When I was growing up, I loved to watch “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” But, if you really wanted to watch something edgy, you tuned into “The Tomorrow Show” with Tom Snyder. Snyder, a last night television pioneer, died yesterday from complications due to leukemia. He was 71 years old.
Snyder hosted “The Tomorrow Show” from 1973 until 1981. He was known for his casual interview style (he smoking during most of his show – something that would be unheard of nowadays) and his hearty laugh as well as his provocative guests and subject matters. He had many memorable guests on his show including John Lennon, Johnny Rotten (at the height of the Sex Pistols success) and murdered Charles Manson. When Johnny Rotten appeared in 1980 with Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd., they refused to cooperate with the interview for the first 12 minutes. Later that year, Snyder had the punk band the Plasmatics on the show and lead singer Wendy O. Williams blew up a television set. In fact, Snyder had so many punk and new wave acts on his show, that a DVD titled “The Tomorrow Show: Punk & New Wave” came out in January 2006.
He began his media career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee, but quickly moved to televised newscasts. He anchored in LA before landing “The Tomorrow Show” on NBC in 1973. By 1980, “The Tomorrow Show” went from 60 minutes to 90 minutes and gossip columnist Rona Barrett was added. But she and Snyder clashed so much that their bickering made the headlines. Snyder became so famous; he was lampooned by the best comedy show of the time – Saturday Night Live.
“The Tomorrow Show” ended in 1980, but by 1985, Snyder was back on CBS with “The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder” which ran until 1998, when Snyder was replaced with Craig Kilborn.