Arthur Murray,famed dance instructor and TV personality demonstrates the new dance craze, "The Twist" and "The Mashed Potatoes." Jack and Hugh Downs are game to learn the dance. Nipsey Russell also tries it. He also talks about Black Muslims.                                 

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. 
 
  FINAL FIRST RUN TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JACK PAAR.

 During the four and half years Jack Paar hosed the Tonight Show he clocked approximately 24,000 hours of programming of which only less than .1% survives!!! No video tapes survive. No color episodes survive. Only an handful of black and white kinescopes are extant.

What does survive is only a total of 13 hours archived by Paley Center for Media, Library of Congress, and UCLA Film & Television, combined. 

The greatest number of surviving broadcast TV Audio Air Checks in the country, representing THE JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW, is archived by ARCHIVAL TELEVISION AUDIO, INC. (34 hours). 

Among Jack's many guests on this final first run broadcast are Jack E. Leonard who opens the show. He acts as host for the first 15 minutes..introduces, many celebrities in the audience including Tom Poston, Sam Levenson, Selma Diamond, Jack Haskell and Max Asnas of the Stage Delicatessen. Jose Melies plays all of the familiar theme songs associated with Jack Paar. Hugh Downs reads excerpts for Abel Green's column "Variety' about the show and Jack.  Alexander King, and Buddy Hackett are live guests. On film Hugh Downs introduces good bye salutations from George Burns, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Richad M. Nixon, Tallulah Bankhead, Joey Bishop, Robert Morley, Nipsey Russell, and Rev. Dr. Billy Graham. . In Jack's last monologue he reminisces about his feuds with Walter Winchell, Dorothy Kilgallen and Ed Sullivan.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

David Susskind greets laugh makers Jack E. Leonard, Mel Brooks, Bill Cosby, Nipsey Russell and Jackie Kannon.  

Another peerless audio recording off the air by Phil Gries at the time of the original broadcast. A  "lost" TV Broadcast.                         

Tonight's topic: 

"Is There Anything Wrong with Motorcycling?"

To date there are one million motorcyclists in the USA.
During the past week 15,000 motorcyclists converged on the town of Laconia New Hampshire for the 46th annual New England motorcycle rally and race. A riot ensued and police and The National Guard were called to stop the riot. 

To discuss this topic are guests Harold Knowlton Police Chief of Laconia, Michael Sumner, journalist covering the story at the scene for Sports Illustrated magazine, and Bob Trapp President of the CCMC motorcycle club. He was in Laconia at the time of the rally. Nipsey Russell and Les Crane add their own points of view. 


LES CRANE TV  Late Night Talk Show Host.

The debut of Les Crane on WABC television in New York  was September 16, 1963. For the first month, the title of the telecast was NIGHTLINE...LES CRANE. Beginning on October 18, 1963, the title was changed to THE LES CRANE SHOW. 

These late-night LIVE broadcasts were aired Monday thru Friday. on local station WABC New York. Beginning December 6, 1963, late-night broadcasts aired Tuesday thru Saturday. Also, another time slot opened for Crane with a similar format airing on WABC in the afternoon...a one hour version broadcast from 1:30-2:30 pm, five days a week, and again returning to late-night broadcasting usually 1 am to 2:00 am after the WABC late movie, THE BEST OF BROADWAY. This TALK SHOW / PHONE IN version of The Les Crane Show concluded its final broadcast on July 31, 1964.

On August 3, 4, 5, 6, & 8, 1964 THE NEW LES CRANE SHOW premiered...a five program trial rivaling Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW.  It was Nationally televised and it is considered the FIRST network talk show program to compete with THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON. On November 9, 1964, THE LES CRANE SHOW premiered and aired regularly weeknights on the ABC network, opposite Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW.
After 14 weeks, and low ratings, this series ended with its last telecast airing on February 26, 1965. Les Crane's late-night network career was over, and never to be resumed Nationally.

ABC renamed their late-night time slot NIGHTLIFE, premiering on February 29, 1965. This one hour forty-five-minute weekly late-night talk series showcased guest hosts. This series run lasted four months, the last broadcast airing on June 25, 1965. Guest hosts included: Shelley Berman, Pat Boone, Jack Carter, Allan Sherman, Dave Garraway, Bill Cullen, William B. Williams (announcer of this series run), Eddy Arnold, Dale Robertson, Dick Shawn, Louis Nye, & Jan Murray. 

