European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 08, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Tom Snyder is Back to say Good night by Rick do brow los Angeles times Tom Snyder is driving a sporty Black two door Cadillac through Beverly Hills on his Way to a new future destination is lbs television assignment just As he established a late late talk show following abcs Johnny Carson from 1973 to 1982, he now will try to do the same for David Letterman starting monday on stateside to. At 58, in an open collared dress shirt and Slacks Snyder looks fit and slender. He says he takes Long daily walks i go at a pretty Good clip. I do three Miles in about 45 he reminisces about a career that reads like a Road map of broadcasting local news network news and Abc s late late tomorrow show where he established the bravado talk Cister style Ireve. Rent and sometimes abrasive that Dan Aykroyd of saturday night live jumped on. More recently there was a nighttime Abc radio talk show and then a Cnoc Cable series both of which caught the Eye and ear of Letterman a Long time fan who subsequently tapped him for the Plum Job following his own show after Bob Costas turned Down the Snyder wheels toward lbs he is definitely heading for a Fork in the Road after More than a Quarter Century of High profile exposure crisscrossing the country. Los Angeles new York Milwaukee Philadelphia Atlanta Are among his major stops. When he was on top As with tomorrow it was the very top. But he has also bombed and bombed badly As he did in his Over promoted failure at w Abc to in new York. That was in the Early 1980s, and he seemed washed up. Of yeah peaks and valleys he acknowledges. That s putting it mildly. But As Fate would have it the egg he Laid in new York eventually led to the Start of the Road Back that now has landed him the late late show with Tom Snyder following letter Man. Snyder does t like the word i be never been away he says. Letterman is cd biggest Star right now the undisputed King of late night to and his company worldwide pants inc., will produce the Snyder series. The reported $42 million Deal that brought Letterman to lbs from Abc included the rights to a follow up show. And the executive producers of late show with David Letterman Peter Lassally and Robert Morton will also be the executive producers of the Snyder entry. Speaking of Snyder Letterman says i m very fond of this Guy. I saw his very first tomorrow show and watched Many of them Over the years. The impression one got of intimacy for that time of night and his communication skills were terrific the " perfect Man for the time Letterman adds we want to Sharpen the show a Little bit. What we need Are guests like Strom Thurmond and Newt Gingrich to bring it Back into the Snyder s first week of guests skews Eclectic Mur Phy Brown Star Candice Bergen on monday poet Maya Angelou on tuesday author and political Fig ure Arianna Huffington and rap Singer ice to on wednesday frasier Star Kelsey Crammer on thurs Day and Singer Jon Bon Jovi on Friday in the end a Snyder talk show is a simple Equa Tion you give him interesting guests make sure the camera Lens is in focus and basically get the hell out of the Way. If his sense of humor and broadcasting Are in Good form and the audience buys the pack age you re Home free. But there is in the insane business of to where sponsors kowtow to the 18-to-49-year-old audience the question of age. The White haired Snyder now a Grandfather will be competing with Abc s Conan o Brien who is 32. Snyder faces the age question head on. Sensing Tom Snyder on Abc s tomorrow show in 1979, opens lbs late late show with Toms a Der monday. The direction of a reporter s question about lbs current demo graphic problems Ira attracting Young viewers he finishes the sentence and now they get this Guy out of a nursing Home who s 58 years old. That is a fair question because it is a real situation. There s a perception across Madison Avenue along broadcast Row that if you re Over the age of 49, you Don t count for anything. There Are those who predict that hey the show s Gonna skew old. I just think they re wrong. By the Way if they re right. If the show does skew older if the show does t sell any commercial time guess what it s Gonna go off the air real Quick. Let s be realistic. David Letterman and lbs Are not doing this because they think i m a great lbs has a major priority having stripped Abc s tonight shoot its leadership thanks to Letterman it now is betting on Snyder to make the late night coup Complete. In his office Snyder elaborates on what he thinks should be his place in network television in the 90s. Dave Letterman and i Are really the last link to Jack Paar Steve Allen Johnny Carson he says list ing the former hosts of the tonight show. He Speaks of the legacy of crackling conversation with guests that would make you sit riveted. Now it s five minutes and you re asked if he thinks people will sit still for lengthy " network talk in the age of Short attention spans Snyder says yes i do. I think the people who pro Duce to Don t Trust the audience. They think we re All Channel surfing and i Don t think we arc especially people watching late at night. You know the late night audience is different from the prime time audience. They Aren t going anywhere. They re in no hurry to get anything done. The reason we re going to shoot this show with out a studio audience is my belief and i could be 100 percent wrong that unless you re a teen Ager by 12 30 in the morning you Don t need a cheering crowd you Don t need a lot of noise. You be had noise All Day Long for god s Sake. Let s quiet it Down a a a v the approach to do the Post Letterman show came from Lassally and Morton who first wanted _ Snyder to meet with Howard Stringer president of the lbs broadcast group. So i went to new York and i had my lunch with Howard Stringer Snyder says. I went up to his of fice in the lbs building and you know i m still a Little kid from Milwaukee and i still get impressed by All this stuff. So i get up to the office and my heart s going a mile a minute. V spent a cd pure of hours with him and then or. Tisch came in he recalls referring to lbs chairman Laurence Tisch. And i kind of outlined 7 what i thought ought to happen in late night a live show simulcast on radio and no studio audience. And emphasized that they ought to hire a Broad Caster not a comedian. A \ and i went Down afterwards to the 21 restaurant to get myself a Little Glass of scotch and a Cigar and just kind of reflect on the Day. And i wanted to Call my agent de Hookstratten to let him know that the meeting went Well. And i said to a fellow in the restaurant you know i be never asked you in 25 years to bring a phone to the table because that s phony but would you bring me a phone please because i m Gonna have a heart attack in about three min utes and i Don t want you to have to Send the car Guys to the phone in the men s room Tso i had a Little drink and a Little smoke and walked Back to the hotel and stopped at St. Paddy s St. Patrick s Cathedral and lit a Candle for my dad and said thank " january 8 1995 sunday Page 11
