''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
s hosted by
Dick Cavett on various
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
s, including:
*
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 ...
daytime
Daytime as observed on Earth is the period of the day during which a given location experiences natural illumination from direct sunlight. Daytime occurs when the Sun appears above the local horizon, that is, anywhere on the globe's hemis ...
, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning''
* ABC
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays (May 26 – September 19, 1969)
* ABC
late night (December 29, 1969 – January 1, 1975)
*
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 Entertainm ...
prime time, Saturdays (August 16 – September 6, 1975; this version was actually more of a
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
)
*
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
, early evenings, weeknights (October 10, 1977 – October 8, 1982)
*
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
prime time (September 30, 1985 – September 23, 1986)
* ABC late night, Tuesdays & Wednesday nights (September 22 – December 30, 1986)
*
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
(April 17, 1989 – January 26, 1996)
*
TCM (2006–2007)
Cavett normally taped his programs in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, though occasionally he would venture elsewhere, including Los Angeles, New Orleans and London.
Show history
''The Dick Cavett Show'' refers to television programs on the ABC, PBS, USA and CNBC networks hosted by comedian, comedy writer and author
Dick Cavett between 1968 and 1995 in New York. The first
daytime show featured
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...
,
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
and
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
. ABC pressured Cavett to get prominent celebrities on the show, although subsequent shows without them got higher ratings and more critical acclaim.
A well-received summer replacement prime-time series that aired three times per week led to the memorable
late-night talk show
A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show popular in the United States, where the format originated. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It i ...
that ran from December 29, 1969 to January 1, 1975 opposite
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
'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, ...
''. Cavett took the time slot over from ''
The Joey Bishop Show''. In addition to his usual monologue, Cavett opened each show reading selected questions written by audience members, to which he would respond with witty rejoinders. ("What makes New York so crummy these days?" "Tourists.")
While Cavett and Carson shared many of the same guests, Cavett was receptive to
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
artists to a degree unusual at the time, as well as to authors, politicians and other personalities outside the entertainment field. The wide variety of guests, combined with Cavett's literate and intelligent approach to comedy, appealed to a significant enough number of viewers to keep the show running for several years despite the competition from Carson's show. Carson's move to southern California in the early 1970s to focus on
Hollywood celebrities also helped to minimize guest overlap.
The late-night show's 45-minute midpoint would always be signaled by the musical piece "Glitter and Be Gay" from
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
's ''
Candide
( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
.'' The ''Candide'' snippet became Cavett's theme song and was used as the introduction to his later PBS series, and was played by the house band on his various talk show appearances.
Typically each show had several guests, but occasionally Cavett would devote an entire show to a single guest. Among those receiving such special treatment (some more than once) were
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
,
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
,
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
,
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
(without an audience),
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
,
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
,
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
(who appeared on the same show with
Alfred Lunt
Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...
,
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...
,
Tammy Grimes
Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress.
Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and the ...
and
Brian Bedford),
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
,
Janis Joplin,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
,
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
,
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
,
Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
,
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
,
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
,
Zero Mostel ("on some shows I've had just one guest, but tonight I have Zero"),
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
and
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
. These shows helped showcase Cavett's skills as a host who could attract guests that otherwise might not do interviews, at the expense of some of the excitement that might ensue from the multiple-guest format.
In January 1973, despite a vociferous letter campaign, ratings forced the show to be cut back to occasional status, airing one week a month under the umbrella title ''
ABC's 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 ...
''.
Jack Paar, whom ABC had tried to recruit as Cavett's successor, insisted that both he and Cavett would be given at least one week per month as a sign of respect for Cavett. By the end of 1974, Cavett's show was airing only twice per month.
The PBS series featured single guests in a half-hour format and was produced by
Christopher Porterfield
Christopher Porterfield is an American songwriter, guitarist and singer. He currently leads the folk band Field Report. Porterfield started his music career in High School, co-founding the band, Dinner With Greg. He also previously played with De ...
, a former roommate of Cavett's at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
who had coauthored the book ''Cavett'' that was published in August 1974. The show remained on the PBS lineup until affiliates voted it off the schedule in 1982.
