logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2021
29m 30s

Late Night Wars | The Stars Realign | 1

Wondery
About this episode
The cutthroat evolution of late-night talk shows is a long and fierce battle for advertising riches, ratings and sheer egotistical triumph. It’s the early 1980s and NBC’s Tonight Show is the unbeatable standard in its class, and its long-time host Johnny Carson the indisputable god of late night.  Hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno and later Conan O’Brien all w ... Show More
Up next
Mar 2021
Late Night Wars | The Dawn of Tonight | 2
The late night saga begins in the uncharted wilderness of after-hours programming. In the early 1950s, an era when television broadcasting literally stops at 11:00 p.m., NBC dares to push the envelope with something called the Tonight Show. It works.It seems insane, but American ... Show More
24m 58s
Mar 2021
Late Night Wars | Late Night Explodes | 3
Johnny Carson – the man who defined the Tonight show – is nearing retirement. But NBC has yet to settle on an heir. And that sets the stage for one of the most painful moments for the late night rivals battling for the throne. It will prove enormously embarrassing for Carson, Len ... Show More
26m 22s
Mar 2021
Late Night Wars | There Goes Johnny! | 4
When longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson shocks NBC with the surpriseannouncement of his departure, Jay Leno is anointed as the next host of the network’s flagship franchise.But there’s a problem: after a decade hosting Late Night at 12:30, David Letterman thinks Carson’s jo ... Show More
25m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2021
The Host
Bill Carter speaks with legendary hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Dick Cavett, the genre's newest star Amber Ruffin, Conan O’Brien’s sidekick Andy Richter and many more to dissect one of TV’s hardest, most challenging jobs - the late night TV host. These individuals aren’t just the stars ... Show More
52m 26s
Apr 2021
The Format
The monologue, the desk, the guests, the band. The ingredients of the late night TV formula are familiar, yet fickle. Get them just right and a show can last for decades. Make one mistake and your career is over – fast. In this episode, we explore the alchemy that turns a late ni ... Show More
51m 6s
Mar 2021
Let's Go Behind the Desk
More than 60 years ago, the creation of late night TV changed the face of television forever. From Johnny Carson, to David Letterman, to Arsenio Hall, the late night show format continues to endure, evolving to keep pace each new generation. In Behind the Desk: The Story of Late ... Show More
3m 29s
Sep 2022
Is the war for talent real? | After Hours
Are we witnessing the slow death of Facebook? Does Adam Neumann (WeWork) deserve a second chance? Is the War for Talent real? Plus, thoughts on everything from Serena, to Kim Kardashian, to House of the Dragon, and more. This is an episode of After Hours, a weekly chat show about ... Show More
55 m
May 2023
Boneheads
The Gilded Age was a time of opulence and opportunism, an age that turned businessmen into household names. But it also created some of the biggest rivalries in the rush to unearth the past.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
28m 5s
Jan 2018
OS Wars_part 1
The O.S. Wars. The 1980s is a period of mounting tensions. The empires of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs careen toward an inevitable battle over proprietary software—only one empire can emerge as the purveyor of a standard operating system for millions of users. Gates has formed a pow ... Show More
29m 1s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami