History Series / Nightline

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly late-night newscast, ''America Held Hostage'', in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the evening news. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds (no, not [[Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia that one]]), host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Creator/TedKoppel.

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly late-night newscast, ''America Held Hostage'', in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the evening news. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Creator/TedKoppel.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep ''Nightlne'' around, turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to in-depth stories on a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'', and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''[[Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman Late Show with David Letterman]]''. The show was notably capable of holding its own against its comedic competitors, especially on nights with major stories.

Koppel retired after the November 22, 2005 episode. Afterwards, Martin Bashir, Cynthia [=McFadden=], and Terry Moran took over as the new hosts of ''Nightline'', with Bashir and [=McFadden=] initially hosting from Times Square, and Moran hosting from Washington. At that time, the show shifted to a multi-topic format, and also began to veer more towards featuring pop culture more often. However, major political stories and interviews helped sustain its viewership, continuing to beat the more comedy-oriented late-night trappings of its rivals.

''Nightline'' originally served a unique niche in news broadcasting, but by the late-2000's and TheNewTens, its relevance had begun to wane with the shift of cable news to opinion-based primetime shows with in-depth stories, and late-night talk shows took over the top spot. Initially airing at 11:35 p.m., it switched time slots with ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive'' in 2013. As of 2014, the show is hosted by Byron Pitts and Juju Chang, alternating nightly. With the coronavirus pandemic in the news, ''Nightline'' returned to its previous time slot as a temporary move, and began to pivot back towards its original concept (with Pitts even acknowledging that they were trying to do for the pandemic what the show originally did for the Iran hostage crisis).

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly late-night newscast, ''America Held Hostage'', in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the evening news. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Ted Koppel.

''Nightline'' originally served a unique niche in news broadcasting, but by the late-2000's and TheNewTens, its relevance had begun to wane with the shift of cable news to opinion-based primetime shows with in-depth stories. Initially airing at 11:35 p.m., it switched time slots with ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive'' in 2013. As of 2014, the show is hosted by Byron Pitts and Juju Chang, alternating nightly. With the coronavirus pandemic in the news, ''Nightline'' returned to its previous time slot as a temporary move, and began to pivot back towards its original concept (with Pitts even acknowledging that they were trying to do for the pandemic what the show originally did for the Iran hostage crisis).

As ''America Held Hostage'' the title included the day indicating the number of days the crisis had been continuing. This kept pressure on the Carter administration to try and get the hostages freed, eventually resulting in a botched rescue attempt.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep the show around as ''Nightlne'', turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to in-depth stories on a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'', and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''[[Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman Late Show with David Letterman]]''. The show was notably capable of competing with its comedic competitors, especially on nights with major stories.

''Nightline'' originally served a unique niche in news broadcasting, but by the late-2000's and TheNewTens, its relevance had begun to wane with the shift of cable news to opinion-based primetime shows with in-depth stories. Initially airing at 11:35 p.m., in 2013, the show moved to 12:35 a.m. after ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive''. As of 2014, the show is hosted by Byron Pitts and Juju Chang, alternating nightly.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep the show around as ''Nightlne'', turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to in-depth stories on a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'', and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Late Show with David Letterman''. The show was notably capable of competing with its comedic competitors, especially on nights with major stories.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep the show around as ''Nightlne'', turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to in-depth stories on a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/LateNight'' with David Letterman. The show was notably capable of competing with its comedic competitors, especially on nights with major stories.

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly newscast, ''America Held Hostage'' in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the nightly (6 or 7 pm) national newscast. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Ted Koppel.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep the show around as ''Nightlne'', turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/LateNight'' with David Letterman. The show was notably capable of competing with its comedic competitors, especially on nights with major stories.

''Nightline'' originally served a unique niche in news broadcasting, but by the late-2000's and TheNewTens, its relevance had begun to wane with the growth of cable news. Initially airing at 11:35 p.m., in 2013, the show moved to 12:35 a.m. after ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive''. As of 2014, the show is hosted by Byron Pitts and Juju Chang, alternating nightly.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In 1996, Koppel abruptly announced that he would end his on-location broadcasts from the presidential conventions, arguing that they were now pretty much an infomercial for the candidate, since the current structure of the primaries now pretty much ensured that a candidate would clinch the nomination before the conventions.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In 1996, Koppel abruptly announced that he would end his on-location broadcasts from the presidential conventions, arguing that they were now pretty much an infomercial.

