October 6th, 1964-March 2, 1965 (WPIX)

Les Crane is the guest on this final broadcast of HOT LINE.
Phone call-ins include discussions on the FCC and TV Broadcasting. David Susskind signs off for the last time reflecting on this series which aired for only half a year. 

This is the final live 23rd broadcast of this live television phone talk show in the series. 

Many topics are discussed by David Susskind, Dorothy Kilgallen and guest Les Crane who just got fired and broadcast his last late night  Les Crane Show  a week before,  has never appeared on a TV talk show where he was the guest and not the host. 

Phone callers ask the questions and topics include:
Shake up at CBS Television with the firing of James Aubrey, Les Crane's firing after only 15 weeks on the air, Dorothy Kilgallen' opinion on Lovelorn columns, Crane stating that he did not want to be a guest on this program and the reasons for such feelings, feuds between Les Crane and David Susskind in the past, reasons Crane changed from his temperamental personality on his phone in show when he went national with his Late Night ABC TV talk show, Crane states he was never censored by ABC related to booking guests...two guests he refused to have on his program was Grand Dragon of the KKK and George Lincoln Rockwell, discussion about the Beatles...Susskind despising them and Crane and Kilgallen loving them, the potential that if Les Crane remained with his local WABC late night live phone in talk show he would still be on the air and for years to come, why telephone shows seem to fail, TV's responsibility to the  public broadcasting shows like Hot Line and The Les Crane Show, the ratings game, and their representative importance. Crane gives his point of view and relates to his two talk shows of the past. Dorothy Kilgallen and David give their point of views. Also addressing another audience member phone call regarding the subject of why Jack Paar and Johnny Carson are considered stars even though they cannot sing, dance or act. 

David Susskind signs off for the last time reflecting on this series which aired for only half a year. He also recommends to his audience to tune in to his now one hour weekly show, REMARKABLE PEOPLE premiering on the same channel (WPIX) same time Tuesday at 10pm.

NOTE: REMARKABLE PEOPLE a show about unknown extraordinary people and their lives turned out to be not remarkable and the series was cancelled after only one broadcast.  

NOTE: On two occasions there is a gap in the audio portion of the broadcast indicating that WPIX censored commentary. These two short gaps are included.

NOTE: The co-producer of  HOTLINE was Joyce Davidson. She married Susskind in 1966. It was the first television show to use the recently invented ten-second broadcast delay when broadcasting live. This gave the control room time to delete material deemed unfit for broadcast, especially from a telephone call-ins. Two examples of deletion usage  are noted in this program.


NOTE: Dorothy Kilgallen's  controversial death at age 52 occurred only eight months after this broadcast aired.