''The CBS Late Movie'' is a
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
television series (later known as ''CBS Late Night'') during the 1970s and 1980s. The program ran in most American
television markets from 11:30 p.m. (
ET/
PT) until 2:30 a.m. or later, on weeknights. A single
announcer
An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event.
Television and other media
Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...
(in the early years, CBS staff announcer Norm Stevens) voiced the introduction and
commercial bumper
In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercia ...
s for each program, but there was no
host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
People
*Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman
* Michel Host ...
per se, or
closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...
besides those of the night's presentation. (The bumpers announcing the stars of the movie rotated names, two or three at a time, so more of the players would be mentioned.)
The program was launched following the cancellation of ''
The Merv Griffin Show
''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 a ...
'', CBS' late night talk show from 1969 to 1972, which went on to have a long run in
first-run syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
following CBS' cancellation.
''The CBS Late Movie'' theme music was "So Old, So Young" by CBS West Coast musical director
Morton Stevens
Morton Stevens (January 30, 1929 – November 11, 1991) was an American film score composer. In 1965, he became director of music for CBS West Coast operations. He is probably best known for composing the theme music for '' Hawaii Five-O'', a ...
, which also served as the theme music for CBS' prime time movies until 1978.
Background
Until 1969, CBS programming had never ventured into the late hours. However, three years earlier, scheduling coordinators at many of the network's affiliates, who were programming old movies after nightly local newscasts, took notice of the dwindling stock of new films available for acquisition. In fact, a 1966 poll of CBS affiliates revealed that approximately 80% of local outlets were demanding the network "supply a late evening entertainment show Mondays through Fridays" to fill the growing void in newer films. Thus, CBS tentatively targeted the spring of 1968 as the premiere date for a new network late night series. But CBS spokespersons admitted they "did not know whether its show would be similar to others, but it
ashopeful of devising something different" from the usual talk format exemplified by
Johnny Carson's ''Tonight Show'' on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
or
Joey Bishop
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/ ...
, who was about to bring
his own brand of chat to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
audiences.
In 1967, at its annual convention, CBS met with 750 affiliate executives and told them the network could provide a Carson-style late night program by the following spring—but only if 85% of station-owners would commit to airing it. Otherwise, the financing required for such a production would prove cost-prohibitive. No official poll was taken among the executives, however, and this may have been due to the fact that in 1966 when a similar offer was dangled before affiliates, only 70% of CBS stations desired a late-evening talk show. Yet in 1969, this is just what was offered to them—in the person of
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own ta ...
. But despite his success as a syndicated TV phenomenon, Griffin's CBS ratings could never compete with Johnny Carson's consistently high audience numbers. And thus, in pulling the plug on Griffin in early 1972, CBS committed its late night programming to classic feature films as well as the debut of more recent theatrical fare.
This move proved an effective ploy because two months after ''The CBS Late Movie'' premiered, the Nielsen ratings recorded that it had drawn a larger audience than ''The Tonight Show''. One CBS executive had a simple explanation for this sudden (though short-lived) good fortune: "People just like to watch movies."
The ''CBS Late Movie/Late Night'' block, however, was not always cleared by every affiliate of the network; in several markets, the block was either
delayed by one hour from its regularly-scheduled time (most notably in the
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Mountain time zones), picked up by a local
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
(including those that later affiliated with the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network), or not seen at all in certain cities. Those stations that did not carry ''CBS Late Night'' instead broadcast movies from their own libraries and/or their own lineup of off-network syndicated sitcoms, drama reruns, and first-run syndication products.
A large factor in the programming decisions of many CBS affiliates electing not to clear ''CBS Late Night'' (or delaying it) was due to head-to-head competition with NBC's ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
'', and starting in 1980,
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
' ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
''. ABC themselves went with a similar format to ''CBS Late Night'', with ''
Wide World of Entertainment
''ABC's Wide World of Entertainment'' is a late night television block of programs created by the ABC television network. It premiered on January 8, 1973, and ended three years later. The title was based on the long-running broadcast ''ABC's Wid ...
'', which later gave way to ''ABC Late Night'', which consisted of reruns of that network's prime time series, original movies, and some first-run programming. Preemptions and delays of the block by CBS affiliates increased during the 1980s, and into the early 1990s, as the syndication market began to grow more, and several stations deciding it would be more financially beneficial to air syndicated programming, thus keeping all advertising revenue for themselves. The debut of ''
The Pat Sajak Show
''The Pat Sajak Show'' was an American late-night television talk show that aired on CBS from January 9, 1989, to April 13, 1990.