On all three of the early ABC shows, the bandleader was
Bobby Rosengarden
Robert Marshall Rosengarden (April 23, 1924 – February 27, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A native of Elgin, Illinois, United States, he played on many recordings and in television orchestras and talk show bands.
Rosenga ...
and the announcer was
Fred Foy
Frederick William Foy (March 27, 1921December 22, 2010) was an American radio and television announcer and actor. He is best known for his narration of ''The Lone Ranger''. Radio historian Jim Harmon described Foy as "''the'' announcer, perhaps t ...
of ''
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'' fame. The morning show was produced by Woody Fraser. Tony Converse was the producer of the 1969 ABC prime-time show and the original producer of the ABC late-night show, succeeded by John Gilroy. Cavett's writer was
Dave Lloyd.
''The Dick Cavett Show'' was also the name of a short-lived radio show.
Notable moments
1968–69
=March 4, 1968: The premiere of ''This Morning''
=
In the first broadcast of his 90-minute morning show, Cavett had as his first guest engineer, designer and futurist
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...
. The two discussed how politicians would eventually become obsolete through technological advances, and the wide-ranging discussion included a comment from Fuller that a woman is a baby factory and that a man's role is to simply press the right button. Later on in the program, Cavett chatted with actress
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...
, who discussed her long rehabilitation from a near-fatal
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in 1965.
=March 27, 1968: Christine Jorgensen walks off the show
=
During an interview with
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a career as a successful actress, singer and re ...
, the first widely known
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
to have
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
(in this case a complete male-to-female
vaginoplasty
Vaginoplasty is any surgical procedure that results in the construction or reconstruction of the vagina. It is a type of genitoplasty. Pelvic organ prolapse is often treated with one or more surgeries to repair the vagina. Sometimes a vaginoplas ...
), Jorgensen walked off the show when she felt offended after Cavett asked her about the status of her romantic life with her wife; because Jorgensen was the only scheduled guest, Cavett spent the rest of that show talking about how he had not meant to offend her.
=June 6, 1968: Robert F. Kennedy assassination
=
As a result of continuing coverage of the
Robert F. Kennedy assassination
On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day.
Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate i ...
that took place earlier that morning, Cavett's show did not begin until 11 a.m., and was interrupted at 11:20 for 30 minutes of further updates on the unfolding tragedy. At 11:50, Cavett's show returned for its final 10 minutes. The assassination was the only topic discussed during the 30 minutes of the show. On the following two mornings, the show began at its regular time of 10:30 a.m., and was once again devoted exclusively to assassination coverage, and presented without commercial interruption.
=June 13, 1969: Groucho Marx's one-man show
=
Because of conflicting network broadcasts, Cavett pre-taped a one-man, 60-minute episode with Groucho Marx.
[The Dick Cavett Show: Season 3, Episode 9 Groucho Marx (13 Jun. 1969) - imdb](_blank)
q.v.: YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
=July 7, 1969: Jimi Hendrix
=
In the July 7, 1969 interview, rock star
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
modestly downplayed his abilities and displayed his sense of humor. Perhaps most importantly, he revealed some of his aesthetic ideals and the purpose of his music when he discussed his concept of the “Electric Church”:
''
usicis getting to be more spiritual than anything now. Pretty soon I believe that they are going to have to rely on music to get some kind of peace of mind or satisfaction—direction, actually—more so than politics, because politics is really on an ego scene…
oliticsis the art of words, which means nothing. So, therefore you have to rely on more of an earthier substance like music or the arts, theater, acting, painting, whatever…
he Electric Churchis a belief that I have. We do use electric guitars. Everything is electrified nowadays. So, therefore the belief comes through electricity to people. That’s why we play so loud. Because it doesn’t actually hit through the eardrums like most groups do nowadays. They say ‘Well, we’re going to play loud too, because they’re playing loud.’ And they’ve got this real shrill sound that’s really hard. We plan for our sound to go inside the soul of the person…and see if they can awaken some sort of thing in their minds, because there are so many sleeping people.''
