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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 5:04 pm 
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from AP--

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Talk show host Tom Snyder, left, gets ready to interview convicted murderer
Charles Manson at the California Medical Facility in Vaccaville in June 1981.


Talk show host Tom Snyder dies at 71

NBC ‘Tomorrow Show’ interviews included John Lennon, Charles Manson

Associated Press
Updated: 10:02 a.m. PT July 30, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO - Tom Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet abrasive style and his robust, trademark laugh, has died from complications associated with leukemia. He was 71.

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The Associated Press on Monday.

“Tom was a fighter,” Horowicz said. “I know he had tried many different treatments.”

Prickly and ego-driven, Snyder conducted numerous memorable interviews as host of NBC’s “Tomorrow,” which followed Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show from 1973 to ’82. A signature was the constant billowing of cigarette smoke around his head.

Snyder’s style, his show’s set and the show itself marked an abrupt change at 1 a.m. from Carson’s program. Snyder might joke with the crew in the sparsely appointed studio, but he was more likely to joust with guests such as the irascible science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.

Snyder had John Lennon’s final televised interview (April 1975) and U2’s first U.S. television appearance in June 1981.

One of his most riveting interviews was with Charles Manson, who would go from a calm demeanor to acting like a wild-eyed, insanity-spouting mass murderer and back again.

Another wacky moment came when Plasmatics lead singer Wendy O. Williams blew up a TV in the studio; in another appearance she demolished a car. Yet another time, Johnny Rotten decided he really wasn’t in the mood to be on a talk show and acted indifferent for an excruciating 12 minutes.

In 1982, the show was canceled after a messy attempt to make it into a talk-variety show called “Tomorrow Coast to Coast.” It added a live audience and co-hostess Rona Barrett — all of which Snyder clearly disdained.

The time slot was taken over by a hot young comedian named David Letterman.

Born in Milwaukee, Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in his home town in the 1960s, then moved into local television news, anchoring newscasts in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

“He loved the broadcast business,” said Marciarose Shestack, who co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1960s. “He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at all a typical newscaster.”

He returned to local anchoring in New York after “Tomorrow” left the air. He eventually hosted an ABC radio talk show before easing back into television on CNBC.

His catch phrase: “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air.”

Letterman, a longtime Snyder admirer, brought him back to network television, creating “The Late Late Show” on CBS to follow his own program. (Subsequently, the format and hosts have changed, with Craig Kilborn and now Craig Ferguson.)

Snyder gained fame in his heyday when Dan Aykroyd spoofed him in the early days of “Saturday Night Live.” His chain-smoking, black beetle brows (contrasting with his mostly gray hair), mercurial manner and self-indulgent, digressive way of asking questions as well as his clipped speech pattern made for a distinctive sendup.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

“When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence,” he wrote then. “Now, my doctors say it’s treatable!”

Horowicz met Snyder in 1982 and worked with him at WABC-TV in New York. Snyder’s curiosity, Horowicz said, allowed him to navigate between local news and talk shows with ease.

Snyder is survived by his daughter and longtime girlfriend.


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:05 pm 
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Are we all getting old here or what?
It's hard to believe that Tom Synder is now gone. I loved his Tommorrow show following Johnny Carson, as well as The Late Late Show following David Letterman.
Synder also was the lead anchor on the local KNBC-TV news here in Los Angeles long before he hit the big-time on late-night television. He was really on our tv set for many many years.
All those interviews with rockstars such as John Lennon, as well as Dan Ackroyd's spot-on impersonations on SNL will always be remembered. Synder's shows and interviews were often interesting and entertaining, and... love him or hate him, he was truly unique.
He will be sorely missed.


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:30 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

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I also loved the Tomorrow show. Watched it religiously. Tom was great with his guests.

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:50 pm 
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Snyder gave airtime to new wave and punk acts in the 70s and early 80s, when most shows (outside of SNL) wouldn't touch them. Before TiVo or even VCRs, I'd have to stay up late to watch. Shout! Factory issued a DVD set featuring appearances by Ramones, John Lydon/Rotten, Plasmatics, Patti Smith, the Jam, and several others. The Lydon interview is some of the most surreal TV you'll ever see.

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:06 pm 
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What a shame. I too used to stay up late to watch his program, especially if he had interesting musical guests on. I'll never forget that interview with KISS.

Jeff

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:39 pm 
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After the Late Late Show ended, he had a blog that he updated maybe once a week or so and it was fascinating. He would update events happening in his own life like the failing health and eventual death of his beloved sheepdog Oliver(a very touching blog), his torturous dealings with his home builders, his continued love of model trains, his opinions of certain celebrities and views of current political events as well as the Robert Blake murder trial(anyone who saw his interviews with Blake certainly saw a man on edge.......I'll add my own Snyder/Blake memory at the end of this post). His blog was one of my daily stops on the internet and I was very saddened when he started to mention he was diagnosed with leukemia. He said it was treatable and this gave me hope, but very soon after that he suddenly ended his blog and I had a sinking feeling that his leukemia was far more serious than first thought. I've missed his presence on tv for a few years now and the blog for a couple of years and now I'll have to resign myself to seeing him on my dvds and in my own memories.