Cast
The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show '' Wheel of Fortune''. To do the talk sh ...
'' in January 1989 gained some affiliates back to the ''CBS Late Night'' lineup; however, some CBS affiliates elected to air ''
The Arsenio Hall Show
''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall.
There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...
'' in syndication instead; in the case of CBS' Chicago station,
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...
, both shows aired back-to-back after the late newscasts.
It was not until 1999, when the final stations agreed to carry ''
The Late Late Show'' in its default time slot, that CBS' late night programming (excluding ''
Nightwatch/Up to the Minute'') was cleared across the entire network. Even before that, full clearance of the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'' across the network (which premiered in August 1993) wouldn't happen until the end of 1994.
History
1972–1976
First airing on February 14, 1972, ''The CBS Late Movie'' initially ran titles from a new package of
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
films that had not been previously televised. These included the
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show ''Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shōg ...
courtroom drama ''
Twilight of Honor
''Twilight of Honor'', released in the UK as ''The Charge is Murder'', is a 1963 film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Richard Chamberlain, Nick Adams (actor, born 1931), Nick Adams, Claude Rains, and featuring Joey Heatherton and Linda Evans ...
'' (1963), the original version of the sci-fi classic ''
Village of the Damned'' (1960),
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...
's prisoner-of-war entry ''
The Hill'' (1965), as well as two installments from the
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film.
She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's '' Blithe Spirit'', and Osca ...
-
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Chr ...
series—''
Murder Most Foul'' (1964) and ''
Murder at the Gallop
''Murder at the Gallop'' (1963) is the second of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was based on the 1953 novel '' After the Funeral'' by Agatha Christie, and starred Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Charles "Bud" Ti ...
'' (1963). CBS' new anthology also offered packages of 1950's
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
films that, up until then, had been run only on local and independent stations but never on a network. These included the
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
medieval action-picture ''
The Flame and the Arrow
''The Flame and the Arrow'' is a 1950 American Technicolor swashbuckler film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from a ...
'' (1950), the
Randolph Scott
George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...
western ''
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
'' (1951), and the
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, '' Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...
military drama ''
Take the High Ground!
''Take the High Ground!'' is a 1953 American war film directed by Richard Brooks and starring Richard Widmark and Karl Malden as drill sergeants who must transform a batch of everyday civilians into soldiers during the Korean War.
Plot
In May 195 ...
'' (1953). But Warners also made available a new package to viewers that showcased the TV premieres of
Visconti's controversial anti-Fascist work ''
The Damned'' (1969), the
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...
outback adventure ''
Adam's Woman
''Adam's Woman'' is a 1970 Australian-American historical drama film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Beau Bridges, Jane Merrow and John Mills. It has been called a "convict Western".
Plot
In the 1840s, an American sailor ashore in Liver ...
'' (1969) and the
Hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
-horror
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
entry, ''
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
''Dracula Has Risen from the Grave'' is a 1968 British supernatural horror film directed by Freddie Francis and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the fourth entry in Hammer's ''Dracula'' series, and the third to feature Christopher Lee ...
'' (1969).
As mentioned above, the first few weeks of ''The CBS Late Movie'' proved a winner with late night television audiences. Here is the lineup of feature films that initially drew viewers away from Johnny Carson and the rest of CBS' late night competition:
: Aqua indicates the world television premiere of the title.
: Yellow indicates the network premiere of a film that was previously shown for years on local and independent stations.
: White indicates titles that had already been run on a network but had not yet been syndicated to local outlets.
As the graph above indicates, films that had never before been shown on television proliferated during ''The CBS Late Movie''s first couple of weeks. But later on in this period, older films that had been run previously on local stations began to increase in number. This may help explain the decline in audience that occurred a few months after the program's initial telecasts.
Also televised during ''The CBS Late Movie''s first five years were repeats of
made-for-TV movies
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
previously seen on CBS and other networks (including some that first appeared as an ''
ABC Movie of the Week
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
''), and movies not well-suited for prime time due to content. (Violence was often the main factor, with
true crime
True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events.
