LATE SHOW NEWS July 30, 1996, Issue 119: Dem dere demos ... "Tonight Show Special Edition" ... Loving Howard Stern ... YOU'RE NOT GETTING OLDER, YOU'RE JUST CHANGING DEMOS If you've been reading the press coverage of this year's Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena, Calif., you are probably aware of a major correction in program strategy going on at CBS. After a disastrous season wasted trying to chase 18-to-34-year-old viewers -- a viewership CBS has traditionally not gone after -- the Tiffany network has reversed course and wants to be back in with older audiences in a big way. The new roster of programs includes a Republican spinoff of "Touched By an Angel"; a one-hour drama, "Early Edition," that seems to have been written for people who think any movie made after about 1956 is junk; and the latest Bill Cosby vehicle, which skews only slightly younger than his failed Angela Lansbury knockoff back at NBC. If all goes well, CBS will be attracting an increasingly older audience, which will improve its ratings in total households while essentially conceding the race for advertiser-coveted younger viewers to the other three networks. Asked to defend this strategy, CBS executives have been adamant: Our first priority is to stop the hemorrhaging of viewers, they say. Then we can worry about "key demos." (And perhaps, just perhaps, "Friends" will have cooled by then.) Besides, the newspapers don't tell the public how their favorite shows do with 18-to-34-year-olds, but how well they are doing with all viewers, regardless of age. And good p.r., CBS believes, will translate into advertiser dollars -- especially as the number of fifty- and sixty-somethings grows in the years ahead. What is interesting about this strategy is that it is precisely the same one that NBC has been pursuing for two years with its late-night star, Jay Leno. The network's entertainment chief, Warren Littlefield, figured out early on that Leno was not the young-viewer magnet that David Letterman was. So instead, he chose to embrace Leno's older viewers -- a 180-degree turn from the days when network execs would grumble in private about Johnny Carson's aging demos. Littlefield's turnaround worked a ratings turnaround: today, people 50 and older make up Jay Leno's most steadfast viewership. Indeed, they watch NBC late night in such numbers that, even in weeks when Letterman has managed to capture both young and middle-aged demos, Leno has still won the overall race. And when you're fighting a battle in the press, overall is all that matters. Of course, these outcomes put the lie to the notion, floated at one time or another by both networks, that a prime-time lead-in contributes powerfully to that night's late-night numbers. For as it stands today, CBS and NBC have prime-time lineups that do not match the demographic profiles of their respective late-night audiences. "Friends" viewers gravitate either to Dave or to cable; by 11:30, "Promised Land" watchers will be sawing logs. ISN'T THAT SPECIAL What visit to the 818 area code would be complete without attending a taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"? And so it was that LATE SHOW NEWS found itself in the audience at NBC studios in Burbank. In my sport coat, button-down shirt and khakis, I might've passed for network staff, but I was a nebbish standing in line with other ticketholders, where beach-bum fashion prevailed. Then again, you could hardly blame people for not dressing up; for this was to be a "Tonight Show Special Edition" taping, a six-minute sprint through an abbreviated monologue. No music, no guests -- no time for that when back in Atlanta, the boys at NBC Sports were itching to get control of the airwaves again, so they could continue battering the American viewing public with American athletes winning gold medals for America in events that Americans can easily understand. (Can I just say my life will not be diminished if I never see or hear from Kerri Strug again?) As we were ushered into the studio for a 7:30 p.m. taping -- two hours later than a normal show would begin -- Kevin Eubanks and the band were pounding out 10-minute cover of "Cold Sweat." I'd met Kevin at the NBC party in Pasadena the week before and asked him if he had plans to tour the clubs during the show's off weeks (he'd done three dates in New York last November.) No way, he said; Jay may wish he were on the air 52 weeks a year, but like most members of the human race, Kevin Eubanks would like some time off. Once the audience had filed in, the music stopped and out stepped Jay to do his warmup. "How 'bout a hand for the Chi-Lites!" he said before his standard pre-show announcements and a longer-than-usual photo session with members of the studio audience. Then it was time for the monologue. Try as I might, I could not bear to laugh or even budge a smile at most of the jokes cracked that night. There was one punchline I enjoyed -- a very clever joke commemorating the birth of novelist Raymond Chandler in 1888 -- and honestly, I was the only person in the studio that laughed. Leno immediately turned, as did the camera, on head writer Jimmy Brogan, whom he blamed for making him tell the joke. Then it was over. Jay stayed for ten more minutes, signing autographs and posing for pictures as I sought refuge in the setting California sun. READER MAIL Josh Holliday writes, "One of the stations here in Toronto (CKVR) runs Rosie O'Donnell's show during the day, and the NBC late night line-up at night. During the Olympics, though, (because they're not an NBC affiliate) they're forgoing the Leno monologue and running Rosie at 11:35PM." BREAKING LATE NEWS LATE SHOW NEWS adds Comedy Central's inaccurately-named but otherwise promising "The Daily Show" to its stable of late-night programs. I want to see more broadcasts before