Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There are NO current television personalities with anything near Dick's level of class, humor, and respect.

His show (and the old Carson show) cast long shadows under which all the rest will forever exist. The pacing is slower than what we're used to now -but the content always goes much deeper. I pine for a return to this sort of television.

Dick Cavett was a great show-host. I remember the Lennon and Harrison appearances. I also remember CSNY being on there right after appearing at Woodstock. Cavett was a hip dude.

I think that today's Talk Show television has become routine, un-inspiring and outright boring.

We are night owls and watch late night shows and channel surf between them -- however, with Jay Leno now on at 10 o'clock, followed by Conan and Letterman at 11:35 and Jimmy Kimmel at 12:08 AM and Craig Ferguson or Jimmy Fallon at 12:35 and with four of the above mentioned shows originating in L.A. and the other two in N.Y. --- we find there is such a repetition of guest-celebrities, week-in and week-out, that we often can't decipher if its a "Re-Run" of the show or just the same person we saw two nights ago. Case in point was Serena Williams on Jay last night, who was on either Letterman or Conan a few days before.... and Drew Barrymore's multiple appearances the week before and the list of recycled celebrities goes on and on ...

And with late night comedians using the same "news events" as the basis for their monologue jokes -- it adds to the repetition and boredom. How many nights in a row can six comedians keep making jokes about the Helium Balloon Kid incident or the week before with Obama's Nobel Prize, or some pro-sports team getting slaughtered in a lopsided game or the monthly repetition about some "celebrity" getting arrested and going to Rehab --- and gosh, would viewers ever suspect that Letterman doesn't like Sara Palin ? We might have to start turning in early rather than watching the same-old, same-old.

What ever happened to "originality" like Dick Cavett ??

Third complaint about talk shows is the "conspiracy" of the networks to have Jay, Conan, Letterman and Kimmel all taking the same weeks off continuously for vacation stints -- and you surf back between three or four shows and they are all simultaneously actual Re-Runs. Uggh ! ! ! One would think that a capitalist driven network would try and steal the other's viewers by doing original programming while the other late night host is on vacation... looks like it is degenerating into (dare I say it ?) "socialism" television ... one size fits all. We have lost our freedom of choice...

We do enjoy Triumph, the insult-comic dog, who appears on Conan ocassionally ... he's an original !

I've said it before... I'll say it again... Man, am I glad I haven't watched TV in about 20 years...


Those old clips are a lot of fun! Thanks for posting them...

Dick Cavett - my favorite talk show host ever. And I have to admit that I saw every one of the shows from these clips. Seldom missed a week with Dick Cavett through all the years.

GH's interview was great!

Being I'm a LITTLE bit younger than you folks, or my memory is just been more abused ......the ONLY interview I remember is with Janis Joplin.

My older brother was, AND STILL IS an H U G E Janis fan. I remember watching that interview with him and he has his cassette player in hand!

Weird, my eldest brother...10 years my elder is/was a HUGE BEATLES fan, my middle brother, 8 years my Sr.... "the hippie" then me with Progressive Rock.


NO WONDER my 84 year old Mom is such a good sport!

ajish4 wrote:B......the ONLY interview I remember is with Janis Joplin.

jps wrote:

ajish4 wrote:B......the ONLY interview I remember is with Janis Joplin.

O M G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Jeff, did I ever tell you just HOW COOL YOU ARE!?!?!?

Her class reunion must have been pretty interesting!

Here's another for you youngsters, Tony!

What I liked about the old Carson Tonight Show was the mix of musical performances. You'd have Itzhak Perlman playing violin and a rock group the next night. Carson would also have opera singers, etc. I'd always wished that Leno would have more of a mix like that, but he did at least toss in Bluegrass and other groups slightly off the main track. I haven't watched Letterman for years.

Thanks Jeff, I sent these to my brother who is enjoying them as we speak!

Thanks for the Janis clips, Jeff!