The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...
stories and
police drama
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
, and occasionally controversial subject matter, or strong
suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
,
horror, or
sci-fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
themes.) Among these were ''
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
''The Abominable Dr. Phibes'' is a 1971 British dark comedy horror film, produced by Ronald S. Dunas and Louis M. Heyward, directed by Robert Fuest, written by William Goldstein and James Whiton, and starring Vincent Price and Joseph Cotten. It ...
'', its sequel ''
Dr. Phibes Rises Again'', and ''
Theatre of Blood
''Theatre of Blood'' (known in the U.S. as ''Theater of Blood'') is a 1973 British horror comedy film directed by Douglas Hickox, and starring Vincent Price as vengeful actor Edward Lionheart and Diana Rigg as his daughter Edwina. The cast also i ...
'' (all three of which starred
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
), ''
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
''Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde'' is a 1971 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions ...
'', ''
The Valley of Gwangi
''The Valley of Gwangi'' is a 1969 American fantasy Western film produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, directed by Jim O'Connolly, written by William Bast, and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, and Gila Golan.
Creature ...
'', ''
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
''7 Faces of Dr. Lao'' is a 1964 American Metrocolor Western fantasy-comedy film directed by George Pal (his final directorial effort) and starring Tony Randall. The film, an adaptation of the 1935 novel ''The Circus of Dr. Lao'' by Charles G. ...
'', ''
The Creeping Flesh
''The Creeping Flesh'' is a 1973 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis, written by Peter Spenceley, and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Lorna Heilbron.
Plot
Prof. Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing), a Victorian era scie ...
'' (with the horror team of
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
and
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
), ''
Asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
...
'', ''
Baron Blood
Baron Blood is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Baron Blood, John Falsworth, first appeared in ''The Invaders'' #7 (July 1976). The second incarnation, Victor ...
'', ''
Frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
'', the killer-rats-on-the-loose film ''
Willard'' and its sequel ''
Ben
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
''.
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
's ''
Doctor Faustus'', ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
'', and
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
' ''
Head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
'' made their network television debut on this series, as did such lower-budget schlock horror films as ''
The Giant Spider Invasion
''The Giant Spider Invasion'' is a 1975 science fiction horror film produced, composed and directed by Bill Rebane, and follows giant spiders that terrorize the town of Merrill, Wisconsin and its surrounding area. The film was theatrically release ...
'' and ''
Night of the Lepus
''Night of the Lepus'' (also known as ''Rabbits'') is a 1972 American science fiction horror film directed by William F. Claxton and produced by A. C. Lyles. Based upon Russell Braddon's 1964 science fiction novel '' The Year of the Angry Rabbi ...
'', the latter of which featured giant rabbits on the loose, becoming a source of embarrassment for one of its stars, ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' actor
DeForest Kelley
Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999), known to colleagues as "Dee", was an American actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer. He was known for his roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the in the televisio ...
, who refused to discuss the film later in interviews.
Well-known theatrical movies were also occasionally featured, such as the 1951 ''
Show Boat
''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'' (which had made its network TV debut on NBC in 1972, and was shown on CBS as both a
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
and
Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
special), the
David Lean
Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'' (1946), and a severely edited 75-minute version of the David Lean ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'' (1948). Some films were seen in two parts over two nights, such as ''
The Dirty Dozen
''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph M ...
'' and ''
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
''. Another older film that was featured was the 1939 version of the
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
story ''
The Hound of the Baskervilles
''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...
'', starring
Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
and
Nigel Bruce
William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock H ...
.
In 1975, repeats of episodes from the ''
NBC Mystery Movie
''The NBC Mystery Movie'' is an American television anthology series produced by Universal Pictures, that NBC broadcast from 1971 to 1977. Devoted to a rotating series of mystery episodes, it was sometimes split into two subsets broadcast on diff ...
'' were added to the mix; the first of these was ''
Banacek
''Banacek'' is an American detective TV series starring George Peppard that aired on the NBC network from 1972 to 1974. The series was part of the rotating '' NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie'' anthology. It alternated in its time slot with several o ...
'', which made its ''CBS Late Movie'' debut on January 7, 1975. However, these episodes were sometimes cut to fit into the 60-minute program frame (excluding time for commercials and public service announcements), especially on nights that they were paired up with another 60-minute drama.
But not all evenings were devoted to reruns of television serials, for in the summer of 1976, classic
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
films enjoyed a short revival on ''The CBS Late Movie''. These included the
Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick (born Nigel Dennis Patrick Wemyss-Gorman; 2 May 1912 – 21 September 1981) was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, he became known as a debonair leading man in Brit ...
mystery ''
Sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
'' (1959),
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...
