows
Television talk shows
TV talk shows pioneers
I hope this answer has provided you with the information you were
seeking.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
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