Form June 28 to October 22, 1965 Les Crane returned to this time slot...the series title remaining, NIGHTLIFE. Les Crane no longer was a solo host. He co-hosted with Dave Garroway, and Nipsey Russell.

Two years later, Les Crane returned to local late night television appearing for eight months on WNEW channel 5 in New York 11:15pm - 12:15am from January 15, 1968 changing time slots on July 8, 1968, 11:45pm - 12:45pm. Final show aired on September 6, 1968, and it was the last time Les Crane would host a late night television talk show.   

NOTE: A two hour radio broadcast profiling Les Crane, including TV Audio Air Check Crane highlights from the ATA archive can be listened to in its entirety. It appears on the ATA website under the link TV CONFIDENTIAL. The segment (SOUNDS OF LOST TELEVISION) was recorded in Pasadena California and aired in 2014 with host Ed Robertson, and guest Phil Gries. 

NOTE: Most all of Les Crane's cumulative 26 months of broadcasting as a talk show host is today non-existent. Tapes were destroyed, erased and whereabouts unknown. The 25 television air checks archived in the Archival Television Audio, Inc. library is the most known Les Crane broadcast records to exist in the country.
 
Extant examples existing elsewhere include two broadcast kinescopes archived by The Paley Center for Media (one from 1967, and the other, a broadcast from January 31, 1968 titled "Rich Jews." There is archived at UCLA FILM & TV ARCHIVE four extant examples related to Les Crane, including a 45 minute compilation demo/presentation reel with clips from the New Les Crane Show trial run (Aug. 1964).

NOTE: The Les Crane Show  late night talk program on ABC during the 1964-65 television season pioneered a format of television later embraced by icon Phil Donahue, Crane fell to NBC’s The Tonight Show, a national brand with a decade of broadcasting tenure, proved its dominance.  Donahue began his legendary career in Dayton in 1967, evolving into a daytime programming staple for nearly 30 years.

Les Crane’s daughter Caprice points out that her father used journalism to cover topics and people that others feared to explore.  “He created the shotgun mike,” says Crane of her dad, who passed away in 2008.  “He had guests who did not provide the typical fluff, for example, Malcolm X, Bob Dylan, and the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald.  He had the first publicly gay man on his show.  He was also an amazing listener who helped create a new television format that demanded more information for the listener.  
The Les Crane Show didn’t last long because the person who tries the new thing always gets penalized.  People are afraid of the unknown until it becomes mainstream.”

A renaissance media man for the second half of the 20th century, Crane held interests and influences beyond journalism.  “My dad gave The Mamas and the Papas group its name,” reminds Caprice Crane.  “Casey Kasem credited him with inventing the Top 40 radio format at KRLA.  He also got into the computer business before it was big.  His company was Software Tool Works, which produced the Chess Master computer program.  He was always before his time.”

Crane’s innovative format allowed one of baseball’s biggest heroes, Jackie Robinson, to debate one of conservatism’s biggest allies, William F. Buckley. Nowhere on television in the mid-1960s could audiences see this type of television fodder.  Unfortunately, The Les Crane Show fell victim to a common policy of television networks destroying tapes because of the shortsighted view that future generations would not be interested in. How wrong they were.                                                                                                                                                       

Musical-variety, evoking the tempo, feeling and spirit of New York's Harlem in the 1920's.  

Dupe Of Number 5461.                         

July 2, 1967-September 3, 1967. Hosted by Rowlf the Muppet. The comedy duo of Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber and the Doodletown Pipers were also featured.             

Alan King is the host for a satiric revue of contemporary follies.             

Alan King is the host for a satiric revue of contemporary follies. This is the second of twelve ABC TV Specials that King would do over a period over a dozen years 
(April 9, 1968 - November 25, 1980). 

Dupe Of # 5003.                                     

September 20, 1952-June 22, 1957; October 3, 1958-January 2 1959; February 3 1961-March 24, 1961; September 1962-September 12, 1970

After the 1954-1955 season (one hour live broadcasts), Jackie Gleason produced a series of 39 filmed half-hour episodes of "The Honeymooners" which was syndicated (1955-1956). For the following 1956-1957 season, the Jackie Gleason Show returned to a live one-hour variety format with a Honeymooners sketch included in many of its broadcasts. After this season, The Honeymooners sketches would not be revived until the 1966-1967 season of The Jackie Gleason Show.  

