Late Night


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

Late Night describes series aired after 11 PM, that focus on current topics.  (For nonfiction series fitting this description, see News & Documentary.)

Highlights
Florence Henderson on becoming a regular on Jack Paar's Tonight Show
02:05
Nina Tassler on hiring Stephen Colbert to host The Late Show
02:52
Paul Shaffer on David Letterman and working on his shows
09:36
Leslie Moonves on his "More with Les" segments on the Late Show with David Letterman
02:42
Bill Dana on the genesis of the "Man on the Street" segments on The Steve Allen Show, and working with Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Louis Nye on those sketches
10:28
Steve Allen on the comedy writing team of Herb Sergeant and Stan Burns on his Tonight Show
05:30
Who talked about this genre

Steve Allen

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Steve Allen on hosting the second Steve Allen Show, a late-night show on WNBT
05:37
Steve Allen on the comedic talents of Dwight Hemion, Herb Sergeant and Stan Burns on his Tonight Show
04:56
Steve Allen on Pat Weaver deciding to bring The Steve Allen Show to network and re-titling it Tonight
01:33
Steve Allen on America becoming a late-night television audience and creating a new genre
02:36
Steve Allen on Tonight Show producer Bill Harbach; on the impact of the show; on booking talent and memorable guests
16:17
Steve Allen on the openings, stunts and skits on The Tonight Show
09:00
Steve Allen on The Tonight Show regulars - Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence, and Eydie Gorme
02:45
Steve Allen on musical guests, sketches, audience interviews, and tough issues on The Tonight Show
28:30
Steve Allen on shooting outside the studio for The Tonight Show, and on censorship and the Blacklist
13:10
Steve Allen on the prime-time Steve Allen Show
11:24

Anne Beatts

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Anne Beatts on her time as a writer on Saturday Night Live
24:22
Anne Beatts on the popularity of Saturday Night Live and issues with Standards & Practices on the show
15:39

Samantha Bee

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Samantha Bee on her time as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
45:07
Samantha Bee on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
39:15

Shelley Berman

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Shelley Berman on how he got on Tonight with Steve Allen

Steve Binder

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Steve Binder on watching early late night host Jerry Lester
00:51

Pat Boone

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Pat Boone on performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
07:24

Kevin Bright

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Kevin Bright on his work on the pilot of In Living Color
09:31

Eddie Brill with Emerson College

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Eddie Brill on his early stand-up career, and on becoming the audience warm-up guy for Late Show with David Letterman
05:28
Eddie Brill on his warm-up routine for Late Show with David Letterman
04:49

Bernie Brillstein

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Bernie Brillstein on meeting Lorne Michaels and the beginnings of Saturday Night Live
19:20
Bernie Brillstein on the many casts of and production of Saturday Night Live
28:02

Tom Broecker

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Tom Broecker on costume designing for Saturday Night Live
49:51

George Carlin

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George Carlin on the material he was forced to censor when appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show
03:29

Dick Cavett with Emerson College

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Dick Cavett on being a huge fan of The Jack Paar Show aka The Tonight Show and eventually writing for Paar
13:23
Dick Cavett on writing for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and his friendship with Carson
02:27
Dick Cavett on how TV show hosts balance public and private lives
03:05

William Clotworthy

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William Clotworthy on doing Standards and Practices for Saturday Night Live; on drug humor, pressure from outside groups, and a typical work week
23:45
William Clotworthy on Saturday Night Live' s production schedule, Lorne Michaels, and the cast of the show
27:33
William Clotworthy on working with cast members of Saturday Night Live
16:29

Andy Cohen

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Andy Cohen on announcing the death of Osama bin Laden on Watch What Happens Live
00:57
Andy Cohen on why Watch What Happens Live is one of the accomplishments he's proudest of in his career
01:56
Andy Cohen on participating in "The Real Women of SNL" sketch on Saturday Night Live's The Women of SNL special
01:03
Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live
06:28
Andy Cohen on how writing a blog for the Bravo website led to him hosting Watch What Happens Live
01:56

Greg Daniels

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Greg Daniels on writing for Saturday Night Live
20:09

Milton Delugg

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Milton Delugg on NBC exec Sylvester L. "Pat" Weaver's idea to have morning, noon and night shows on NBC, and on becoming bandleader on the night show Broadway Open House (precursor to The Tonight Show)
01:56

Phyllis Diller

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Phyllis Diller on appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show; on Ed Sullivan
02:38

Hugh Downs

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Hugh Downs on being on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar; on Paar's wit
05:46
Hugh Downs on Jack Paar's famous walk out on The Tonight Show on February 11, 1960
09:42
Hugh Downs on politicians and diverse guests appearing on The Tonight Show
07:48

Dick Ebersol

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Dick Ebersol on the time slot that would become Saturday Night Live
27:08
Dick Ebersol on Dick Ebersol on the buildup to, casting, and premiere of Saturday Night Live
01:01:37
Dick Ebersol on Brandon Tartikoff's role in Ebersol's return to Saturday Night Live and on reviving the show
17:54
Dick Ebersol on a typical week of putting together an episode of Saturday Night Live
01:00:56
Dick Ebersol on dress rehearsal and the live show of Saturday Night Live
21:19

