Name: Tom Snyder Profile, Later with Bob Costas, April-May 1989
Uploaded: 2018-01-26T00:21:05.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Tom Snyder Profile, Later with Bob Costas, April-May 1989' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2018-01-26. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Tom Snyder Profile, Later with Bob Costas, April-May 1989' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2018-01-26. Transcript available.

Tom Snyder Profile, Later with Bob Costas, April-May 1989

And its late night national audience is estimated at 3 to 4 million.
King's popularity led to a separate television program on CNN.
But that dark, lonely radio studio near Washington, D.C. is the place where he
seems most at home.
It's the only way that his life seems to make sense.
If he doesn't have this outlet, his life is virtually meaningless.
I've never heard Batman frame quite so well.
Thank you, sir.
In radio, we're just sort of letting it happen.
A Batmanologist.
I've never screened a call in my life.
I like interviewing. I like that openness.
I like the wacko who gets in occasionally.
You're really kind of a freak.
What do you mean a freak?
That's complimentary.
I like someone who's a little off the market.
It's kind of like a slice of life.
Now that's a Hummer.
This renaissance of radio conversation in the 80s
includes another nationally known host
who first became famous on late-night television in the 70s,
Tom Snyder.
He still works the late shift,
although since October of 1987,
he's done it from an ABC radio studio in Los Angeles,
coast-to-coast on 180 stations.
On television, I never know what's on their minds.
I don't know what they're thinking when they're watching.
Here, I can tell immediately
if they're with it or against it.
I've got to say that I'm immensely dissatisfied
in the state of our nation right now.
We're cutting down the roof for us.
Poverty's going up.
I'll tell you something, my friend.
There's something going on on AM radio.
I don't know what it is, but it's doing real good.
We'll be right back after these messages.
In fact, from broadcasting towers around the country,
you can hear the voices of an estimated 40 talk hosts
syndicated on radio networks
and 1,000 others talking night and day
at local radio stations.
Do you feel power from this show?
Yes.
Do you think this show is a powerful media approach for you?
It's more powerful than you could possibly imagine
because powerful people in this country
hear the least powerful in this country
and they respond.
In other words, anyone has a voice.
Because they preside over national audiences,
linking listeners as if they were all meeting
in the same backyard,
we sat in with King on the East Coast
and Snyder on the West Coast
to see how the process works.
You know, you had your show here.
In the first hours, live guests,
Smokey Robinson on this night,
helped draw in the listeners.
Wrap on, brother.
But the nightly mix inevitably boils down to dialogue
between the hosts and the callers.
And so, with the help of the show's producers,
we also placed camera crews
with the people who complete the connection.
Hello, Tom.
Hi, Mary Lou, you're on.
What we got was a picture of a late-night subculture
that is talk radio's heart and soul.
You've had some good shows this last week,
and I've had more fun listening to them.
Mary Lou Hathaway,
who's a regular caller to Tom Snyder,
usually dials in from a phone booth
in Yucca Valley, California.
She has no home phone.
You're out in the country here tonight,
aren't you, Mary Lou?
You're outside at a phone booth.
He is filling a void that has been in my life
the last few months.
I'm in the middle of a divorce.
A lot of times I'm lonely in the evening.
I don't have that much money to go out
and go out and do whatever single people do.
He's like a big brother and a friend
at a time in my life when I need that.
And I'm lucky in that I can connect with situations.
I can connect with people's predicaments
because I've heard about them before.
It's just a more relaxed
and a far more intimate way of broadcasting.
There's something about people
who stay up late at night
that is different from people
who get up earlier in the morning.
They're loyal to a fault.
They're loyal to me here
as Larry's are to him.
Worcester, Massachusetts.
Hello.
Hi, Larry.
Hi.
Once in a while, you know,
you hear about this airplane going down
and I think, you know,
they're getting too old.
While some people listen for the companionship,
others are in it for the debate
and the education.
It's to me working plus, you know,
coming here, it's like a night school
because I learn a lot.
At the Treat Me Donuts Bakery
in Worcester, Massachusetts,
a Lebanese immigrant named Sade Sade
is making donuts for the next morning's customers
and on this night,
mulling over the connections
between international politics
and airplane maintenance.
If you compare the states
with the Aeroflot,
you know, the Soviet airlines...
If Aeroflot had an accident,
you'd hear about it.
They report that now.
Yeah, right, but,
I mean, they don't have it as much...
It's a topic that could go down
like a lead balloon
in the interest of a few million other listeners,
but that's where King's skill comes in,
turning the conversation another direction
and adding a twist of humor.
What are you doing right now?
Uh, I'm making the donuts.
You're a donut baker.
Right.
Basically, you don't like donuts, do you, sir?
Not really.
In fact, you're the kind of guy
that likes Aeroflot airliners...
And you hate donuts.
No, no, no.
In fact, sir,
I think you're a KGB agent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on.
You fight me out, Larry.
Leave it between you and me.
Okay, thank you.
Because all this happens late at night,
rating surveys are limited,
and there is no standard profile
of who the average listener is.
It's...
Why are you up tonight?
But Larry King does his own
informal survey once a year,
and it turns up an assortment
of fiercely loyal fans.
55-year-old Shirley Duffy
even takes tapes of the King show
on vacation with her
when she leaves the country.
Winchester, Massachusetts.
Why are you up?
I'm up specifically to listen to you,
as I do every night.
It's very nice to talk to you.
I'm a long-time admirer.
Would you say you're addicted?
I'm afraid so.
My guess used to be
that the person calling
was a good bet to be alone.
Lately, I hear a lot of people
with people in the background
or, keep quiet, Martha,
I'm on the phone.
My husband goes to sleep early.
