AboutMike Hensel Expertise I will try and answer all questions dealing with television...show names, plots, actors, roles, networks, etc...US shows primarily; not real knowledgeable on TV from other countries...I lean heavily into past, more so than current, television...and, my knowledge dealing with "reality" shows is limited, due to the fact that I really can't stand the genre (my apologies to all the "Reality" fans out there...)
Experience Years of watching and cataloging television shows
Question In the 60's there were three (3) late night shows. One was Johnny Carson. Another was Joey Bishop. Who was the third???d They wer on channel's 2, 4 and 7 on the east coast.
Answer Well, Jackie, Johnny was on NBC from October 1962 throughout the 60's (not to mention the 70's, 80's and early 90's...); Joey was on ABC from April 1967 thru December 1969; that leaves CBS as the one network left...
CBS really didn't have any late night programming during the early 60's (their last entry was a show called, "Chronoscope", back in the 50's), however, they did decide to try out a man who had a successful syndicated show for a few years...
in August of 1969, CBS unveiled Merv Griffin to its national audience !!!
Merv's show was rather bland; as he didn't deal with subjects that might be perceived as controversial, or radical, or offensive - remember, the was the late 60's - and as such, was only moderately successful, lasting until February of 1972...
He did steal Joey Bishop's ratings, causing ABC to drop him and put on Dick Cavett, but Merv couldn't put a dent into the juggernaut that was the Tonight Show - nobody could...