writing a review, but I do know this already: host Craig Kilborn, formerly of ESPN, has gone through some sort of makeover and now looks like Bob Costas's evil twin brother ... Speaking of Com Cen, reader Mark Chadwick, who usually views "Politically Incorrect" on Sunday mornings -- when all four shows from the previous week are repeated -- reports that the episode in which guest Robert Loggia got into a shouting match with host Bill Maher over the quality of Loggia's latest movie, "Independence Day," was not repeated, but replaced with an older broadcast ... Our man Jeff Jarvis comes around to Howard Stern in this week's TV Guide, thanks to Stern's E! show. "TV softens him, because there we get to see him smile and we know when he's just pulling our chain," cheers Jarvis. "E! makes him likable." Apparently the same cannot be said of A&E's "Biography" feature on Howard, which aired last night and doubtless will be re-run well into the next century. Chicago Sun-Times TV/radio writer Rob Feder calls it "a disappointing rehash of familiar stuff" that includes no interviews with anyone currently working or living with the broadcaster. (P.S. to "World News Now" fans: Feder also says the hour, produced by ABC News, is "narrated with an annoying attitude by correspondent Aaron Brown") ... Oops! "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" also received an Emmy nomination that I forgot to mention last week. Happily, it went to the show's top-drawer writing staff ... Good news for viewers of Detroit's Channel 62, the affiliate CBS was forced to buy two years ago when Fox Television stole away its VHF station: the Detroit News reports that the network will spend $10 million to buy a new five-million-watt transmitter and antenna that should give viewers in distant counties a better signal. That's just the first step in restoring the fortunes of the station that is arguably CBS's worst affiliate. Next, it needs to produce an 11 o'clock evening newscast and build WWJ's pathetic low-single-digit lead-in to "Late Show" ... The alluring and talented Merrill Markoe has joined the team of national correspondents for NBC's daytime magazine show "Real Life." THE LINEUPS (avec Sue Trowbridge) LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS Tu 7/30 Julia Roberts, Stone Temple Pilots, Jake Johannsen (R) We 7/31 Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, Green Day (R) Th 8/1 Drew Barrymore, Rudolph Giuliani, Al Franken, Placido Domingo (R) Fr 8/2 Madonna, music group Counting Crows (R 4-1-94) I'm guessing that Wednesday's features a tumbling Demi and Thursday's a stripping Drew. Friday's show ... say no more. THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC Mo 8/5 Robin Williams, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tu 8/6 Jamie Lee Curtis We 8/7 Fran Drescher, chef Emeril Lagasse, Crosby, Stills and Nash Th 8/8 Kevin Costner During the Olympics, Jay signs on at 12:35 Eastern/9:35 Pacific to do six minutes of shtick; Conan and Greg are dark until next Monday. LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC Mo 8/5 Chazz Palmintieri, Angie Everhart, Cracker (R 4/26/96) Tu 8/6 Kevin Pollak, Dr. Joyce Brothers, BR-549 We 8/7 Marc Maron Th 8/8 Cheech Marin Fr 8/9 Dennis Miller Mo 8/12 Ben Stiller, Colin Quinn, Mysteries of Life. (R 6/14/96) LATER WITH GREG KINNEAR, NBC Mo 8/5 Harland Williams (R 5/14/96) Tu 8/6 Michael McKean (R 2/12/96) We 8/7 Ann-Margret (R 2/22/96) Th 8/8 Matt LeBlanc (R 2/26/96) LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, CBS Tu 7/30 Tom Selleck, Roger Ebert (R) We 7/31 Drew Carey, Bette Bao Lord (R) Th 8/1 Ray Bradbury, Jane Brody (R) Fr 8/2 James Cromwell, Anderson Cooper (R) Mo 8/5 Chi McBride ("The John Larroquette Show") Tu 8/6 Louis Gossett, Jr. CHARLIE ROSE, PBS Tu 7/30 Danny DeVito, Terrorism roundtable, author Brian Moore We 7/31 Alan King, Amb. Itamar Rabinovich Th 8/1 Gov. Frank Keating Fr 8/2 TBA Mo 8/5 Anne Rice, John Carpente Tu 8/6 TBA POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH BILL MAHER, Comedy Central Tu 7/30 Kevin Nealon, Buzz Aldrin, Nancy Friday, Olivia Goldsmith We 7/31 Jann Arden, Steve Earle, Larry Elder, Martin Mull Th 8/1 Kevin Pollak, Stephen J. Cannell, Barbara Coe, Jon Cryer Fr 8/2 Martin Lewis, Debra J. Saunders, Heather Lamm Mo 8/5 (repeat TBA) SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Comedy Central Mo 7/29 Nicole Kidman / Stone Temple Pilots Tu 7/30 Charlton Heston / Paul Westerberg We 7/31 Sally Field / Tony! Toni! Tone! Th 8/1 Jason Patric / Blind Melon Fr 8/2 Sara Gilbert / Counting Crows Sa 8/3 Patrick Stewart / Salt-N-Pepa Su 8/4 Teri Garr / The B-52's As with last week, all of the repeats are from the 1993-94 season, except for Sunday's, which is from the 1979-80 season. SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST, Cartoon Network We 7/31 Catherine Bach and Matthew Sweet (R) Also on late nights: NIGHTLINE, ABC CHARLES GRODIN, CNBC THE DAILY SHOW, Comedy Central LAUREN HUTTON AND ..., Syndicated HOWARD STERN, E! (lineups NA) Entire contents Copyright 1996 by Aaron Barnhart. All rights reserved. Redistribution prohibited. Late Show News now has more than 10,000 confirmed readers -- thanks for reading! You may be interested in a second list I've started, LSNXTRA, that distributes my general t.v. reviews under the column name SEE IT NOW. To join that list, or join or leave this list, mail listserv@american.edu with any Subject: line and the appropriate message from the right-hand column below. To quit this list: SIGNOFF LATE-SHOW-NEWS To join: SUB LATE-SHOW-NEWS Your Name To join LSNXTRA: SUB LSNXTRA Your Name Current issue only: GET LATE-SHOW-NEWS.LATEST Late Show News is made possible with the generous assistance of ECHO, New York City's premiere online service. 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