NBC Daytime Promo 1980

[morgan8757]

the biggest mistake NBC ever made was taking off hollywood squares and

high rollers and replacing them with letterman

[tomservo56954]

A year makes a big difference, Brad....it was hoped that a new PYRAMID would get the AS THE WORLD TURNS slot, but as we now know CBS went with a Xerox of THE VIEW--THE TALK. And ABC is readying talk/info shows to replace ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. At least LET'S MAKE A DEAL is holding its own...it's already run longer than every game show one of the Big Three has debuted in the past two decades.

[RolandTaylorJr]

When Letterman's daytime show premiered, my NBC affiliate (WSAZ) pre-empted Card Sharks for the rest of its NBC run in favor of local news.

[Bloodybunny]

Silverman missed a few; I've got a copy of that "We're loud" parody.

[wannawatchu66]

This promo aired the week of June 16-20, 1980. Dave's new show, simply titled "The David Letterman Show," debuted June 23, 1980. I watched that first show, and caught every show I could afterwards that summer before I had to start school again. It was bittersweet, though, because Peter Marshall and Hollywood Squares was sacrificed to make room for David's 90 min. This at a time when NBC's ratings were in the tank and Fred Silverman ordered a parody of the "Proud" promo destroyed.

[tantric38]

Yeah, the one guy who dared to be different on daytime & he lasted about 3 months. Oh well, back to the carpet swatches & "who my baby daddy?"

[dogisgreat1]

This show was really odd and hilarious. Too bad there aren't more clips from it available.  It was even more offbeat than the early Letterman Late Night Show.

[Macduck92]

One thing about Daytime now a days ABC Carries Soaps, CBS has a Decent Lineup with there Game Show-Soap mix, but NBC has nothing it only the TOday Show and Days of our lives thats it!

[mooky9669]

I never new Dave was on in the daytime!

[beckigreen]

Yep. Fred Silverman had him in a hold so he couldn't work for another network if his daytime show failed.

[quad1000]

Yes. He first was given an NBC daytime show, but the off-beat humor completely blew by the housewives and was canceled after a short run. When Tom Snyder's late night "Tomorrow," which followed Carson, was canned, NBC said wait a minute, how about that off-beat guy Letterman. The rest is history. Big groups of us would watch those early Late Night shows at college, they were so different and hilarious.

[jimmbo13]

O you watched Late night in college? Was he really popular with that crowd...thats Ive always heard

[niceone213]

AWESOME!

[secondchance1977]

Ah! Its the game show devil!

[Lakeview312]

I remember David Letterman's morning show also..but I also remember him in Mary Tyler Moore's short-lived variety show even before this. In the late 70s, he was in another variety/comedy show with the Starland Vocal Band...this too was very short-lived and was really only a summer replacement IIRC.

[GD29]

@Lakeview312 what did you think of him in the mary and starland vocal band variety shows?

[Green18600]

David Letterman's talk show on the NBC Television Network in the Summer of 1980 was a farce -- at worst; a disappointment -- at best. A Putrid 2!! Jay Leno, Judith Sheindlin, Ed McMahon, Joseph Wapner, Johnny Carson, and Bob Hope will be much better celebrities in this world than David Letterman will be in his lifetime. Suck My Dick -- David Letterman!! You needed to buy Gold Dial Soap back in the Summer of 1980.

[megamanmaniac]

They took off Chain Reaction, High Rollers, and Hollywood Squares for this crap. That's OK because Las Vegas Gambit and Blockbusters replaced it.

[Green18600]

"Las Vegas Gambit" and "Blockbusters" were sensible game shows for the viewers at home at the beginning of November 1980 on the NBC Television Network. I totally agree with your comments.

[steadfastcoward]

Alex Trebek had the High Rollers gig, am I correct? Might have been a very kind break for him.

[falconlem]

I was only 9 but it was funny for me too, and I was glad when he went to Late Night. It was just off the wall, pretty much a new SNL type of writing, which of course where the comedy meets the road, if a shows writers suck its doomed. Letterman was always a good writer and still is. He has finally reached the lighter side now, but Craig Kilborn carries on.

[Bonkoz]

I think you mean Craig Ferguson. :-) Craig Kilborn sucked! :-D

[steadfastcoward]

He almost left as quickly as Wilton North Report (what 'replaced' FOX's The Late Show with Arsenio Hall and the rotating hosts that followed when Hall went to Paramount to change history).

Arsenio Hall! He was like watching a prizefighter win a match every day! I always smile when I think of him...

[michelle66]

All I can remember from Letterman's morning show were fake ads for "Winky's Cow Paste"...

(And, isn't that Casey Kasem doing the announcing on this clip?)

[slokes1]

That is Casey indeed...

[joebradio]

I remember the Letterman morning show well, and -- no lie -- I told people at the time that this stuff was good, but it was just being shown at the wrong time of day !! I guess a network executive with half a brain also figured that out and we'll the rest is history.

[MadScout]

Letterman did mornings? Jeez....

[garypjacobs]

not only did he do mornings, the show as I remember it was hysterical. One gag he'd do was he'd spend thirty seconds introducing a huge celebrity, how honored they were to have her, etc. He'd bring her on the stage with "Ladies and Gentlemen, Elizabeth Taylor" or whoever, then some stagehand would come out and sit down. Dave would then do the interview straight, as if this bearded dude with a tool belt was really Elizabeth Taylor, until he finally admitted he wasn't her. Classic.

[tnrc75]

@garypjacobs Thanks for that info. Huge Letterman fan and the comment sections below these "old" clips are replete with tons of comments like yours with lots of juicy info.  I was only 5 in 1980 so I was more interested in the cartoons.

[springloadedchicken]

yes, you should see how bored he was.. how trapped he looked. i have old vhs of it... didn't think anything of it at the time. he also did cameos on the most retarded prime times shows in the galaxy. (before his own show of course after prime time which he is famous for)

[steadfastcoward]

The trapped look was his act then, still is to a degree. When he grits his teeth and adjusts himself and goes "ehhhh..." and don't forget the "cable weasels/FOX".

[GD29]

@springloadedchicken this was when he appeared in game shows, sitcoms, and such?

[bostonbill47]

I remembe the Boston affiliate canceled it, fortunately the Providence RI affiliate kept it

[Captmiloman]

The David Letterman Show was aired on KCPQ-TV in the Seattle/Tacoma area instead of NBC's affillate KING-TV.

[steadfastcoward]

Do they call KCPQ KONG now? Those letters were in Visalia, California once if the cassette tape in my frontal lobe isn't wrapped around the capstan.

[Captmiloman]

KCPQ 13 also goes by Q13 FOX these days. KONG is KING's sister station(6/16).

[DanNolan22]

Can someone please post clips from this show? They're impossible for me to find.

[tralfazruck]

I wanna see the giant door knob and hear the car and truck rental theme that was on the daytime show

[megamanmaniac]

Hard to believe High Rollers, Hollywood Squares, and Chain Reaction was cancelled for Letterman's first piece of crap.

[Jnelson09Returns]

Chain Reaction would have died young anyway. It aired at noon, and most stations pre-empted it for news. Didn't show it at all.

[Tubewings]

The NBC executives (and I'm not just blaming Silverman) were on SOMETHING back then, I just don't know what.

[steadfastcoward]

Remember that they didn't have as many SOMETHINGS then as we do now so you had to stink naturally...

[Tubewings]

I was talking about narcotics (for the NBC execs). What were you talking about?

[steadfastcoward]

Well, you got it. Basically coke, pot. ludes, smack, couldn't do smack on angel dust. More drugs about now vs. then, alcohol remains as always.

[coolwafferman]

I wish NBC still had a good line up like that one with

Letterman,Wheel of Fortune,Password Plus,and Card Sharks.

That was when Wheel of Fortune was good,And the Puzzles made sense.

[nanlisa]

Since this was from back in 1980, Allen Ludden was too sick to continue hosting Password Plus, and Tom Kennedy took his place. That October, I remember hearing that he had a stroke and that he was in a coma for two weeks. And then we lost in June of '81 to cancer.

[steadfastcoward]

I always enjoyed Tom Kennedy...When Bill Cullen passed the world lost a legend. Allen Ludden was a great guy and the show wasn't the same again. We had Bullseye, Joker's Wild later the All New Name That Tune after the 6 pm news (nighttime Wheel didn't exist). Donahue, then Oprah took cartoons and Star Trek, Hillbillies out of my afternoon, even Heckle and Jeckle! GRRRR.

[QBCNetwork]

In some NBC stations (KPRC & KMOL for example), had only Donahue, Letterman & local news. This bumped NBC games off. And with Love Boat reruns knocking off $20,000 Pyramid & Alice reruns told Whew! to kiss my grits, it would be the start of the Game Show Depression!