Now for the Robert Blake story I mentioned earlier......on one of the very last Late Late Shows, Blake was the guest for the entire hour. Anytime he was on you just knew it would be an interesting show. Anyway....Blake seemed very distant, distracted and very depressed. Later in the interview he discussed his current mood and he described how he had recently met a woman and he was finding out things about her and he was feeling tortured and was at his wits end. Tom did his best to explore Blakes emotions and then try to steer the interview in a more positive direction, but by the end I knew I had just seen a man walking the tightrope of his own sanity. Just a few months later we learned of his wife's murder and all I thought of was that interview and I just knew this had to be the same woman whom he felt was destroying him. Mr. Snyder mentioned the trial on his blog and said he wasn't going to offer an opinion on Blake's guilt or innocence, but that his interviews were some of the most edgy and bizarre he had done and he wasn't so surprised that he would wind up in some sort of trouble. Snyder didn't say he thought Blake was guilty, but you could read it between the lines.

I think tonight I'll fire up a colortini and watch the pictures as they fly through the air.

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:27 am 
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R.I.P. Tom-you were truly one of the greats and a good guy. I really hate when cool people die-it sucks.

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:19 pm 
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I'll never forget watching the footage of Snyder's interview with U2. Bono was so wide-eyed and awake with getting ready to take in all possibilities back then. Snyder is going to be missed a great deal.


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:53 pm 
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Music4Life wrote:
What a shame. I too used to stay up late to watch his program, especially if he had interesting musical guests on. I'll never forget that interview with KISS.

Jeff


Same here, though I didn't see it until years later on a bootleg tape.

Snyder's show was on too late for me in those school days prior to owning a VCR, so I missed out on those interviews mentioned in the previous posts.

This is sad news. He seemed to have a unique style of interviewing and came from a different time in TV news entertainment. Sad to hear, but he apparently won't be forgotten anytime soon.


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:01 am 
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I was a huge fan and admirer of Tom Snyder. His style was often abrasive and over-the-top, but was tempered by his obvious humility and self-effacing sense of humor. I really dug the way he got a kick out of Dan Ackroyd's masterful impersonations, and would sometimes break out into an exaggerated version of his own laughter (as done by Ackroyd).

Tom's interviews were compelling, frightening, and hilarious (often at the same time) - but never boring. Aside from the above-mentioned interviews with Wendy O. Williams and Charles Manson, my personal choice for most memorable show was when he interviewed a contract killer (who was wearing a hood to hide his identity). The high point of the conversation occurred when Snyder (unwisely) asked his guest what his reaction would be if he were to suddenly rip off his hood, thus revealing the man's identity before millions of TV viewers. The guest's response was that he would take out his knife and cut Snyder's heart out - right on live television. Without missing a beat, Snyder responded: "Fair enough"!

I'll miss you Tom. Rest in peace.


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:00 am 
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Jeff Leventhal wrote:
I was a huge fan and admirer of Tom Snyder. His style was often abrasive and over-the-top, but was tempered by his obvious humility and self-effacing sense of humor. I really dug the way he got a kick out of Dan Ackroyd's masterful impersonations, and would sometimes break out into an exaggerated version of his own laughter (as done by Ackroyd).

Tom's interviews were compelling, frightening, and hilarious (often at the same time) - but never boring. Aside from the above-mentioned interviews with Wendy O. Williams and Charles Manson, my personal choice for most memorable show was when he interviewed a contract killer (who was wearing a hood to hide his identity). The high point of the conversation occurred when Snyder (unwisely) asked his guest what his reaction would be if he were to suddenly rip off his hood, thus revealing the man's identity before millions of TV viewers. The guest's response was that he would take out his knife and cut Snyder's heart out - right on live television. Without missing a beat, Snyder responded: "Fair enough"!

I'll miss you Tom. Rest in peace.




I agree. Snyder's style, intelligence, personality, and wit often made his interviews so compelling. Tom also made it a point of always looking right into the camera and telling these wonderful stories... especially when he had minutes to kill. But there were many times when he would go off on a joke or story when he didn't have any time to kill. He had a great sense of humor, and his silliness and charm made him such a comfortable program to watch every night. People may forget that Snyder was a brilliant news broadcaster, maybe one of the best news anchormen that ever came along. His 6PM news hours here in Los Angeles on NBC were top-rated. Though Tom Snyder retired from from our televison sets a number of years ago now, he is vividly and fondly remembered here as a late-night friend... as well as that unique late-night legend.
We will always remember his catch phrase: “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air.”
Thanks for the many fond memories Tom!


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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:03 am 
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While most celebrities bristle at thought of someone impersonating them, Tom absolutely loved Akroyd's impression of him. I remember him having Akroyd as a guest once, and he went into the whole routine, while Tom was laughing so hard he almost drowned out Akroyd. It was priceless...

Jeff

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 Post subject: Talk show host Tom Snyder dies...
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:14 pm 
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TOM SNYDER DEAD AT 71
INTERVIEWED KISS IN 1979

07/30/2007 KISSONLINE.com



KISSONLINE.com

Sad to report that legendary Talk show host Tom Snyder, a staple of late night television for years, died Sunday after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71. Snyder was most famous for his TOMORROW show on NBC. Among his best interviews was a 1979 candid chat with KISS. A favorite among KISS fans, the interview is included in KISS' upcoming KISSOLOGY Volume 2 DVD.


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