Dick Cavett turns seventy-eight today. Unfortunately, that means that most people my age and younger probably don’t know him and his work, since it’s been forty years since the heyday of The Dick Cavett Show. He did host variants of his original show over the ensuing thirty years, but it’s the first show for which he’s best known.The Dick Cavett Show aired opposite The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from 1969-1975. While Carson’s guests usually consisted of television or film actors who had something to promote, Cavett welcomed a broad spectrum of guests. He welcomed writers, musicians, politicians, protestors, artists and just about anyone else who might be of interest to viewers who like to engage their brains while watching television.The original late night show ended three years before I was born, but thanks to Turner Classic Movies, and the internet, I’ve made myself familiar with Cavett’s work.And it is awesome.In the brief time it was on, the show provided countless memorable moments. Among them:--Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and Stephen Stills all appeared on the show right after leaving Woodstock. Stills still had mud on his pants!--Jimi Hendrix appeared a few days later and defended his performance of the Star Spangled Banner.--Georgia Governor Lestor Maddox stormed off the show after Cavett said that he was elected by bigots. Truman Capote remained on stage.--J.I. Rodale, a proponent of sustainable, organic agriculture died on stage. Cavett was interviewing someone else, Rodale made a snoring noise, and then just died. The show never aired.--A Vietnam War veteran named John Kerry, who had become an anti-war protestor, debated John E. O’Neill, who supported the war. Thirty-three years later, when Kerry was running for president, O’Neill would form a political group that made up lies about Kerry’s service in Vietnam.--Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal practically came to blows as they traded insults. A partial clip of the event can be found here. If you don’t watch the whole thing, at least fast-forward to 3:31 of the clip and try to imagine one of today’s late night hosts having a show like that. Read Cavett’s account of the entire episode in his blog.--He did back-to-back shows on pornography.--He did a show with the Secretary of the Interior, and nine animals that Cavett commented on were subsequently added to the endangered species list.And those are just some of the outrageous moments that occurred on his show. They’re awesome, and I enjoy reading about them, but even his regular interviews are must see TV.A few years ago Turner Classic Movies replayed a number of interviews from his original show. Watching him interview Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, and Robert Mitchum is like stepping into a time machine and getting to know Hollywood legends.Katharine Hepburn famously refused to give interviews, partly because she found them uncomfortable. Cavett tried for years to get her on the show. Eventually he succeeded, but then she wanted to back out at the last minute.So Cavett talked her into coming to the studio to get a feel for things the day before the show. She felt so comfortable that they sat on the set and ended up doing the two-hour interview right then and there, with no audience, and Hepburn dressed casually, wearing sandals, with her hair up. TCM showed the entire interview a couple of years ago and it felt historic.Cavett’s show was unlike anything else on television. Guests were there to have a conversation about their work, their craft, or ideas in general.I listened to an interview with Cavett a few months back in which he said that Johnny Carson always questioned staffers about why Cavett got guests that he couldn’t. Cavett was edgier, more daring, took more chances. And while this made for a good show, it didn’t attract viewers in the same numbers that Carson did. But still, of all the shows that tried to knock Carson off the late night throne, Cavett was the only person who Carson ever thought might succeed.The Dick Cavett Show was different from everything else back then, and it would be even more unique now. Today’s late night hosts are all incredibly funny and entertaining, but it sure would be nice to have a show like The Dick Cavett Show thrown into the mix.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I have a Facebook page Brett Baker Writes. You should Like it.
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