[jimousine]

KPRC didn't have game shows on at that time? I live in Houston, and we've been screwed when it comes to game shows! We didn't even get PYL on KHOU until around Sep. 84, and the CBS daytime Wheel wasn't even shown here when CBS had it! Lest we forget all the pre-emptions they've given in the past to the primetime game shows, like when they showed an old Marlo Thomas cancer special that preempted the TPIR $1 Mil. Show where Golden Road was played for a $100K+ motorhome! I WAS PISSED!!!

[QBCNetwork]

Welcome to the club. KHOU missed out on the Michael Larson episodes. Also, after the ABC Feud, KTRK disliked ABC games (except for a special Double Talk, due to the Astros-Mets rainout). Also, KPRC made the worst move of all knocking off Classic Concentration to put Santa Barbara @ the 9:00 am slot! Unbelieveable!

[jimousine]

Man, it took an Astros-Mets rainout to get a measley "Double Talk" episode? Unbelievable! These Houston affiliates blow, don't they?

Also OBCNetwork, you wouldn't happen to know if Love Connection, with Chuck, ever aired on any other station besides KTXH (20 Vision at that time) back in the 80s, would you? I've been curious about that for years (don't know why, but I just have).

[freewaydan]

What about syndicated game shows in Houston? (Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, Family Feud, Break the Bank, etc) Did any of the big three air them?

[QBCNetwork]

Except for Family Feud, no.  TTD & TJW aired on KRIV while KNTV (now KHCW) had BTB.

[Jnelson09Returns]

Yeah, I got pretty steamed when no one in Raleigh aired Millionaire with Viera in its first season, and even more steamed when WECT in Wilmington pre-empted 1 vs. 100 twice.

[steadfastcoward]

Pyramid was a CBS show, wasn't it?

[QBCNetwork]

Not until 1982 when the show moved to LA & was the $25,000 Pyramid. But then in 1980, it was seen on ABC when they were in New York.

The New York Pyramid began on CBS in 1973, then switched over to ABC in 1974.

[steadfastcoward]

Was there a game show that made it on all three networks during an uninterrupted run? Some had down time of some length.

Come to think of it, Pyramid had a amall run recently or am I confusing it with a cable thing?

I don't even HAVE cable or satellite so GSN viewers are blessed!

[heine71]

David Letterman and the voice of Casey Kasem do a daytime promo lineup for NBC in 1980!

[VMMETS1]

How long has Wheel of Fortune been on? Great career move for Vanna!

[QBCNetwork]

The daytime Wheel started in 1975 & ended in 1991 (with a move to CBS from 1989-91). Vanna didn't join until 1982.

[ah3133]

lol, casey kasem ...

i could just see that show on today. the view, regis and kelly, and david letterman

[tvpirate05]

I miss real daytime TV, with a nice mix of network game shows, soaps, and talk shows.

Sigh, R.I.P. daytime TV

[oz615]

now it's nothing but news talk shows and court shows :(

[sugarbear522]

And now all we have are ghetto-fabulous talk shows in their place. I rather see a game show (like Hollywood Squares and Password Plus) and a positive talk show or two that today's garbage. Oh well, thank the most high for cable TV.

[BradDP90]

@sugarbear522 If you notice, CBS is starting to change things around. Let's Make a Deal came back and also it's looking like Pyramid will come back in the fall on CBS. Team that up with The Price is Right's 39th season and CBS's daytime lineup is looking to be reminiscent of the 70's and 80's.

[runnerduck]

@sugarbear522

The reason why those "ghetto-fabulous" talk and "court" shows exist is they're cheap to produce unlike game shows and soap operas, and they're much cheaper for local stations (who now have most of the control over daytime programing) than sitcom reruns (they were cheap years ago because there was little if any "residuals" paid out to the actors/actresses.

And Cable TV isn't much better - a lot of infomercials and trash TV offerings..

[mooncrystle]

Wow, I've been wanting to see clips from this show since forever! I wish there were more of them here, but I'm glad to see this, at least. Thanks!

[newguy98]

Yep. He used to do those kinds of announcements on NBC all the time in the late 70s and, I think, early 80s.

[cbgmp]

Wasn't that Casey Kasem announcing?

[MicahJavert]

Where are the court shows??

[Tubewings]

Well, if it makes you feel better, wait about a year and you'll get one.