Thursday, June 7, 2007

The Joey Bishop Show with guest Sammy Davis Jr (1968)


The Joey Bishop Show was a late night talk show that ran from April 17, 1967 to spring of 1969 on ABC. It was ABC's attempt to compete with NBC's Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and of course it failed. Each episode was ninety minutes in length. ABC offered Bishop his own late night talk show after seeing how competent he seemed to be guest hosting for Carson. As you will see at the start of this clip, his sidekick was Regis Philbin. Previously this timeslot had been held by a news discussion program called The Les Crane Show. When Joey was canceled, he was replaced by Dick Cavett. Bishop's talk show should not be confused with his sitcom of the same name that ran from 1961-1965. That show is on DVD but the talk show is not.

To read what kind of a connection Joey Bishop had Canadian mobsters check out this article - part one and part two.

This episode of The Joey Bishop Show features cameos from Joey Bishop's brother and Sammy Davis Senior! Originally aired February 1968.
Comic book historian and old showbiz fan Mark Evanier tells an interesting story about a Regis Philbin controversy that once occured on The Joey Bishop Show:
One of his highest ratings came after a taping when Regis Philbin abruptly announced that he was quitting the show. The one day delay worked to the show's benefit that time. The news spread and much of America tuned in to hear Philbin announce -- apparently stunning Joey -- that the network had never wanted him in the first place and that he had endured too much criticism from them that he was dragging down the show. A few nights later, everyone watched again to hear Bishop announce that everything had been smoothed over, after which he welcomed Regis back to the show. The incident gave Joey two of the few nights he beat Carson but several TV critics suggested it was all an arranged stunt.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

DO YOU HAVE THE SHOW THAT WAS HOST BY PAT BOONE BECAUSE JOEY WAS IN VIETNAM? THIS WOULD BE THANKSGIVING NIGHT IN 1969.

Anonymous said...

Do you have the Joey Bishop late night show that would have aired in September, 1969 -- probably the week of September 8-12 -- that featured the Spiral Staircase and Della Reese?

Bob Bourne said...

No, I wish and No, I wish.

Anonymous said...

Do you have the show that featured an appearance by Jerry Lee Lewis?

Joy Lesem said...

Do you have the Joey Bishop Show when Tommy Smothers was a guest (sometime in 1969)? Tommy introduced my group, The Stony Brook People, on that show and I would love to have the footage to put on my blog and share with the rest of the group. Please email me at: stonybrookpeople@hotmail.com. Thank you!!

Bob Bourne said...

No and No. Sorry.

Me said...

I've got audio of who I think is Joey Bishop and Regis at the L.A. premiere of Funny Girl, interviewing Barbra Streisand. It must have been September 1968. I've had it for years but just realized that they must have taken the cameras out of the studio and covered the premiere one night on his show.

Anonymous said...

Is it possible to get a copy of the show in Jan or Feb 1969 when Milton Berle and Kenny Rogers were on? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

i was at the show with sammy davis and asked sammy a question. "when are you coming to minneapolis again...". amazing. i wish i could see that show, i'm on it.

JOB said...

When I was a young teen I used to watch the Joey Bishop Show, esp. when Sammy was on. One night he sang one or more songs from Porgy and Bess, while dancing around a lamp post. The stage was dark except for the spotlight on him. Do you know what episode that was and if it is available anywhere on=line? It was mesmerizing! Thanks.

JOB said...

When I was a young teen I used to watch the Joey Bishop show, especially when Sammy Davis Jr was on. I remember a night when he was alone on a darkened stage, singing one or more Porgy and Bess songs while dancing around a lamp post (with a spotlight on him.) It was mesmerizing. Do you know what episode that was and/or if it is available anywhere on-line? Thanks.