We're going to explore the oddities of the mid 1970s and how one historic legacy, one athlete, one sportscaster and one city had an impact on television in some of the most unexpected ways, ever...
Howard Cosell, if you never knew, forgot or simply blocked it out, was a reporter and sportscaster for both ABC Radio and Television from the early 1960s through the mid 1980s, an extensive career in covering all sorts of events. He was the original play by play announcer for "Monday Night Football." He called the "Battle of the Sexes," the historic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs held at the Houston Astrodome. He hosted the series of specials titled "Battle of the Network Stars," which pitted celebrities from TV shows on the "Big Three" networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) against each other in a team competition for bragging rights that really didn't matter, since they weren't Nielsen ratings.
Most importantly, Cosell was ABC's lead announcer for boxing, and it was through that element of his career that he covered the Artist of the Sweet Science known as Cassius Clay who became a teenaged star when he won Gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics, then dropped that name forever and became Muhammad Ali.
The relationship between "The Greatest" and "Humble Howard" as he was ironically nicknamed, was designed to be a power battle, and the interviews that Ali and Cosell did were events almost as epic as a Heavyweight Championship bout.
Their success was synergistic: both personalities brought out the best in each other and they both rose in fame because of their continuing verbal sparring. Of course Ali and Cosell would have become who they were even if they hadn't connected, but their recognition increased exponentially because of each other.
Meanwhile, in 1975, we were seeing signs that the "Variety Series" was starting to wane. The biggest indicator was that "The Ed Sullivan Show" was removed from the TV schedule, the year before. The granddaddy of that genre left the air, and that famed studio was vacant on Broadway and 53rd.
Roone Arledge, the head of Sports Programming for ABC, wanted to do a new kind of prime time variety series and Cosell, who was known for rubbing some members of the audience the wrong way, needed a boost of positivity. So Cosell would be the host of this show, with the whole thing originating from The Ed Sullivan Theater!
ABC spared no expense. It was going to be a program taped the day of the broadcast (so, in fact, they lied - it wasn't going to be "live") with megastars from every genre, a regular team of comic actors, called "The Prime Time Players" who would do tasteful and non-controversial humorous sketches between the big name acts, and your host, the bugle voiced know-it-all who would guide you effortlessly through the various acts presented with that jocular style he displayed in all of his work, a sort of modern day Ed Sullivan. Of course, neither Arledge nor Cosell had ever done anything related to Variety or Comedy and that element would plague the series throughout its run.
Let's take a look at the performers for that premiere night of the broadcast:
Singers Paul Anka, Shirley Bassey, John Denver and the cast of Broadway's The Wiz (featuring Stephanie Mills) and a very special appearance by Frank Sinatra, child star Mason Reese, Magicians Siegfried & Roy, tennis superstar Jimmy Connors (who sang a song to his girlfriend Chris Evert), and the phenomenon of the moment, The Beatles of 1975: The Bay City Rollers!
Plus you had the comedy of The Prime Time Players: Brian Doyle-Murray, Christopher Guest and Bill Murray!
Some of the notable things about this series is how it affected another program being produced by Lorne Michaels at about the same time. First the name of that other show was impacted, as the program had to be called "NBC's Saturday Night" when it began. The regular cast of the show wanted to distinguish itself from the sanitized humor presented on Cosell's program and called itself "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players" because of it.
Also, the NBC series was actually broadcast live, but they couldn't acknowledge it in the title because this show already had that in its name. So, they said it at the start of the program to make sure the audience knew they were watching the events as they happened, which is how the "Live, From New York... It's Saturday Night!" phrase came to be.
Also notable is that eventually all of the cast members from "Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell" wound up as cast members of that other "Saturday Night" show. Bill Murray joined the following year, when Chevy Chase departed, and part of reason why Doyle-Murray and Guest got to join could have been because Jean Doumanian, who served as an associate producer for Cosell, went on to NBC's series when Lorne Michaels stepped away from the show.
New York plays a part because it's The Ed Sullivan Theater, and there were some controversies, as Broadway musicians were on strike, shutting down all of the musicals playing (including The Wiz). In a later episode, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were supposed to appear, via Satellite, from the Philippines on the eve of their fight, eventually dubbed "The Thrilla in Manila," but Frazier decided not to show up. Hey, it's live TV! Or, wait. It's not.
Billy Crystal often shared an anecdote in interviews, about how he was scheduled to be on the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" but got bumped, and he let most people assume it was the NBC series. But no! It was this one! So you shouldn't feel quite as bad for Billy as you might have about that story.
Very much like William Shatner's "For The People" (1965) at 380 and Kristin Chenoweth's "Kristin" at 369, the most notable thing about this show is that it got canceled.
Cosell's hoped for improved image with the public didn't happen, but he went right on doing his sportscasting duties for the Alphabet Network without missing a beat. And, even Howard hosted that other "SNL" in 1985, so everybody got to be a part of it, eventually.