He doesn't say
that damn Larry King
shut him off.
He's glad you're there.
He's glad.
Oh, hey.
The thing I'm most surprised at
on my show
is the amount of young callers
and the amount of college students
who listen.
Larry.
I've always been fascinated
how you know which city.
New York City.
Hello.
Trocay, Minnesota.
Cocoa, Florida.
Hello.
I just thought
you did it off the top of your head
or you added some kind
of a Ouija microphone.
Roanoke.
Hello.
There are producers
who answer the phones first
and take down basic information.
Selma, turn down your radio
and hang on, please.
It's UNTS all alone
on the telephone.
For instance,
on Tom Snyder's show,
a producer takes the name
and location of each caller
and then types them
onto a computer screen
first come, first served
that Snyder can read
in the studio.
Here's Chip
in Washington, D.C.
Hi, Chip.
You're on.
Many of the names
are familiar.
Snyder knows
that if a call comes in
from Washington, D.C.
actor Chip Rianza,
it may mean
a little craziness.
Can you hear that now, Tom?
Yes, it's popping.
We got popcorn.
We're getting a little
bit of smoke, yeah?
That's all right, all right.
Sometimes it'll be too serious
and I'll call to say
something funny, I hope.
If you hear someone
like Rianza fairly regularly,
it's not because he knows
any secrets about
how to get on a talk show.
Delicious, Tom.
It's because, surprisingly,
only about 2%
of the talk radio listeners
ever actually call in.
And among that subculture
of a subculture,
Rianza says there are
unwritten rules of behavior.
You get the feeling
that people are really
saying what they feel
and what they think
and what they believe.
A kind of respect
for other people's ideas.
But more importantly than that,
there's a kind of code
of conduct.
What?
You don't sound Christian-like.
When our children
are threatened by you Jews,
you work with that mayor,
that Jewish mayor,
I get extremely mad.
What happens
when the code of conduct
is broken?
What is the point of this?
There's a tape delay
of a few seconds
so profanity can be bleeped
before it hits the air.
But short of that,
knowing how to keep control
of the spontaneity
is how the hosts
earn their money.
I get the call,
it's a Cincinnati.
And the guy says,
this is God.
And I want to talk to America
through your show.
And I said,
what are you doing
in Cincinnati?
I mean,
if you said Vegas.
Okay.
You know,
Cincinnati.
Cincinnati.
Well,
one of the qualities
that people seem to like
about those talk shows
late at night
is that they do draw
is that they do draw
an imaginary picture
of other places
and other people.
And from listening,
Jim Blackwell,
who drives a cab
in New York City,
can concoct descriptions
of a land
he doesn't see
and a light
that's shining
somewhere else.
It's kind of a beacon
in the night.
The callers come
from all different backgrounds,
all different places.
and yet
there's a kind
of closeness
in that everybody
is listening
to the same show
in the middle
of the night.
I don't care
if I never get back
for it.
Let them finish opera.
I have a dollar,
eighty cents.
She'll give it to you
right away
and let them finish
the song.
We're on the air.
Go ahead.
When New York
had a lot of children
that didn't know
what to do it,
they put them on the train
and sent them out here with.
Did they know
that you were coming
on the train?
Yeah.
Oh, that's terrific.
I will tell you.
I'm not here
to save the world.
I'm here to inform
and entertain
as many people
as want to click
on the old radio
at night
and turn off
the television.
Okay, good night, Tom.
Maybe I've laughed
a little
or maybe felt
like crying,
so I'm coming away
with maybe
learning something, too.
Tomorrow night, Tom,
we're going to make
something very simple,
very quick,
very easy,
coffee.
Okay.
All you need
is a pot,
some water.
I'm Tom Snyder
and you've been
on the radio show
now in Los Angeles,
California.
Sweet Dreams
and Sleep Tight, America.
Good night, everybody.
It's been a very fragile
and delicate relationship
and it ends at a time
when television is changing.
I look back
to the good old days
when there were quiet hours
spent here with David Letterman
who made his first appearance
on network television
on this show
and who'll begin
in this time period
on February 1st
of next year.
We came on the air
very quietly
back in October of 1973
and I want us to go off
the very same way.
I thank you for the good times
and for the ride
and I'll be right around the corner.
George,
a slow fade to black.
Thank you all for watching
and good night, everybody.
Thanks for staying up later.
I'm Bob Costas.
This is Tom Snyder
and you're telling me
you don't feel comfortable
with the roles reversed.
It's not easy to sit in this chair
and think that you're going
to ask me questions.
I usually ask questions
and tonight I'm going
to be asked questions
and yeah,
I get a little nervous about that.
Not only is that role reversed
but this used to be
your time slot.
Time slot that you carved out
a piece of TV history with.
Well, I mean,
a lot of us did that,
you know,
but okay,
I carved it out
and what your viewers
might have a little bit
of interest in
is that in this studio
which is number five
in Burbank,
I walked in here
in August of 1970
for the first time
and did the news
on the local NBC station here.
So there's a lot going on
on this head right now
in this particular room
but yeah,
it's a nice little time period
you've got here,
I'll tell you.
Three years later,
the Tomorrow Show
comes on the air,
then an hour show
eventually went to 90 minutes
as I recall
and you're on the air
from 73 through 81.
I was a faithful viewer
and I recall
the last show,
Nancy Friday
gave you a big wet kiss,
Chevy Chase was on
putting the knock
on the NBC executives
for being so dumb
as to yank your show
off the air
and then you had
a memorable close
as the cigarette smoke
swirled around your head.
You said to George Paul
who now is the director
of the Today Show.
That'll wrap it up.
Folks,
thanks for the ride.
I'll be right around