Hendrix then performed "
Hear My Train A Comin'
"Hear My Train A Comin'" (alternatively titled "Get My Heart Back Together") is a blues-based song written by Jimi Hendrix. Lyrically, it was inspired by earlier American spirituals and blues songs which use a train metaphor to represent salvati ...
" with the house band and played the guitar with his teeth at the end of the song.
=August 19, 1969: The Woodstock Show
=
On Tuesday, August 19, 1969,
Jefferson Airplane,
Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
,
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...
and
Stephen Stills (of
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
) all appeared on the show. The episode is now often referred to as "The
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
Show", as many of the performers, and Cavett's audience, came directly from the concert for the taping the afternoon before the show aired. Stills pointed out the mud from the concert venue still on his pants. Jefferson Airplane's performance of "
We Can Be Together
In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun.
Morphology
In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms:
* ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form
* ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; ...
" marked the first time the word "fuck" was uttered on television in the US (the actual line is "In order to survive we steal, cheat, lie, forge, fuck, hide and deal". Another line with the forbidden word was "Up against the wall,
Up against the wall, motherfucker".). Mitchell sang "
Chelsea Morning
"Chelsea Morning" is a song written and composed by Joni Mitchell and recorded for the singer's second album, ''Clouds'', which she released in 1969.
Background
The song was inspired by Mitchell's room in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City ...
", "Willy" and "For Free".
Grace Slick
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, ...
purposefully called Cavett "Jim" and briefly talked about her school days at
Finch College
Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976.
Founding
Finch was founded in ...
. Stephen Stills performed "4 + 20". Joni Mitchell sang "
The Fiddle and the Drum"
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
. Jefferson Airplane (with Crosby) then launched into "
Somebody to Love". The credits rolled as the musicians, without Mitchell, engaged in an instrumental jam as the audience danced.
Jimi Hendrix was scheduled to join the others, but was unable to appear at the afternoon taping that occurred only a few hours after he had performed at the late-running festival. Mitchell's manager, apparently fearing a similar situation that may have prevented her from appearing on the show, did not allow her to perform at Woodstock. He considered the ''Dick Cavett Show'' too important for her career for her to risk missing the taping.
Mitchell wrote the song "
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
" based on descriptions by
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
and from the images she saw on television, as she could not be there in person. The most famous version of the song is by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who recorded it for their ''
Déjà Vu
''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univers ...
'' album (1970). It appears in the film ''
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
'' during the closing credits. Mitchell recorded it for ''
Ladies of the Canyon'' (1970).
=September 5, 1969: Groucho Marx
=
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
remarked about the
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
musical ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
'', which had just opened and was notorious for its ground-breaking use of explicit nudity: "I was going to go, but I saw myself in the mirror one morning, and I figured, why waste five and a half dollars?"
=September 9, 1969: Jimi Hendrix
=
In an interview with Jimi Hendrix, Cavett spoke about Hendrix's performance of the "
Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, and called the style "unorthodox". Jimi commented that the song was "not unorthodox" and that what he played was beautiful. The audience clapped, and Dick blushed.
Hendrix performed "Izabella" & "
Machine Gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
" with his band,
Billy Cox
William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstoc ...
,
Mitch Mitchell
John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...
and
Juma Sultan
Juma Sultan (born April 13, 1942) is a jazz musician, most often recording as a percussionist or bass player. He may be best known for his appearance at the Woodstock festival of 1969 at Bethel, New York, playing with Jimi Hendrix. He currently p ...
.
1970s
=February 4, 1970: Judy Collins
=
During an interview with singer
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
in which Cavett and Collins discussed her experiences as a defense witness at the
Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged b ...
trial, several of Collins' comments were censored at the direction of the ABC legal department. Collins wrote a protest letter to the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC), claiming a violation of her free-speech rights and the network license granted to ABC by the FCC. Her protest was denied, with the FCC ruling that a television network could, at its discretion, delete or edit remarks on its programs.
