From Wikipedia:

    The Mike Douglas Show was an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982.

    A former big band singer, Douglas moved to television in the 1950s. The Mike Douglas Show started December 11, 1961 in Cleveland as a local show on Westinghouse's KYW-TV (now WKYC-TV), it proved popular and, in July 1963, was syndicated by Westinghouse to all five of its owned-and-operated stations. By 1967 the show was available in 171 markets and seen by an audience of six million viewers a day.

    The program featured light banter with guests and musical performances. Instead of an opening comedic monologue (as was the case with The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, for example), Douglas, given his vocalist background, would begin each show by singing a popular song for the audience. Each week would have a different co-host who would appear every day with Douglas. The program was initially aired live on KYW-TV but, after Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1965 called Morey Amsterdam a "son of a bitch," the program then aired on a one-day tape-delay basis. This allowed for the editing-out of any objectionable material. Live broadcasts (with a seven-second delay) were attempted only on a few special occasions thereafter, such as when the Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup.

    In August 1965, the show moved from Cleveland to Philadelphia to a small basement studio located in the KYW-TV building at 1619 Walnut Street (see photos on right). This studio held 140 seats. In July 1972, the show moved to a new studio in the newly constructed KYW-TV studios at 5th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. That studio ("Studio A") was the first and only studio especially constructed for the program. While the overall new studio was larger, it accommodated only 120 seats. The original musical director in Philadelphia was Ellie Frankel. In 1967, Joe Harnell, an accomplished musician, composer, and band leader took the position of musical director. Harnell continued as musical director through 1973. Joe Harnell was followed by musical director Frank Hunter and the show ended with musical director Joe Massimino.

    During much of its time on the air, it remained strong in ratings, consistently finishing among the most popular daytime television shows nearly every season. Douglas took the success lightly. He made a surprise visit to the set of Match Game in 1976, a competing show which managed to score higher ratings than Douglas' program during the mid-1970s, in order to congratulate host Gene Rayburn on making the game show the #1 daytime TV show.

    The show's run spanned 21 years and more than 6,000 episodes. In 1978, production of the show moved to Los Angeles, where it remained until the end of the show's run in 1982.

    Guests

    The show featured the first television appearance of then 2 year old Tiger Woods who showed off his swing for Bob Hope and James Stewart. Others who appeared on the show include Malcolm X, Jerry Rubin, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly, Gene Tierney, Lucille Ball, Moe Howard of theThe Three Stooges, Ted Knight, Totie Fields, John Travolta, Louis Armstrong, John Lennon, Minnie Riperton, The Supremes, Gloria Parker with her Musical Glasses, Jay Leno, Joan Crawford, Angela Davis, Mason Reese, Muhammad Ali and many others.

     

    Presented by Mike Douglas

    Narrated by

    Jay Stewart

    Charlie Tuna

    Opening theme "Here's Mike"

    Country of origin United States

     

    No. of seasons 18

    No. of episodes 4017

    Production company(s)

    Group W Productions

    Westinghouse Broadcasting Company

    Mike Douglas Entertainment

    Syndicast

    Distributor Group W Productions

    Broadcast

    Original channel CBS

    Syndicated

    Picture format Black-and-white (1961-1967)

    Color television (1968-1982)

    Original run 1961 – 1982

    Thumbnail of Mike Douglas

    Mike Douglas on his catchphrase "I'll be right back" and The Mike Douglas Show sets

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    Thumbnail of Mike Douglas

    Mike Douglas on comedian Jack Benny appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Jamie Farr on co-hosting The Mike Douglas Show

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    Carroll O'Connor on his rewrite of the pilot script of All in the Family and developer/executive producer Norman Lear telling the story on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra

    Vince Calandra on how he got an offer to work for The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on his work schedule on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on the challenges of booking talent for a daytime program, The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on why The Mike Douglas Show moved from Cleveland to Philadelphia

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    Vince Calandra on talent he booked on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on Woody Fraser's antics on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on his uneasy relationship with Mike Douglas during his time on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on the end of The Mike Douglas Show and consulting for The John Davidson Show

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    Vince Calandra on working with producer Brad Lachman and how Lachman was mistreated on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Vince Calandra on a photo with Gerald Ford from The Mike Douglas Show

    00:18

    Nick Clooney

    Nick Clooney on appearing with sisters Rosemary and Betty on The Mike Douglas Show and how it helped his local show

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    Bill Daily

    Bill Daily on writing for The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas

    Mike Douglas on how he got his talk show, The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on Sammy Davis, Jr. appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on working with producer Woody Fraser The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on working with producer Roger Ailes on The Mike Douglas Show

    02:38

    Mike Doulgas on what Roger Ailes brought to The Mike Douglas Show as producer

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    Mike Doulgas on how the concept for The Mike Douglas Show came about, and how Bob Hope helped promote it

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    Mike Doulgas on the rapid growth of The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Doulgas on a young Barbra Streisand performing and co-hosting on The Mike Douglas Show

    05:48

    Mike Doulgas on the concept of having co-hosts each week on The Mike Douglas Show including Joe E. Brown and Jerry Lester

    02:50

    Mike Doulgas on Zsa Zsa Gabor swearing on The Mike Douglas Show which turned it from a live to taped program, and on censorship issues with the show

    04:38

    Mike Doulgas on an incident between Milton Berle and Richard Pryor on The Mike Douglas Show

    01:52

    Mike Doulgas on how he worked with his co-hosts on The Mike Douglas Show

    03:58

    Mike Doulgas on Paul Anka cancelling at the last minute, and on having comedians like Michael Keaton and Billy Crystal co-host The Mike Douglas Show

    02:54

    Mike Douglas on some of his most challenging interviews on The Mike Douglas Show

    01:56

    Mike Douglas on getting the proper mix of guests on The Mike Douglas Show

    02:44

    Mike Douglas on moving The Mike Douglas Show from Cleveland to Philadelphia

    02:01

    Mike Douglas on providing question in advance for guests on The Mike Douglas Show and on topics that are off limits

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    Mike Douglas on the audience for The Mike Douglas Show and on his studio audiences

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    Mike Douglas on the demanding taping schedule for The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on a typical tape day for The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on interviewing Rose Kennedy on The Mike Douglas Show

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    Mike Douglas on interviewing Robert F. Kennedy on The Mike Douglas Show

    01:04

    Mike Douglas on producer Woody Fraser hiring staff for The Mike Douglas Show

    01:10

    Mike Douglas on learning of the assassination of President Kennedy while he was hosting a live broadcast of The Mike Douglas Show

    05:16

    Mike Douglas on researching guests for The Mike Douglas Show

    03:39

    Mike Douglas on Judy Garland and Peter Lawford appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

    05:07

    Mike Douglas on interviewing Aretha Franklin and Tiger Woods on The Mike Douglas Show

    03:24

    Mike Douglas on the musical segments and band of The Mike Douglas Show

    04:01

    Mike Douglas on The Mike Douglas Show moving to Los Angeles

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    Mike Douglas on interviewing Lucille Ball and John Wayne on The Mike Douglas Show

    04:07

    Mike Douglas on having Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on The Mike Douglas Show

    03:24

    Mike Douglas on comedian Jack Benny appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

    03:05

    Mike Douglas on Bill Cosby appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

    02:01

    Mike Douglas on the week John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show

    04:19

    Mike Douglas on having Tom and Dick Smothers on The Mike Douglas Show

    02:52

    Mike Douglas on having David Letterman on The Mike Douglas Show

    00:58

    Mike Douglas on interviewing Martin Luther King, Jr. on The Mike Douglas Show

    01:28

    Mike Douglas on having Malcom X on The Mike Douglas Show two days before his assassination

    01:04

    Mike Douglas on his catchphrase "I'll be right back" and The Mike Douglas Show sets

    01:43

    Mike Douglas on his favorite moments from The Mike Douglas Show

    02:47

    Mike Douglas on the end of The Mike Douglas Show

    03:18

    Mike Douglas on the tapes of The Mike Douglas Show

    00:50

    Mike Douglas on having Tiger Woods on The Mike Douglas Show when he was a child

    03:18

    Jamie Farr

    Jamie Farr on co-hosting The Mike Douglas Show

    04:25

    Pamela Fryman

    Pamela Fryman on interning on The Mike Douglas Show, and on moving to Los Angeles

    06:45

    Skitch Henderson

    Lyle "Skitch" Henderson on The Mike Douglas Show

    00:57

    Don Roy King

    Don Roy King on directing The Mike Douglas Show

    03:42

    Don Roy King on working with Mike Douglas on The Mike Douglas Show and working with the various guest co-hosts

    02:54

    Don Roy King on what it was like to direct The Mike Douglas Show

    04:54

    Don Roy King on winning an Emmy Award for The Mike Douglas Show

    06:08

    Carroll O'Connor

    Carroll O'Connor on his rewrite of the pilot script of All in the Family and developer/executive producer Norman Lear telling the story on The Mike Douglas Show

    01:52

    Della Reese

    Della Reese on appearing on The Mike Douglas Show

    00:41

    Mark Rothman

    Mark Rothman on his first professional writing job on The Mike Douglas Show

    04:56

    Tony Verna

    Tony Verna on directing The Mike Douglas Show from Moscow

    02:04

    Fred Willard

    Fred Willard on The Mike Douglas Show with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

    02:36

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