Kevin Eubanks

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Kevin Eubanks on first getting a job with Branford Marsalis' Tonight Show band
14:12
Kevin Eubanks on becoming comfortable with television and working with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno
02:10
Kevin Eubanks on being promoted from band member to bandleader on The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno and adjusting to his new role
35:32
Kevin Eubanks on Tonight Show musical guests
13:08
Kevin Eubanks on the unplugged version of The Tonight Show during the energy crisis in September 2000
02:23
Kevin Eubanks on the first Tonight Show back after 9/11
04:45
Kevin Eubanks on Jay Leno's 2009 exit from The Tonight Show and move to a 10pm show (The Jay Leno Show)
03:44
Kevin Eubanks on Jay Leno's move from The Tonight Show to a 10pm show (The Jay Leno Show)
06:39

Dick Gregory with Emerson College

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Dick Gregory on how he came to appear on Tonight Starring Jack Paar
08:47

Hal Gurnee

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Hal Gurnee on directing Late Night with David Letterman
08:24
Hal Gurnee on directing Late Show with David Letterman
20:41

Florence Henderson

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Florence Henderson on becoming a regular guest and a guest host on The Tonight Show aka The Jack Paar Show
15:10

Buck Henry

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Buck Henry on how working with The Premise theater group helped influence his writing later on SNL and That was the Week That Was

Louise Lasser

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Louise Lasser on hosting Saturday Night Live, and on Norman Lear's reaction to the show
04:37

Stewart MacGregory

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Stewart MacGregory on being unit manager on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar
01:24
Stewart MacGregory on the infamous "water closet incident" from The Tonight Show with Jack Paar
04:31
Stewart MacGregory on being unit manager for Saturday Night Live
12:08

Garry Marshall

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Garry Marshall on writing adlibs under the desk on Jack Paar's Tonight show
01:29

Bob McGrath

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Bob McGrath on singing "Danny Boy" in Japanese on The Tonight Show
00:31

John Moffitt

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John Moffitt on Fridays
12:11

Garrett Morris

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Garrett Morris on one of his most beloved characters - the news announcer for the hard of hearing, created by Chevy Chase for Saturday Night Live
01:04
Garrett Morris on his Saturday Night Live characters and cast-mates
28:55

Tony Mottola

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Tony Mottola on becoming a guitarist for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson  
08:10

Bob Newhart

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Bob Newhart on guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
04:23

Don Ohlmeyer

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Don Ohlmeyer on the Late Night battles - Leno v. Letterman
09:35

Bernie Orenstein

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Bernie Orenstein on writing for The Les Crane Show
02:15

Don Pardo

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Don Pardo on becoming the announcer on Saturday Night Live; on meeting Lorne Michaels
01:37
Don Pardo on announcing for SNL
23:18

Joan Rivers

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Joan Rivers on becoming permanent guest host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and her difficulties with NBC
06:55

Howard Rosenberg

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Howard Rosenberg on late night television
02:53

Paul Shaffer

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Paul Shaffer on David Letterman and working on his shows
09:36
Paul Shaffer on the early years of Saturday Night Live
06:41
Paul Shaffer on playing music by ear with the band on The Late Show with David Letterman
01:23
Paul Shaffer on how important it is for him to continue to work on Late Show with David Letterman and on what he'd like to do when the show ends
00:54
Paul Shaffer on returning to Late Show with David Letterman after September 11th
02:51
Paul Shaffer on the expansion of late-night television
00:52

John Shaffner

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John Shaffner on designing the set for The Tonight Show Starring Conan O'Brien
09:57

Garry Shandling

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Garry Shandling on getting discovered as a stand-up comic and getting booked on The Tonight Show
06:59

John Singleton

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John Singleton on interning on The Arsenio Hall Show
05:09
John Singleton on working with composer Stanley Clarke, who he met on The Arsenio Hall Show, on three of his movies
01:16

Robert Smigel

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Robert Smigel on the start of Late Night with Conan O'Brien
21:10
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he and Dino Stamatopoulos devised for Late Night With Conan O'Brien
04:05

Nina Tassler

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Nina Tassler on changes in CBS's late-night lineup
12:13

Brian Williams

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Brian Williams on hosting Saturday Night Live
06:27

Steven Wright with Emerson College

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Steven Wright on wanting to be a comedian because of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
00:24
Steven Wright on first watching The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson with his older brother, who loved Johnny Carson, and then wanting to become a comedian
02:19
Steven Wright on how his first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson came about
05:52
Steven Wright on his first time performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and getting asked to come talk to Carson after his set
08:24
Steven Wright on his second time performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson -- less than a week after his first performance
02:03
Steven Wright on his performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson that was interrupted (his fourth or fifth performance on the show)
03:03

Jeff Zucker

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Jeff Zucker on the first episode of Saturday Night Live following 9/11
01:26
Jeff Zucker on the then-upcoming switch from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien as host of The Tonight Show  and Leno's planned The Jay Leno Show
04:41

Alan Zweibel

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Alan Zweibel on his experience on appearing on and writing for Late Show with David Letterman
04:40