Elton Rule
Elton H. Rule (June 13, 1917-May 5, 1990) was an American television executive and former president of the American Broadcasting Company. Assuming the presidency at a time when ABC was a distant third in the Nielsen ratings, Rule is credited with ...
, president of ABC Television, noted that in the network's judgment, "her remarks ... were not within the bounds of fair comment."
=February 5, 1970: Eric Clapton
=
Blues guitarist
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
appeared on the show with a new group called
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, which was Clapton's first attempt to break from his lead role and operate as an anonymous sideman. This was also possibly the first time Clapton had appeared on American television with a
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
; up to that time, he was famous for only playing
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
guitars. Cavett briefly interviewed the band but the shy Clapton did not have much to say.
=February 19, 1970: Noël Coward, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Tammy Grimes and Brian Bedford
=
To honor
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
on the occasion of his knighthood, Cavett interviewed Coward and his close friends, the Lunts. Tammy Grimes and Brian Bedford, who were appearing on Broadway in a revival of Coward's classic play ''
Private Lives
''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetu ...
'', performed a medley of Coward's most popular songs. At one point during the interview, Cavett asked Coward, "What is the word for when one has terrific, prolific qualities?" to which Coward answered in a deadpan manner, "Talent", drawing a great amount of laughter.
=April 6, 1970: Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin
=
Actors
Mark Frechette
Mark Frechette (December 4, 1947 – September 27, 1975) was an American-Canadian film actor. He is best known for playing the lead role in the 1970 film ''Zabriskie Point'', directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, in which he was cast despite his l ...
and
Daria Halprin
Daria Halprin (born December 30, 1948) is an American somatic-expressive arts therapist, author, teacher dancer, and former actress known primarily for her performances in three films of the late 1960s and early 1970s and as founding director of ...
appeared together with movie producer
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...
and movie critic
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''.
Early life
Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...
. The interview went poorly from the outset, with Frechette giving abrupt, non-conversational answers and Halprin staying silent. Cavett apparently believed that they lived in a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
, when they in fact were followers of guru
Mel Lyman
Melvin James Lyman (March 24, 1938 – March 1978) was an American musician and writer, and the founder of the Fort Hill Community, which has been variously described as a family, commune, or cult.
Early life
Lyman grew up in California and Ore ...
. When Cavett asked about the "commune" where they lived, Frechette denied that it was a commune and said that "The community is for one purpose, and that's to serve Mel Lyman, who's the leader and founder of that community." At that point, Halprin finally tried to speak, but Cavett went to commercial. When the show returned, the next guest, Dr. Aaron Stern, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist and director of the
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
's
code and rating administration, was brought out, and Frechette and Halprin were not interviewed further.
=July 27, 1970: Orson Welles
=
Around halfway through Cavett's
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
interview, Welles reversed the roles and began asking Cavett questions about his life and career. This impromptu interview was well received by the audience and, among other things, humorously acknowledged Cavett's talk-show competitors such as
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...
and
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 t ...
.
=September 18, 1970: John Cassavetes, Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara
=
Director John Cassavetes and actors Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara appeared on the show to promote the movie ''Husbands (film), Husbands''. All three guests were highly intoxicated, and "for thirty-five minutes they smoked, flopped around on the floor, and generally tormented Cavett, whose questions they’d planned to ignore."
Dick Cavett pronounced it "one of the most interesting evenings of my life."
=December 18, 1970: Lester Maddox walks off the show
=
Retiring Georgia governor Lester Maddox, appearing in a panel discussion with author Truman Capote and football great Jim Brown, walked off the show in the middle of a conversation about Racial segregation, segregation. Cavett had made a reference to the "bigots" who had elected Maddox. Following an exchange about how insulting the remark might have been and Maddox's demand for an apology, Cavett finally apologized to those Georgians who had supported Maddox that might not be bigots. Not satisfied, Maddox left the studio. During the hastily called commercial break, Cavett tried to coax Maddox back to no avail. Cavett suspected that the behavior was mere showmanship and a calculated publicity stunt. The incident was reported on the news before it aired that night, increasing viewership. In Greenwood, Mississippi, the hometown of Cavett's wife Carrie Nye, the guests at a country club dance abandoned the dance floor to watch the show on the TV in the lounge. In Atlanta, then-ABC affiliate WQXI-TV (now WXIA) led with the story on its 11 p.m. newscast, but as it was a Friday night, when the station normally aired movies and delayed Cavett's Friday show to Sunday, Atlanta viewers had to wait until Sunday night to see the incident.
