I was saddened today to read about the death of late night TV talk show host, Tom Snyder at the age of 71 from leukemia yesterday in San Fransisco. I have been a fan since the seventies when I would stay up in the wee hours of the summer to watch his interviews.
The "Tomorrow Show" hosted by Tom was the most straight forward of formats consisting of Tom, the guest du jour, and Tom's burning cigarette in a darkened studio. Tom would sometimes joke with the camera crew, but one never actually saw them, you could just hear their disembodied voices laughing at the wisecracks Tom directed their way, usually at the beginning of every show. It made for a very intimate setting and one that, coupled with the late night factor (the show started at midnight), made you feel as if there wasn't anybody else in the world.
Tom had a great sense of humor and a trademark infectious laugh that was easy to imitate by people like Dan Ackroyd who famously sent it up on SNL. Tom was a tough interviewer, though, and never shied away from The Question, whatever it might be. I remember vivdly the night Elton John admitted to being bisexual on the show (back in the day when people didn't talk about that sort of thing like they do now) and for some reason Tom's interview with Quentin Crisp (gay activist and author of The Naked Civil Servant) really stands out in my mind as groundbreaking for the time. I did see the now famous show when punk singer Wendy O'Williams blew up a TV during a performance on the Tomorrow Show.
Along with being a fearless interviewer, Tom was also opinionated which is unusual, I think, for TV talkshow hosts. There was none of this bland never-show-your-true-self stuff going on with Tom. While he was always respectful of his guests, you still always knew what Tom was thinking--one lift of his eyebrow or teensy smirk let the viewer instantly know when Tom "smelled a rat" as they say.
I can only ever recall Tom actually sort of losing it on a show one time. It was one where he interviewed some hate-mongering white supremicists, truly obnoxious people. For a while there, I thought Tom would come to blows with his guests that night, but that outcome was, thankfully, averted. Although? Someone seriously needed to beat the crap out of those people.
In the early eighties I was lucky enough to get to be in the studio audience at 30 Rock, NYC during a taping of Tom's show. He interviewed singer-songwriter Paul Williams and boxer Rocky Graciano. Not two of the most exciting people (for me at least), but it was definitely a thrill for me to see Tom live in action after so many years of watching on TV. I learned one thing: Tom was really, really tall.
In more recent years Tom hosted a short-lived show on CNBC where he enjoyed a fairly tenuous relationship with studio execs that he wasn't particularly shy about discussing in front of the cameras--a habit which did not endear him, I'm sure, to the Powers that Be. For me, though, it was just another reason to like Tom.
So, one last Bizzyville Super-Snap for Tom Snyder, a one-of-a-kind journalist and entertainer. We'll miss you Tom.
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