Host: Jackie Gleason.

Guests: Red Buttons, Nipsey Russell, Jan Murray. Honeymooners sketch with Sheila MacRae and Art Carney. 

Rerun of January 4th, 1969.

                                                                                        

September 16, 1965-May 24, 1974. A variety hour hosted by Dean Martin. Several of the shows were celebrity "roasts," set at a banquet table, in which the guest of honor was showered with insults by other celebs. Regulars of the series included pianist Ken Lane (1965-1972), Kay Medford, Lou Jacobi, The Golddiggers, Marian Mercer (1971-1972), Tom Bosley (1971-1972), Rodney Dangerfield (1972-1973), Dom DeLuise (1972-1973), and Nipsey Russell (1972-1974).  

Duplicate of 2063. Commercials included.
          

Celebrity roasting of Gov. Ronald Reagan by: Dean Martin, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, Don Rickles, Dom DeLuise, Phyllis Diller, Pat Henry, Jackie Vernon, Nipsey Russell, Audrey Meadows, Mark Spitz, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge.   

Duplicate of #2078.          

Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.) is the target for a full hour of roasting. Helping make his evening a hot one are Sen. Lowell Weicker (R-Conn.), Gene Kelly, Ted Knight, Audrey Meadows, Mort Sahl, Nipsey Russell and Foster Brooks. Other guests include comics Don Rice, Pat Henry and Mark Russell.   

Duplicate of #2116.          

Carroll O'Connor gets the needle for a full hour of roasting. Among his tormentors are Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz), New York Mayor John Lindsay, CBS Television Network President Robert Wood, Redd Foxx, Gene Kelly, Don Rickles, Mike Connors, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Joey Bishop and Mama Cass Elliot. Other guests include Nipsey Russell, Marty Allen and Foster Brooks.  

Duplicate of #2100.                        

The tables are turned on the master of the insult when acid-tongued Don Rickles is the target for "roasting" with Dean Martin. Among those needling the prince of putdowns are Carol Channing, Foster Brooks, Lorne Greene, Telly Savalas, Cliff Robertson, Jack 
Klugman, Bob Newhart, Rich Little, Phyllis Diller, Charlie Callas, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Joey Bishop, Pat Henry, Kirk Douglas, Eugene A. Cernan (Apollo XVII) and Nipsey Russell.


Duplicate of #825. 
             

Redd Foxx is roasted by Dean Martin, Norm Crosby, Joey Bishop, Jackie Gayle, Desmond Wilson, Slappy White, Rich Little, Nipsey Russell and John Barbour. Also on the show are impersonator Jim Bailey and Foster Brooks.             

Redd Foxx is roasted by Dean Martin, Norm Crosby, Joey Bishop, Jackie Gayle, Desmond Wilson, Slappy White, Rich Little, Nipsey Russell and John Barbour. Also on the show are impersonator Jim Bailey and Foster Brooks. 





Dupe Of # 2111.                                                

Baseball star Hank Aaron is the object of this week's roast. Pitching the barbs are Lou Rawls, Joey Bishop, Eddie Matthews, Dizzy Dean, Foster Brooks, Audrey Meadows, Norm Crosby, Lynn Anderson, Nipsey Russell, Jackie Kahane and Jeannie Burnier.             

June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

PREMIERE EPISODE

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.                                                    

June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

PREMIERE EPISODE

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. Viewers can expect to see six to eight new faces. There is also comedy by regulars Rodney Dangerfield and an improvisational group, the Committee: and a nostalgic touch is added to each show via film clips of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.    

Duplicate of #1824.                                                                           

June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.                                       

June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.    

Duplicate of #1823.                                               

          June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.                            

  June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.                                    

  June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.     

Duplicate of #1826.                                           

Roasting Telly Savalas are: Dean Martin, Don Rickles, Angie Dickinson, Rowan & Martin, Richard Roundtree, Robert Stack, Phyllis Diller, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Dom DeLuise, Rich Little, Steve Lawrence, Darren McGavin, Peter Graves and Nipsey Russell.  

Duplicate of #2070.           

Jackie Gleason plays the fatted calf to a host of roasters, including Gene Kelly, Milton Berle, Phyllis Diller, Art Carney, Sid Caesar, Danny Thomas, Frank Gorshin, Nipsey Russell, Audrey Meadows, Sheila MacRae and Foster Brooks in this "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Dupe Of # 2120.