's
I.R.A. drama ''
Odd Man Out
''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...
'' (1947), and the
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. T ...
fantasy, ''
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...
'' (1946).
1977–1984
After 1976, the show also featured back-to-back reruns of different one-hour television series, some popular (''
Barnaby Jones
''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was or ...
'', ''
Kojak
''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...
''), some lesser known (''
Kolchak: The Night Stalker'', ''
Black Sheep Squadron
''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (renamed ''Black Sheep Squadron'' for the second season) is an American television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1976, until April 6, 1978. It was part historical drama, period military drama, part comedy. I ...
'', ''
Dan August
''Dan August'' is an American drama series that aired on ABC from September 23, 1970, to April 8, 1971. Burt Reynolds played the title character. Reruns of the series aired in prime time on CBS from May to October 1973 and from April to June 197 ...
'', ''
Harry O
''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was executive producer. ''Harry O'' followed the broadcast ...
''), and some originally made for British television (''
The Avengers'' and ''
The New Avengers'', ''
Return of the Saint
''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian bro ...
'', ''
Thriller''). Repeats of several of the network's situation comedies were also shown in rotation during the 1970s and early 1980s, including ''
The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...
'', ''
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
The ...
'', ''
Alice'', ''
Archie Bunker's Place
''Archie Bunker's Place'' is an American television sitcom produced as a continuation of ''All in the Family''. It aired on CBS from September 23, 1979, to April 4, 1983. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough ...
'' and ''
WKRP in Cincinnati
''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio broadcasting, radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson (director), Hugh Wilson ...
''.
The original series ''
Behind the Screen
''Behind the Screen'' is a 1916 American silent short comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance. The film is in the public domain.
Plot
The film takes place in a sil ...
'' was part of ''CBS Late Night'' from October 1981 to January 1982.
The ''Late Movie''s
time slot
Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule.
Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...
was also at times taken over by
tape-delayed sports events, such as
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
and
finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
.
1985–1989
TV movies from other networks (''
Something for Joey
''Something for Joey'' is a 1977 American made-for-television sport drama film about the relationship between college football player John Cappelletti (portrayed by Marc Singer), and his younger brother Joey (Jeff Lynas). Other cast members incl ...
'', ''
Birth of The Beatles
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
'') began to appear during the 1980s, and in 1985 the series was retooled as ''CBS Late Night''. The expansion of
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
and
satellite television
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
during the 1980s took over much of the show's movie fare, and it became mostly a place for repeats of ''
Magnum, P.I.
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
'' and other popular CBS shows. ''
Night Heat
''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was also ...
,'' a production of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's
CTV network, also aired on ''CBS Late Night''. ''
Adderly
''Adderly'' is a Canadian television adventure-drama series which aired from 1986 to 1988. It was broadcast on both Canadian TV and on CBS in the United States. It starred Vancouver-born Winston Rekert as "charming and witty V.H. Adderly," an ope ...
'', ''
Hot Shots'' and ''
Diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
'', other Canadian-filmed shows, later appeared.
After ''T. J. Hooker'' was canceled by
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
in the summer of 1985, CBS picked up the show and produced List of T. J. Hooker episodes#Season 5 (1985–86), new episodes and one two-hour TV movie titled "Blood Sport". The new episodes were shown later at night as the first portion of ''CBS Late Night'', with each episode's runtime extended to 70 minutes (or one hour and 10 minutes) to allow CBS affiliates time for increased availability for advertisements.
The TV movie and the penultimate episode were both aired by CBS on May 21, 1986, with the finale one week later on May 28, 1986.
In 1987, CBS aired an Americanized version of the BBC's long running pop music show, ''Top of the Pops'', hosted by Nia Peeples and featuring some performances from the BBC version of the program, alongside those taped in Hollywood. The show was presented on late Friday nights, and lasted almost a year.
1990–1993
In 1989, ''CBS Late Night'' was replaced by ''
The Pat Sajak Show
''The Pat Sajak Show'' was an American late-night television talk show that aired on CBS from January 9, 1989, to April 13, 1990.
Cast
The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show '' Wheel of Fortune''. To do the talk sh ...