Capote, after watching Maddox walk offstage, paused and quipped, "I've been to his restaurant and his chicken isn't that KFC, finger lickin' good." Years later, Cavett said he got more comments about the show (including some 6,000 pieces of hate mail) than any other he had done.
Maddox later returned for another appearance, and this time Cavett walked off as a joke. Left alone on stage, Maddox cued the band and began singing "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do" as Cavett reappeared in the wings to join in.
The walk-off incident is mentioned at the beginning of the Randy Newman song "Rednecks (song), Rednecks."
=February 11, 1971: Salvador Dalí, Lillian Gish and Satchel Paige
=
Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí appeared on the show with silent-screen star Lillian Gish and baseball legend Satchel Paige. Dalí brought an anteater on a leash with him when he came on stage, and he tossed it in Gish's lap, much to her consternation.
Cavett asked Dalí why he had once arrived to give a lecture at the University of Paris, Sorbonne in an open limousine filled with heads of cauliflower. Dalí responded with a barely coherent discourse regarding the similarity of the cauliflower head to the "mathematical problem discovered by Michelangelo in the rhinoceros' horn."
Cavett interrupted him by waving his hands in Dalí's face, exclaiming "Boogie boogie boogie!" (imitating
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
in the film ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera''). The audience broke up, and Dalí appeared at a loss.
=April 29, 1971: Robert Mitchum interview
=
Actor Robert Mitchum, known for avoiding public appearances, gave a rare interview as the sole guest. Mitchum talked about his childhood, Hollywood, his disdain for politics and politicians and his 1948 arrest. The show featured film clips from ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970) and ''The Night of the Hunter (film), The Night of the Hunter'' (1955).
=June 7, 1971: J. I. Rodale's on-stage death
=
On June 7, 1971, publisher J. I. Rodale, founder of Rodale, Inc., a health and wellness publishing conglomerate headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, died of a myocardial infarction, heart attack during the taping of a segment for the show. Cavett was speaking with journalist Pete Hamill when Rodale began to make a snoring noise. Cavett's reaction to this is contested: he claims that both he and Hamill realized immediately that something was wrong, while other accounts have him addressing the unconscious man with "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?" The audience did not realize anything was seriously wrong until Cavett asked if there were any medical doctors present.
The program was never aired and a rerun was shown in its place. On the following night's program, Cavett discussed the previous night's event in depth. He has said that he is often approached by people wanting to discuss the incident, mistakenly convinced that they saw it on television. He would usually ask if the person was in the studio audience, which was the only way to witness it since the episode was never broadcast.
=June 1971: Vietnam War debate with John Kerry
=
During a debate about the Vietnam War, Cavett had two veterans debating on the show. The anti-war side was led by a young John Kerry and the pro-war side by John E. O'Neill, later the founder of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. It was later revealed through then-President Richard Nixon's secret White House tapes that Nixon wanted to "get rid" of Cavett because of this debate.
=August 2, 1971: Ingmar Bergman
=
Director Ingmar Bergman appeared for the first time on a US talk show, one of the few television interviews he ever granted.
=November 24, 1971: Danny Kaye
=
Actor/singer Danny Kaye appeared for the entire show with film clips, performing and promoting UNICEF.
=December 15, 1971: Norman Mailer vs. Gore Vidal
=
Moments before the episode with
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...
, Norman Mailer and Janet Flanner, Mailer, annoyed with Vidal's less-than-stellar review of ''Prisoner of Sex'', headbutted Vidal and traded insults with him backstage.
