Nightlife (talk show)

{{short description|American syndicated late-night talk show}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| alt_name = Nightlife Starring David Brenner with Billy Preston

| image = Nightlife (talk show) intertitle.jpg

| caption = Nightlife intertitle

| genre = Talk show
Variety show

| developer = Motown Productions
King World

| presenter = David Brenner

| narrated = Dan Ingram

| theme_music_composer = Billy Preston

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 195

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer =

| producer = Bob Tischler

| editor =

| location = Unitel Video Studios

{{cite magazine

| date=August 9, 1986

| title=Unitel Inks 'Nightlife' Deal

| magazine=Billboard

| publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.

| volume=98

| issue=32

| page=55

| issn=0006-2510}}
East 76th Street
New York, New York

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 30 minutes

| company = Motown Productions
King World

| channel = Syndication

| related =

| first_aired = {{Start date|1986|09|08}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1987|06|19}}

}}

Nightlife is an American syndicated half-hour late-night talk show hosted by comedian David Brenner that aired weeknights from September 8, 1986, to June 19, 1987. Produced by Motown Productions in association with King World Productions, the show was filmed in New York City and featured a house band led by Billy Preston.

History

=Background=

In February 1986, at the annual National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference, Nightlife was pitched as a late-night alternative to NBC talk shows The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman.{{cite news

| title=Here's what you might see syndicated on TV next fall

| last=Wolf

| first=Mark

| newspaper=The Telegraph

| agency=Scripps Howard News Service

| date=February 6, 1986

| page=22}}

David Brenner was a frequent guest and regular fill-in host on Tonight, much like another comic, Joan Rivers, whose own talk show debuted a month after Nightlife. But whereas Rivers angered Carson by planning her show without consulting her mentor, Brenner spoke with Carson about his plans and received his blessing.

{{cite news

| date=October 13, 1986

| last=O'Connor

| first=John J.

| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/13/arts/tv-reviews-joan-rivers-s-late-show-enters-talk-show-fray.html

| title=TV Reviews: John Rivers's 'Late Show' Enters Talk-Show Fray

| newspaper=The New York Times

| accessdate=September 16, 2014}}

{{cite news

| date=June 18, 1987

| last=Ruth

| first=Daniel

| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3831415.html

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117003639/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3831415.html

| url-status=dead

| archive-date=November 17, 2018

|url-access=subscription

| title=Death of 'Nightlife': Brenner blasts ex-bosses for talk-show flop

| newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times

| accessdate=September 16, 2014}}

Brenner said "there's no animosity between me and them."{{cite news

| title=Brenner to host 'Nightlife'

| last=Hill

| first=Michael E.

| newspaper=The Bulletin

| date=August 29, 1986

| page=39}}

The syndicated Nightlife, produced by Motown Productions in association with King World Productions, premiered on September 8, 1986, on 102 stations, approximately one-third of which were ABC affiliates.{{cite news

| title=And the late-night winner is...

| last=Winfrey

| first=Lee

| newspaper=Pittsburgh Press

| date=November 29, 1986

| page=B-5}}

{{cite journal

| date=August 18, 1986

| title=Rivers,Brenner shows causing late-night headaches

| journal=Broadcasting

| volume=111

| issue=7

| page=57

| issn=1068-6827}}

=Format=

Nightlife was unique among late-night talk shows of the era in that it was a half-hour program, not a full hour. Brenner dressed more casually than other hosts, wearing sweaters instead of suit jackets. The show often opened with a comedy sketch rather than a traditional monologue. A notable exception came on October 17, 1986, when Brenner gave an extended monologue through two commercial breaks and until the closing credits. Reports indicated that none of the scheduled guests showed up, but Brenner's publicist claimed that the monologue was intentional.

{{cite book

| last=Munson

| first=Wayne

| title=All Talk: The Talkshow in Media Culture

| publisher=Temple University Press

| page=66

| location=Philadelphia, Pa.

| year=1993

| isbn=978-1566391948}}

{{cite journal

| date=1993

| title=Cut too, the Chase

| journal=U.S. News & World Report

| volume=115

| page=174

| issn=0041-5537}}

The show's house band was Billy Preston and the Nightlife Band. Preston, who appeared in the billing – Nightlife starring David Brenner with Billy Preston – was the first African-American music director of a national television talk show.

{{cite book

| last=Fearn-Banks

| first=Kathleen

| title=The A to Z of African-American Television

| publisher=Scarecrow Press

| page=335

| location=Lanham

| year=2009

| isbn=978-0810868328}} New York radio personality Dan Ingram was the show's announcer.

{{cite book

| last=Terrace

| first=Vincent

| title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010

| edition=2nd

| publisher=McFarland & Company

| page=239

| location=Jefferson, N.C.

| year=2011

| isbn=978-0786464777}}

=Ratings and cancellation=

In its first two months on air, Nightlife averaged a 2.4 rating. A November 1986 Broadcasting article said that the show had "gotten lost in the shuffle over the Carson and Rivers shows."

{{cite journal

| date=November 24, 1986

| title=First-run sitcoms scoring well

| journal=Broadcasting

| volume=111

| issue=21

| page=45

| issn=1068-6827}}

November ratings fell to a 1.9, and by January 1987, David Smith, associate director of programming at Katz Communications, said that Nightlife would probably not return for a second season.

{{cite journal

| date=January 12, 1987

| title='Wheel' on Cassandra roll

| journal=Broadcasting

| volume=112

| issue=2

| page=66

| issn=1068-6827}}

{{cite journal

| date=November 24, 1986

| title=Reps review programing offerings

| journal=Broadcasting

| volume=112

| issue=4

| page=56

| issn=1068-6827}}

King World and Motown Productions announced in April that they will complete the show's 195-episode commitment, though it was not officially cancelled for another two months.{{cite news

| title=No dream, Magnum bites bullet; 'Nightlife' lives two more months

| newspaper=The Ledger

| date=April 14, 1987

| page=2A}}

The final original episode of Nightlife aired in June, with reruns continuing through August.{{cite news

| title=And the late-night winner is...

| last=Deeb

| first=Gary

| newspaper=Spartanburg Herald-Journal

| date=June 21, 1987

| page=TV Week-2}}

Brenner told TV columnist Gary Deeb that when ratings "didn't go through the roof" in the first month, many stations then decided to move the show from the more desirable {{nowrap|11:00 p.m.}} – midnight time periods to the middle of the night. Brenner added that King World "started cutting our budget and started making us do a lotta pre-taped shows – and you could see the handwriting. I mean – it was more than handwriting – it was chiseling on the wall." King World head executive Michael King said the talent pool of available guests was "somewhat of a problem. But we weren't up against Joan Rivers for the most part. We were up against the last half-hour of Carson or the first half-hour of David Letterman." Ultimately, King argued, "the public just didn't want to tune into David every night". In a 2009 interview with The Trentonian, Brenner said that Motown and King World "ended up not liking to work with each other, and so they didn't care that the ratings were good, that the show was great and all that -- all they cared was to get away from each other. So you could say that I became the child of divorced parents".

{{cite news

| date=November 30, 2009

| last=Hunt

| first=Nicole

| url=http://www.trentonian.com/article/TT/20091130/news/311309996

| title=Philly native and comic legend David Brenner coming to Jersey this week

| newspaper=The Trentonian

| accessdate=September 16, 2014}}

See also

References

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}