Kliph Nesteroff Presents "a portal into a previously unseen world" - The Guardian
"Invaluable" - The Onion AV Club
"Important" - John Hodgman, The Daily Show
I always loved Steve Allen's show. He championed Lenny Bruce when others were too afraid. He predated Dave Letterman's schtick by decades, he was ripped off by Johnny Carson (Carson's "the great carnac" etc). But I feel he never got the respect he deserved.
I've been reading Dick Cavett's NYtimes blog, and recently he deliberately snubbed Steve Allen while writing about the Tonight Show. I know there was a long-time feud between Allen and Cavett, but I wonder who started it? I know Allen said some unkind things about Cavett in one of his books on humor (without mentioning him by name) and I know Cavett has belittled him, but I've always been curious about what exactly started the feud.
How interesting about the non-friendship between Steve and Dick. I never knew that. I, too, would love to know what's behind their "feud" (if you will).
I can't believe that Steve would have been on stage like that with that Tiger. One wrong move by Steve and that Tiger could have taken it as a threat and killed him.
The feud between Allen and Cavett is a complicated one. While Allen was born in New York City, he was raised in Chicago so his values were pure Middle America. Cavett, though born and raised in Nebraska, was an Ivy League product (Yale) who was part of the Eastern elitist class whose appeal (apart from the Hollywood set) stopped at the Hudson River. While Allen was a very smart, erudite man (watch his Meeting of Minds show from the late 70's on PBS), he did not care for Cavett's aloof pseudo-intellectualism. It's also illuminating to know Allen castigated Howard Stern's humor while Cavett was a big fan of Stern and even made appearances on his show.
I always loved Steve Allen's show. He championed Lenny Bruce when others were too afraid. He predated Dave Letterman's schtick by decades, he was ripped off by Johnny Carson (Carson's "the great carnac" etc). But I feel he never got the respect he deserved.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading Dick Cavett's NYtimes blog, and recently he deliberately snubbed Steve Allen while writing about the Tonight Show. I know there was a long-time feud between Allen and Cavett, but I wonder who started it? I know Allen said some unkind things about Cavett in one of his books on humor (without mentioning him by name) and I know Cavett has belittled him, but I've always been curious about what exactly started the feud.
Can anyone here provide some information on this?
How interesting about the non-friendship between Steve and Dick. I never knew that. I, too, would love to know what's behind their "feud" (if you will).
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that Steve would have been on stage like that with that Tiger. One wrong move by Steve and that Tiger could have taken it as a threat and killed him.
The feud between Allen and Cavett is a complicated one. While Allen was born in New York City, he was raised in Chicago so his values were pure Middle America. Cavett, though born and raised in Nebraska, was an Ivy League product (Yale) who was part of the Eastern elitist class whose appeal (apart from the Hollywood set) stopped at the Hudson River. While Allen was a very smart, erudite man (watch his Meeting of Minds show from the late 70's on PBS), he did not care for Cavett's aloof pseudo-intellectualism. It's also illuminating to know Allen castigated Howard Stern's humor while Cavett was a big fan of Stern and even made appearances on his show.
ReplyDeletePeople who knew both Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett claim that Johnny was way, way brighter than Dick.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.classicmoviesandtvcom.com/product/the-steve-allen-show-2-dvd-tv-set-lost-episodes-1957
ReplyDeleteA great tv show