As the show began taping, a visibly belligerent Mailer, who admitted he had been drinking,
[ goaded Vidal and Cavett into trading insults with him on air and continually referred to his "greater intellect". He openly taunted and mocked Vidal (who responded in kind), finally earning the ire of Flanner, who announced that she had become "very, very bored" with the discussion, telling Mailer and Vidal "You act as if you're the only people here." Mailer moved his chair away from the other guests and Cavett joked that "perhaps you'd like two more chairs to contain your giant intellect?"] Mailer replied "I'll take the two chairs if you'll all accept finger bowls." As Cavett professed to not understand Mailer's "finger bowl" comment and made further jokes, Mailer stated "Why don't you look at your question sheet and ask your question?", to which Cavett responded "Why don't you fold it five ways and put it where the moon don't shine?"
A long laugh by the audience ensued, after which Mailer asked Cavett if he had "come up with that line himself". Cavett replied, "I have to tell you a quote from Leo Tolstoy, Tolstoy?"
The headbutting and later on-air altercation was described by Mailer in his short book ''Of a Small and Modest Malignancy, Wicked and Bristling with Dots'', including a description that does not jibe with the videotape and which was disputed by Cavett decades later in his ''New York Times'' online column. Cavett noted that Mailer said that he received more mail about this episode than for anything else in his career.
=1971: John Simon vs. Mort Sahl
=
Critic John Simon (critic), John Simon revealed on the air that during the most recent commercial break, fellow guest Mort Sahl had threatened to punch him in the mouth.
=1971: The pornography episodes
=
Cavett did a two-part show on pornography; both parts were taped the same day and shown on two nights. During the first part, he discussed the depiction of oral sex in movies and made a parenthetical utterance: "oral-genital sex...mouth on sex organs." A flap ensued when executives demanded that the censor cut the second phrase.
An angry Cavett described the ongoing situation at the beginning of the second part, reusing the phrase. One of the guests, legal scholar Alexander Bickel, sided with Cavett. The result was that the show aired with the phrase cut the first night but intact for the second night.
=1972-1974 and beyond: Watergate scandal, Watergate
=
During and following the Watergate scandal, which resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, Cavett's guests included:
* Barry Goldwater, senior Republican Senator from Arizona
* G. Gordon Liddy, former FBI agent, one of the head White House Plumbers one of the original Watergate Seven
* Richard Kleindienst, Attorney General succeeding John N. Mitchell and followed by Elliot Richardson
* Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, ''The Washington Post, Washington Post'' metropolitan writers and Watergate investigative reporters
* Walter Cronkite, ''CBS Evening News'' anchor who aired segments on Watergate using Woodward and Bernstein's ''Washington Post'' coverage
* John Ehrlichman, Nixon chief domestic policy advisor and one of the later Watergate Seven
* Jeb Magruder, CRP coordinator turned witness
* John Dean, Nixon White House counsel and cover-up coordinator turned star witness
* Members of the Senate Watergate Committee in charge of the Watergate hearings
** Chairman Sam Ervin (D-NC)
** Vice chairman Howard Baker (R-TN) and members Lowell Weicker (R-CT), Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Herman Talmadge (D-GA) in the Senate Caucus Room with an audience
* Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...
* Gerald Ford, House Minority Leader, Vice President following Spiro Agnew's resignation and President following Nixon's resignation
* Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State
It later emerged from the Nixon White House tapes that Cavett was viewed as an enemy by Nixon and thus had staff who had taxes audited in retaliation. Cavett's Watergate coverage and interviews were later spotlighted in a PBS documentary called ''Dick Cavett's Watergate'' featuring Cavett, Woodward, Bernstein, Dean and former Nixon Presidential Library director Timothy Naftali.
=March 31, 1972: Chad Everett vs. Lily Tomlin
=
During the taping of this episode, actor Chad Everett upset feminist actress/comedian Lily Tomlin. Tomlin became so enraged when Everett referred to his wife as "my property" that she stormed off the set and refused to return.
=June 27, 1972: Angela Davis
=
Angela Davis, an activist who was associated with the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and 1970s, cancelled a scheduled appearance on June 27, 1972. The basis for the controversy was the continuing debate over the SST (supersonic transport) system. ABC had insisted on inviting either William F. Buckley, Jr. or William Rusher of the conservative ''National Review'' magazine to have a balanced viewpoint, but Davis declined.
