From You Tube to the E! Channel

The E! network, known for the Kardashians, has a new star. Grace Helbig has translated her You Tube following into a 30 minute quirky comedy show where she displays her odd outlook on life. The Grace Helbig Show airs after Joel McHale's pop culture show The Soup, Fridays at 10:30 pm eastern on E! She has aired 3 shows so far and her guests have included people like Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), Aisha Tyler (The Talk, Archer), comedian Nick Kroll and fellow You Tube star Miranda Sings. Helbig is 29 years old and she has over 2 million followers on You Tube. Check out her You Tube channel here. Just 10 years ago, You Tube was launched and it has created many stars who can earn big bucks if they have a large number of followers. Helbig told Entertainment Weekly magazing that her show is "a curious introvert's nighttime talk show". Her dream guest would be wrestler turned film star The Rock. Her You Tube channel will continue even though she has a show on cable. She says it is her core, her hobby, job and center focal point. She wants to continue to engage with fans via social media. She appeared on James Corden's CBS Late Late Show to promote her new venture. Find out about her show here.

It's a new phenomenon for television executives to seek out internet stars who can make the transition to traditional media, but it will probably become more and more common. Internet stars can attract young viewers, who advertisers desire.

* Some information from Entertainment Weekly magazine, April 3, 2015

More Late Night TV Changes

Tonight is the premiere of British comic James Corden as the fourth host of the CBS Late Late Show. Last year we saw the debut of Jimmy Fallon as the new host of NBC's The Tonight Show after Jay Leno left. We also had announcements of David Letterman leaving CBS later this year and Stephen Colbert taking over that coveted slot. The CBS Late Late Show has followed Letterman's program since 1995. Tom Snyder was the host from 1995-1999. Craig Kilborn then hosted the show from 1999-2004. The last host was Scottish comic Craig Ferguson from 2005-2014.

Since the arrival of Letterman in 1993, CBS has had a strong comedy presence in late night. For decades, NBC ruled late night with Johnny Carson's show, and the other networks struggled to keep up. The other networks and syndicators tried to compete with Carson with shows hosted by Dick Cavett, Joey Bishop, Pat Sajak, Merv Griffin, Magic Johnson, Chevy Chase, Arsenio Hall and more. From 1972-1989, CBS aired the late movie after the late local news. This started after the cancellation of Merv Griffin's attempt at a late night show. CBS tried various shows during late night such as their Crimetime After Primetime from 1991-1993. This lineup featured various crime shows such as Sweating Bullets, Scene of the Crime, Silk Stalkings, Forever Knight, Fly By Night and more. From 1992-1995, CBS aired Lorne Michaels' sketch show The Kids in the Hall on Friday nights.

* Some information from en.wikipedia.org.

Carson's Cash

In 1979, Johnny Carson was burned out. He had hosted The Tonight Show on NBC since 1962. His lawyer Henry Bushkin told the head of NBC, Fred Silverman, that he wanted out of his contract. A court case ensued and Carson was wooed by ABC. Eventually, Johnny reconciled with NBC and a new contract was signed. The deal turned out to be one of the most lucrative agreements in TV history. NBC knew that Carson's show was a cash cow for the network, so they would do whatever was necessary to keep him. The deal paid a staggering $25 million per year. Johnny had 15 weeks off per year and only had to work three shows per week. His show was trimmed from 90 minutes to 60 minutes. He also would have ownership of his show and the show following his which turned out to be Late Night with David Letterman. This turned out to be a lucrative part of the deal since Carson Productions would earn money from any airings of Johnny's show and Dave's show. Letterman secured a similar deal in 1993 when he signed with CBS. His production company, Worldwide Pants, owns the Letterman show and the show following his, The Late Late Show. That show has been hosted by Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson. Later this month, the fourth host will take over, James Corden.
Information from the book Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin.

Life Imitates Art in Less Than Zero

Generation X folks may recall the film Less Than Zero, from 1987. Released in the midst of the light hearted fare of this period like the John Hughes films, this story was dark and moody. It is based on a book written by Bret Easton Ellis. He also wrote the novel that became the film American Psycho, the twisted tale of 1980's Wall Street yuppie Patrick Bateman. That film was a big break for Christian Bale. Less Than Zero starred Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader. Downey Jr. played a guy who was battling drug addiction, which mirrored his own life. The movie was a profile of spoiled rich kids from L.A. who learned the hard way about the pitfalls of substance abuse. The soundtrack featured some of the hottest groups of the day such as The Bangles, Poison, Aerosmith, David Lee Roth and more. It's interesting that the music supervisor was Rick Rubin. He was the co-founder of Def Jam records along with Russell Simmons. It's no coincidence that many of the Def Jam artists are featured on the Less Than Zero soundtrack. These included Slayer, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

*Some information from imdb.com.

TV History Profile: Fred Silverman

TV executive Fred Silverman worked for all of the major broadcast networks in the 1970s and made his mark on the history of television.

As the head of the programming department at CBS, in 1971 he called for the purge of all of the rural shows. These included Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Hee Haw and Mayberry RFD. He was behind many spin-off shows such as Maude and The Jeffersons, which were based on characters from All in the Family.

At ABC, Silverman developed The Love Boat, Eight is Enough, Three's Company, Fantasy Island and the groundbreaking miniseries, Roots, based on the Alex Haley novel.

In 1978 he became the president of NBC. He discovered the talents of David Letterman and gave him his own morning show in 1980. The show was critically acclaimed and won an Emmy. But the ratings were poor and the morning was not a good time slot for Dave's quirky humor. In 1982, Letterman moved his show to 12:35 am, following Johnny Carson. he hosted his Late Night show until 1993, when he left for CBS. Silverman was not a fan of Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show, which followed Carson for many years. Silverman and Carson had a rocky relationship, and at one point, Johnny came close to leaving the network. Fred wanted the original host of the Tonight Show to return to the network. His desire was to have Steve Allen follow Johnny Carson's show, but that never happened. At NBC, Silverman developed memorable sitcoms such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and Gimme a Break. He had some failures at the peacock network as well, with the development of flops like Hello Larry, The Big Show, Pink Lady and Jeff, and Supertrain. He was also in charge during the period where Lorne Michaels left as the executive producer of Saturday Night Live.

Click here for an interview with Fred Silverman as he looks back on the accomplishments during his career.

* Information from en.wikipedia.org and carsonpodcast.com.