Koppel retired after the November 22, 2005 episode, which featured a reairing of his 1995 interview with ALS patient Morrie Schwartz (which would go on to inspire the story of the book ''Literature/TuesdaysWithMorrie''). Afterwards, Martin Bashir, Cynthia [=McFadden=], and Terry Moran took over as the new hosts of ''Nightline'', with Bashir and [=McFadden=] initially hosting from Times Square, and Moran hosting from Washington. At that time, the show shifted to a multi-topic format, and also began to veer more towards featuring pop culture more often. However, major political stories and interviews helped sustain its viewership, continuing to beat the more comedy-oriented late-night trappings of its rivals.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep the show around as ''Nightlne'', turning it into a newsmagazine devoted to a different topic each night. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/LateNight'' with David Letterman.

Koppel retired after the November 22, 2005 episode, which featured a reairing of his 1995 interview with ALS patient Morrie Schwartz (which would go on to inspire the story of the book ''Literature/TuesdaysWithMorrie''). Afterwards, Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden, and Terry Moran took over as the new hosts of ''Nightline'', with Bashir and [=McFadden=] initially hosting from Times Square, and Moran hosting from Washington. At that time, the show shifted to a multi-topic format, and also began to veer more towards featuring pop culture more often. However, major political stories and interviews helped sustain its viewership, continuing to beat the more comedy-oriented late-night trappings of its rivals.

Initially airing at 11:35 p.m., in 2013, the show moved to 12:35 a.m. after ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive''. As of 2014, the show is hosted by Byron Pitts and Juju Chang, alternating nightly.

, who remained with the show until his retirement in 2005. According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, "It is currently anchored by Dan Harris, Byron Pitts and Juju Chang on an alternating basis."

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly newscast, ''America Held Hostage'' in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the nightly (6 or 7 pm) national newscast. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Ted Koppel, who remained with the show until his retirement in 2005. According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, "It is currently anchored by Dan Harris, Byron Pitts and Juju Chang on an alternating basis."

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep its nightly news recap, renaming it ''Nightline''. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/LateNight'' with David Letterman.

When the American embassy in Tehran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly newscast, ''America Held Hostage'' in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the nightly (6 or 7 pm) national newscast. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Ted Koppel, who remained with the show until his retirement in 2005. According to TheOtherWiki, "It is currently anchored by Dan Harris, Byron Pitts and Juju Chang on an alternating basis."

When the American embassy in Teheran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly newscast, ''America Held Hostage'' in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the nightly (6 or 7 pm) national newscast. For a short period it was hosted by Frank Reynolds, host of the regular nightly newscast, until it was permanently hosted by Ted Kopell, who remained with the show until his retirement in 2005. According to TheOtherWiki, "It is currently anchored by Dan Harris, Byron Pitts and Juju Chang on an alternating basis."

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep its nightly news recap, renaming it ''Nightline''. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johhny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/LateNight'' with David Letterman.

After 444 days, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep its nightly news recap, renaming it ''Nightline''. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''TheTonightShow'' with Johhny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''LateNight'' with David Letterman.

As ''AmericaHeld Hostage'' the title included the day indicating the number of days the crisis had been continuing. This kept pressure on the Carter administration to try and get the hostages freed, eventually resulting in a botched rescue attempt..

When the American embassy in Teheran and its employees were taken captive and held hostage by the Iranian government, Creator/{{ABC}} started a nightly newscast, ''America Held Hostage'' in which it would do a recap of what had happened that day relating to the hostage crisis, as well as other news that could fit that wasn't able to make the nightly (6 or 7 pm) national newscast. It was hosted by Ted Kopell, and kept pressure on the Carter administration to try and get the hostages freed.

About 18 months later, when the Carter administration was voted out of office, and the Iranians released the hostages just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated, ABC decided to keep its nightly news recap, renaming it ''Nightline''. This gave ABC its first late night program offering, which could then compete with Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''TheTonightShow'' with Johhny Carson, and later on, Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''LateNight'' with David Letterman.