Howard Cosell, if you never knew, forgot or simply blocked it out, was a reporter and sportscaster for both ABC Radio and Television from the early 1960s through the mid 1980s, an extensive career in covering all sorts of events. He was the original play by play announcer for "Monday Night Football." He called the "Battle of the Sexes," the historic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs held at the Houston Astrodome. He hosted the series of specials titled "Battle of the Network Stars," which pitted celebrities from TV shows on the "Big Three" networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) against each other in a team competition for bragging rights that really didn't matter, since they weren't Nielsen ratings.
Most importantly, Cosell was ABC's lead announcer for boxing, and it was through that element of his career that he covered the Artist of the Sweet Science known as Cassius Clay who became a teenaged star when he won Gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics, then dropped that name forever and became Muhammad Ali.
The relationship between "The Greatest" and "Humble Howard" as he was ironically nicknamed, was designed to be a power battle, and the interviews that Ali and Cosell did were events almost as epic as a Heavyweight Championship bout.
Their success was synergistic: both personalities brought out the best in each other and they both rose in fame because of their continuing verbal sparring. Of course Ali and Cosell would have become who they were even if they hadn't connected, but their recognition increased exponentially because of each other.
Meanwhile, in 1975, we were seeing signs that the "Variety Series" was starting to wane. The biggest indicator was that "The Ed Sullivan Show" was removed from the TV schedule, the year before. The granddaddy of that genre left the air, and that famed studio was vacant on Broadway and 53rd.
Roone Arledge, the head of Sports Programming for ABC, wanted to do a new kind of prime time variety series and Cosell, who was known for rubbing some members of the audience the wrong way, needed a boost of positivity. So Cosell would be the host of this show, with the whole thing originating from The Ed Sullivan Theater!
ABC spared no expense. It was going to be a program taped the day of the broadcast (so, in fact, they lied - it wasn't going to be "live") with megastars from every genre, a regular team of comic actors, called "The Prime Time Players" who would do tasteful and non-controversial humorous sketches between the big name acts, and your host, the bugle voiced know-it-all who would guide you effortlessly through the various acts presented with that jocular style he displayed in all of his work, a sort of modern day Ed Sullivan. Of course, neither Arledge nor Cosell had ever done anything related to Variety or Comedy and that element would plague the series throughout its run.
Let's take a look at the performers for that premiere night of the broadcast:
Singers Paul Anka, Shirley Bassey, John Denver and the cast of Broadway's The Wiz (featuring Stephanie Mills) and a very special appearance by Frank Sinatra, child star Mason Reese, Magicians Siegfried & Roy, tennis superstar Jimmy Connors (who sang a song to his girlfriend Chris Evert), and the phenomenon of the moment, The Beatles of 1975: The Bay City Rollers!
Plus you had the comedy of The Prime Time Players: Brian Doyle-Murray, Christopher Guest and Bill Murray!
Some of the notable things about this series is how it affected another program being produced by Lorne Michaels at about the same time. First the name of that other show was impacted, as the program had to be called "NBC's Saturday Night" when it began. The regular cast of the show wanted to distinguish itself from the sanitized humor presented on Cosell's program and called itself "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players" because of it.
Also, the NBC series was actually broadcast live, but they couldn't acknowledge it in the title because this show already had that in its name. So, they said it at the start of the program to make sure the audience knew they were watching the events as they happened, which is how the "Live, From New York... It's Saturday Night!" phrase came to be.
Also notable is that eventually all of the cast members from "Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell" wound up as cast members of that other "Saturday Night" show. Bill Murray joined the following year, when Chevy Chase departed, and part of reason why Doyle-Murray and Guest got to join could have been because Jean Doumanian, who served as an associate producer for Cosell, went on to NBC's series when Lorne Michaels stepped away from the show.
New York plays a part because it's The Ed Sullivan Theater, and there were some controversies, as Broadway musicians were on strike, shutting down all of the musicals playing (including The Wiz). In a later episode, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were supposed to appear, via Satellite, from the Philippines on the eve of their fight, eventually dubbed "The Thrilla in Manila," but Frazier decided not to show up. Hey, it's live TV! Or, wait. It's not.
Billy Crystal often shared an anecdote in interviews, about how he was scheduled to be on the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" but got bumped, and he let most people assume it was the NBC series. But no! It was this one! So you shouldn't feel quite as bad for Billy as you might have about that story.
Very much like William Shatner's "For The People" (1965) at 380 and Kristin Chenoweth's "Kristin" at 369, the most notable thing about this show is that it got canceled.
Cosell's hoped for improved image with the public didn't happen, but he went right on doing his sportscasting duties for the Alphabet Network without missing a beat. And, even Howard hosted that other "SNL" in 1985, so everybody got to be a part of it, eventually.