''. A year later, ''CBS Late Night'' returned after ''The Pat Sajak Show'' was shortened from 90 to 60 minutes in February 1990 and then cancelled altogether on April 13, 1990. During the same two-month time-span, ''CBS Late Night'' also televised reruns of Patrick McGoohan, Patrick McGoohan's classic spy series, ''The Prisoner'' (1967–68). The network also continued to show reruns of other old prime time shows such as ''Wiseguy (TV series), Wiseguy'' and shows from other networks including Fox's ''21 Jump Street'' and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's ''Stingray (NBC TV series), Stingray''. The line-up also featured original programming; for example, there was ''Overtime... with Pat O'Brien (television), Pat O'Brien'' as well as ''The Kids in the Hall (TV series), The Kids in the Hall'' and ''The Midnight Hour''.
In March 1991, CBS retooled their late night by airing original series under a new umbrella title of ''Crimetime After Primetime''; new shows included, but were not limited to, ''Silk Stalkings'', ''Tropical Heat'' and ''Dark Justice''.
By that fall, CBS added two original game shows to the start of the late night lineup playing off the popularity of the syndicated dating game show ''Studs (game show), Studs''; the first to premiere in September 1991 was ''Personals'', hosted by Michael Burger, paired a month later with ''Night Games'', starring comedian Jeff Marder and Playboy Playmate Luann Lee as announcer. Both were adult-oriented game shows that followed a format similar to ''The Dating Game''. ''Night Games'' was canceled in June 1992, replaced by ''A Perfect Score'', a similar show also hosted by Marder. Both ''Score'' and ''Personals'' continued until December 1992, to be replaced by an earlier ''Crimetime After Primetime'' until being dropped for ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'' by the following August. Letterman's agreement with the network also came with the ability to produce programming in the hour after his show. In January 1995, Letterman's company Worldwide Pants began producing ''
The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder'' for the network, which he would continue to control until The Late Late Show with James Corden, James Corden's run began in March 2015, when it came under network ownership.
Summer 2015
CBS revived the concept of running late night crime and police procedural reruns, using the umbrella title ''CBS Summer Showcase'', in the summer of 2015 between the May 20 finale of ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and the September 8 premiere of ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'', and the restoration of the Ed Sullivan Theater between those dates. From May 21, 2015, until September 7, 2015, the network aired reruns of police procedurals and scripted dramas in the ''Late Show'' slot beginning with ''The Mentalist'' (May 21–June 5) and continued throughout the summer with ''Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), Hawaii Five-0'' (June 8–12, July 27–31), ''CSI: Cyber'' (June 15–19, August 17–21), ''Elementary (TV series), Elementary'' (June 22–26), ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloods'' (June 29-July 5), ''The Good Wife'' (July 6–10, August 24–28), ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' (July 13–17), ''NCIS (TV series), NCIS'' (July 20–24, September 7) ''Scorpion (TV series), Scorpion'' (August 3–7), ''NCIS: New Orleans'' (August 10–14) and ''Madam Secretary (TV series), Madam Secretary'' (August 31-September 4).
The network dismissed concerns that it could hurt the ratings of ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', which follows the ''Late Show''.
[ In an interview with Vulture (website), ''Vulture'', Corden stated that he would not have been interested in having ''The Late Late Show'' temporarily moved up into the ''Late Show'' timeslot instead, explaining that "if it goes really well, then I’m just bummed in September. And if it goes terribly, then I’m the guy, 'Ah, well he can’t do it,' when in fact we’re only 25 shows in." These fears were not realized, as ''The Late Late Show'' received ratings consistent with what it had garnered previously, and ''Summer Showcase'' itself usually maintained Letterman's ratings share, even beating first-run episodes of ABC's ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' in the ratings.
Corden subsequently used the lead-ins as an opportunity to spoof companion aftershows such as ''Talking Dead'', with cold open sketches such as ''Talking Mentalist'' and ''Talking Hawaii Five-0''. Similarly, during the premiere of Colbert's ''Late Show'', CBS CEO Leslie Moonves was shown operating a lever he could use to switch back to ''The Mentalist'' reruns if he was dissatisfied with the new program.]
See also
*List of late-night American network TV programs
References
External links
An article on "The New Avengers" being released on DVD, with mentions of the CBS Late Movie/Late Night (where the series originally aired in the US)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbs Late Movie, The
CBS original programming
1972 American television series debuts
1989 American television series endings
American late-night television shows
American motion picture television series
English-language television shows
CBS late-night programming