The Case for a Late-Night TV Hall of Fame—and Its First Class

You may have noticed it is Hall of Fame season.

That is, the new additions to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame were announced this week, with a pair of slugging center fielders, Carlos Beltran and Andruw (cq) Jones, elected to join the prestigious company of All-Timers in Cooperstown, NY.

Accompanying the announcement, a number of sportswriters on the selection committee went public with their ballots, explaining whom they had endorsed with their ten possible votes and why.

Which brings up a logical question:

Why is there no Hall of Fame for late-night television? It’s been around for more than seven decades; it has been packed with star performers and unforgettable moments; and it has been arguably as much a part of the fabric of American life as the circadian joys of the baseball season—plus, it doesn’t take the winters off.

I can’t say why the great names of late night have not yet been memorialized in their own Pantheon. But because the call of a hall is powerful and insistent, I am willing to take up the cause—though not the cost of the plaques.

And this will be just a start. No need to decorate the imaginary walls of this temple of greatness all at one go. Many, many names are worthy. And just as in baseball, they don’t all have to have starred on the field—or stage. As baseball has done and does, some of the inductees in this inaugural edition should come from the ranks of those who played major roles behind the scenes. In this case: writers, producers, executives.

As for how many votes from the selection committee it takes to make it in, let’s keep it simple: one. Keeps the arguments on the committee to a minimum.

My criterion for the initial and subsequent classes for the LNHOF is basic: who made significant, lasting contributions to the uniquely American art form known as late-night TV?

Because every honoree has achieved the exact same number of votes—i.e., one—this first list of ten names should not be taken as a ranking in order of official greatness. Though number one, let’s face it, will not be in doubt.

So let’s do it. May I have a drumroll please, Anton…

10. Sylvester “Pat” Weaver / Steve Allen

This is a joint award because these two men share the quasi-official title of “inventor of late night.” Weaver, the president of NBC in the 1950s, thought to expand his invention of the Today show with a logical Tonight extension, and he had the instinct to hire the brilliant Allen to host it. Allen laid down a formula so solid it has remained largely in place to this day. More crucially, Allen inspired a generation of later hosts with bits like “Man in the Street” interviews and comic stunts like jumping into a giant bowl of Jell-O.

9. Hal Gurnee

Directors of late-night shows have mostly worked in anonymity. Gurnee was the exception. He directed Jack Paar’s Tonight show in the ’50s and was memorably left with an empty desk on camera when Paar walked off and quit mid-show. Then he directed the antic, free-association comedy style of David Letterman in both his groundbreaking late-night shows, keeping up with the fast pace and ironic tone, and becoming an occasional comic player himself in the process.

8. Dick Cavett

The first non-cola of late-night television—really more like a dry martini—Cavett built his show on witty and scintillating chat. The combination drew guests found nowhere else on television, never mind late night, from distant corners of the culture and counterculture: from Salvador Dalí and Satchel Paige to John and Yoko, Jimi Hendrix, and an entire roster of performers from Woodstock.

7. Conan O’Brien

A maestro of spectacularly sophisticated silliness. The full breadth of Conan’s contributions is still being measured. Wild invention, bonkers characters, broad laughs mixed with laser-sharp wit—Conan became the ideal for a third generation of late-night fans.

6. Peter Lassally

The most admired producer in the late-night talk genre, he served as the guiding hand behind not only a phalanx of star hosts—Letterman, Johnny Carson, Craig Ferguson—but also as a savant in identifying performers with the skills to host. And Lassally was compelled to find a lot of them to fill in for the often-absent Carson of his later run. So trusted, he earned the nickname the “host whisperer.”

5. Merrill Markoe

How do you measure creative brilliance? One way: by how many people cannot mention a name without adding the prefix “great”—as in “the great Merrill Markoe.” She earned that honorific by partnering with Letterman in revising every expectation of what funny is and can be on television. Her inspiration that “found humor”—Dave going to some funny place, Dave talking to some ordinary people, Dave admiring talented dogs—could replace and surpass conventional comedy writing birthed a generation of original-thinking comics and comedy writers.

4. Jon Stewart

A transformative comedy artist who elevated late night to consistent, literary-level satirical excellence. Stewart’s version of The Daily Show brought point of view to late-night comedy, but not at the cost of laughs—big, loud laughs. He also gave an outrageous roster of great comedy talent a showcase like no other: Steve Carell, Samantha Bee, Hasan Minhaj, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert. His comeback to The Daily Show was among the most significant moments in late-night history.

3. Lorne Michaels

Inarguably the most successful and influential producer in any genre in the history of television. Beyond a half-century leading a late-night cultural icon, Saturday Night Live, and introducing more talent to the entertainment world than any other impresario of any generation, Michaels’ reach later expanded to include the two most storied franchises of the late-night talk format, The Tonight Show and Late Night.

2. David Letterman

A one-of-a-kind, broke-the-mold talent, Letterman reshaped the late-night model, turned it inside out, upside down, took it to the street, to the roof, inside the elevators, and to the corporate front desk with a lovely floral arrangement. Gifted, mercurial, irascible, a perfectionist, brutally direct, deeply human and humane, Letterman was unprecedented—and his impact was thunderous. And hilarious.

1. Johnny Carson

The host nonpareil, so funny, so polished, so good at what he did that for decades he made competitors shrink to insignificance. His monologues were an essential part of the national conversation. He was the biggest individual star ever created by American television. For the Greatest Generation and beyond, Carson was the original must-see TV, the ultimate antidote to sleepiness.

There it is. Welcome to the inaugural class of the LNHOF. And for all the many entirely deserving names not included here—many of whom have just as good a case as many of these folks—the message is one that should be familiar to every historian of the genre: more to come.

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