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.

The Career of Jazz Artist Jack Sheldon

Generation X people will no doubt remember the Saturday morning "Schoolhouse Rock" animated segments from the 1970's. Two of the most popular cartoons were "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill". The voice on those was provided by Jack Sheldon. He has voiced spoofs of those characters for "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy". He is also the voice of the character Louie the Lightning Bug. Many may not know about the life of Sheldon, who is much more than just the "Schoolhouse Rock" guy. He is a respected jazz trumpet player/singer. At 82 years old, he lives in the Hollywood Hills and still performs in jazz clubs as a singer/trumpet player. He was Merv Griffin's sidekick/trumpet player for his long running daytime talk show.

Sheldon has dabbled in the world of acting, appearing as the star of the 1966 TV show "Run Buddy Run". He also appeared in the 1976 film "Freaky Friday". He was in the 1991 film "For the Boys" with Bette Midler and James Caan. He had roles in legendary TV series such as "Adam 12", "Petticoat Junction" and "Dragnet".

He has played trumpet on many TV soundtracks such as "Moonlighting", "The Munsters" and "In the Heat of the Night". He played trumpet on many film soundtracks including "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

In 2008 a documentary was released about his life called "Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon". The film talked about his struggles with substance abuse and his turbulent life. It featured appearances by Billy Crystal, Clint Eastwood, Dom DeLuise and Sheldon's former boss, Merv Griffin.

He suffered a stroke in 2011 and needed to learn to play his trumpet with his left hand. Read about his return to performing in November of 2013 here.


Some information from www.imdb.com.