History Series / TheDickCavettShow

Secondly, the show made a conscious effort to get as broad a range of guests as possible. The show featured actors, filmmakers, politicians, musicians, writers, scientists, athletes, artists, and activists, among others, and would feature well-established big-names one night, hip new up-and-comers the next, and people who were well-respected in their field but virtually unknown outside of it the night after. This aspect of the show is most susceptible to SeinfeldIsUnfunny: many modern shows pull from a broad guest range, and many of the guests on ''Cavett'' have since gone on to become oldies themselves.

# A three-year hiatus, then the show comes back to prime time, but hops to the USA network, from September 1985 to September 1986.

Dick Cavett, a Nebraska native who'd excelled in gymnastics and [[StageMagician stage magic]] in high school, moved to New York in 1958 after graduating from Yale University. After going through a variety of jobs including gofer, actor, comedian, and writing for both Jack Paar and Creator/JohnnyCarson on ''Series/TheTonightShow'', Creator/{{ABC}} hired him as a talk show host in 1968.

* FlameBait: An InvokedTrope [[OlderThanTheyThink well before the internet was born]]; the show would frequently get people who were of opposite opinions on a hot-button issue (Segregationist Georgia governer Lestor Maddox and black football-player-turned-actor Jim Brown talk about racial segregation, for example) and get them to talk about said issue. Inevitably, the sparks would fly.

# ...it hopped ''again'' to CBS, and was given a ReTool into more of a variety show. This version is the shortest-lived version; it didn't even last a month.

Its official Youtube channel can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFC8Vt3FY_7svm_SOBK5aIQ here]].

!Tropes:

* UnCancelled: At least five times; see the list above.

With his low-key, genial, witty style, Cavett became a fixture of American television over the next few decades. His show was quite prone to {{Channel Hop}}ping and timeslot changes, going through no less than 8 iterations, with the umbrella title ''The Dick Cavett Show'':

* FriendlyRivalry: Cavett and Creator/JohnnyCarson. They were both grew up in Nebraska and had worked as a StageMagician early in their careers (even meeting at one point), and Cavett helped Carson establish the comedic style of his version of ''The Tonight Show'' as a writer. In Cavett's post-ABC years, he became a semi-regular Carson guest.

Cavett became a fixture of American television over the next few decades. His show was quite prone to {{Channel Hop}}ping and timeslot changes, going through no less than 8 iterations, with the umbrella title ''The Dick Cavett Show'':

Cavett became a fixture of American television over the next few decades. His show was quite prone to {{Channel Hop}}ping and timeslot changes, going through no less than 8 iterations, with the umbrella title ''The Dick Cavett Show''.

* FriendlyRivalry: Cavett and Creator/JohnnyCarson. They were both born in Nebraska and had worked as a StageMagician early in their careers (even meeting at one point), and Cavett helped Carson establish the comedic style of his version of ''The Tonight Show'' as a writer. In Cavett's post-ABC years, he became a semi-regular Carson guest.

Cavett became a fixture of American television over the next few decades. His show was quite prone to {{Channel Hop}}ping and timeslot changes, going through no less than 8 iterations, all using the umbrella title ''The Dick Cavett Show''.

# Then it switched to the more familiar name and jumped to a prime time slot in May '69, and then to a late night slot in September of that year. This version is the one most people remember (possibly bolstered by the fact that most clips on the show's official Youtube channel come from this era). While not a serious threat to Carson's late night ratings, it was still the first challenger to ''The Tonight Show'' to have any real success. By 1973, though, ABC felt they needed another late night strategy, so they debuted ''Wide World of Entertainment'', a revolving series of specials, concerts, movies and talk shows, with Cavett reduced to doing one week of shows a month. His final ABC show aired on New Year's Day of 1975...
# ...when it hopped ''again'' to CBS, and was given a ReTool into more of a variety show. This version is the shortest-lived version; it didn't even last a month.

''The Dick Cavett Show'' is an umbrella term for many talk shows that all shared the same host, Dick Cavett. The show was quite prone to {{Channel Hop}}ping and timeslot changes, going through no less than 8 iterations:

# Then it switched to the more familiar name and jumped to a prime time slot in May '69, and then to a late night slot in September of that year. This version is the one most people remember (possibly bolstered by the fact that most clips on the show's official Youtube channel come from this era), and it lasted until New Year's Day of 1975...

* SwappedRoles: Midway through Orson Welles' appearance, Orson flipped the script and started asking Cavett questions about his life. Cavett rolled with it, and the audience approved.