=1972: Rogers Morton
=
A show with United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton resulted in nine animals being added to the endangered species list after Cavett commented on them.
=June 12, 1973: Marlon Brando
=
Marlon Brando, who just months earlier had rejected his Academy Award for ''The Godfather'' to protest the plight of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indians, appeared on the show with representatives of the Cheyenne, Northern Paiute, Paiute and Lummi tribes to promote his views. After the program ended, Brando assaulted photographer Ron Galella, who ended up in the hospital after being punched in the face.
=October 1973: Katharine Hepburn two-hour interview
=
Having previously never appeared on television, Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
—for reasons still unknown—decided to visit Cavett's studio for a tour. After critiquing the carpet and rearranging the set, Hepburn suggested they "go ahead and do it now." During her two-part interview, Hepburn got up and left at the end of the first half of the interview, thinking her job was done. Cavett apologized to the audience, promising that she would be back the next evening (she was). However, this was actually staged by Cavett and Hepburn as a joke.
=February 21, 1974: Carol Burnett interview
=
Actress Carol Burnett appeared and was interviewed for the entire 90-minute program.
=1979: Oscar Peterson
=
Pianist Oscar Peterson expertly demonstrated the styles of Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole and George Shearing. The show began with Peterson playing a solo piece and he then discussed his debut and his view on critics.
1980s
=October 1980: Jean-Luc Godard
=
Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard appeared in two 1980 episodes promoting the film ''Every Man for Himself (1980 film), Every Man for Himself'' and discussing his philosophy of filmmaking. These are included as supplements on the Criterion Collection's DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film.
Home media
Five DVD sets have been released featuring various episodes of the series.
Resurgence
Global Image Works, the current owner of the footage of the show, has made a YouTube channel with clips from the show. It launched on June 7, 2018. As of June 2020, the channel has over 47.3 million views. News outlets have covered clips from the show, mostly because of the celebrities. HBO released a documentary called ''Ali and Cavett: The Tale of Tapes'', which is about Muhammad Ali's friendship with him, making the show even more popular in the 2020s.
Reruns of the show currently air weeknights on the Decades (TV network), Decades cable network, though 90-minute episodes have been cut to fit a one-hour slot, and musical performances are almost always removed, presumably for licensing reasons.
In popular culture
In a scene from the 1977 Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
-directed film, ''Annie Hall'', Allen appears on the show in character as comedian Alvy Singer, with Cavett interviewing. There is a scene in the 1994 film ''Forrest Gump'', where Tom Hanks in the titular role, appears in the show together with John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. The creation of this scene was achieved via the use of ground-breaking special visual effects.[1994 film Forrest Gump] Both films wound up winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The Dick Cavett Show plays a prominent role in the season finale of the first season of Bojack Horseman. In the show, a young Bojack is watching a cartoon version of Cavett interview Secretariat. Cavett asks Secretariat a question from a rambling letter sent by Bojack: "What do you do when you get sad? How do you not be sad?" Secretariat responds by saying, in part: "BoJack, when you get sad, you run straight ahead a-and you keep running forward, no matter what." In the second season of Bojack Horseman it is revealed that Bojack did not hear the Secretariat response because of a loud argument between Bojack's parents.
See also
*List of late night network TV programs
References
Further reading
* Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield, ''Cavett'' (Bantam Books, August 1974)
External links
*Dick Cavett's blog is published by the ''New York Times''
"Talk Show: Dick Cavett Speaks Again"
*
* (1968–1972)
* (1975–1982)
* (1986)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick Cavett Show, The
1968 American television series debuts
1986 American television series endings
1970s American television series
1970s American late-night television series
1980s American television talk shows
1990s American television talk shows
ABC late-night programming
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American late-night television shows
CBS original programming
CNBC original programming
English-language television shows
PBS original programming
Television series by CBS Studios
Television series by WNET
Television shows filmed in New York (state)
USA Network original programming