Name one talk show host whose sheer intellect and wit heavily influenced your life.

[OilemFirchen]

And don't forget to include Dick Cavett.

GO!

[Katashi_itto]

1. Jon Stewart

[OilemFirchen]

2. Follow the rules, Katashi.

Tsk tsk.

[Katashi_itto]

12. WTH are you talking about? Someone listed Stephen Colbert. I stand by my selection.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. Thom Hartmann, hands down.

[OilemFirchen]

5. I give up.

This is not a game, pupils!

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. I forgot, Dick Cavett

[hifiguy]

136. Same here. Thom is the best.

[dembotoz]

4. ko

[OilemFirchen]

8. I'm going to cry.

You are not helping.

[Brigid]

82. I really really really really miss KO.

[PassingFair]

6. Stephen Colbert!

?zz=1

His bravery influences me as well.

On edit: Although Dick Cavett was nice.

[OilemFirchen]

17. Colbert would name Dick Cavett.

Just saying.

[Initech]

124. Second!!!!

I will definitely miss the Colbert Report.

[Mister Nightowl]

7. Eric Sevareid

[OilemFirchen]

24. Okay, I'll add aplomb. Wit, intelligence and aplomb.

Sounds like Dick Cavett, amiright?

[Jenoch]

47. I don't recall Eric Sevareid ever hosting a talkshow.

[The empressof all]

10. Why Dick Cavett of course....

[QED]

88. He is definitely witty.

A quick youtube search lists interviews with so many - Bette Midler, Janis Joplin, Zappa, Lennon, George Harrison, Katherine Hepburn, etc. Here are a couple:

Ali & Frazier:

Robin Williams talks comedy on the Dick Cavett Show in 1979:

[OilemFirchen]

119. Here's a full guest list:

http://dickcavettshow.com/index.php/guests-and-shows

[JaneyVee]

11. Phil Donahue.

[OilemFirchen]

14. Or Dick Cavett.

Right?

[shenmue]

18. Donahue

[valerief]

33. Phil got people thinking. Then the PTB outlawed thinking and Phil got the boot. nt

[ChiciB1]

66. He Was Really "The Best" And He Fought Hard To Stay...

No matter what they did to him he didn't back down and stood his ground! Oh, the changes that have happened since. We lost so much when we had so many "truth tellers!" Dan Rather got the boot the same way, but not a talk show host back then. Another favorite of mine back then!

SIGH!

[valerief]

71. Oprah did wonderful things for race relations, but her emphasis

on the woo and being cheerleader rather than a wit keeps her from being a contender here.

[DesertFlower]

80. exactly.

[jwirr]

131. That is who I was thinking about.

[Cirque du So-What]

13. I was gonna say Dick Cavett

I've never seen any talk-show host who could hold a candle to Dick Cavett - and that includes Phil Donahue, who I respect greatly.

[Gman]

15. Can't name a single one

I don't know of one that fits the description.

[Katashi_itto]

16. Craig Ferguson - The lost "Dr. Who" cold open.

I base my life off this opening.

[TDale313]

93. That was awesome!!!

[FrodosPet]

123. It's ALL about the triumph of intellect and romance...

...over brute force and cynicism!

[Katashi_itto]

125. Exactly! [phone]

[sakabatou]

19. Keith Olbermann

[giftedgirl77]

20. Jerry Springer

[OilemFirchen]

23. Having met, on multiple occasions, both Springer and Donahue...

I'd say Dick Cavett.

[HuckleB]

21. I hope none.

I can't think of any. Entertainment is great, but I don't want to be dramatically influenced by such people.

[grasswire]

22. Olbermann didn't have a talk show.

But he certainly influenced many of us.

[fadedrose]

53. Yes - he was quite good at criticizing

Pres. Bush....very intense stuff .. .

[fadedrose]

57. Mike Malloy

tho I haven't listened to him much lately. Never missed him on Air America . .

[FoxNewsSucks]

94. He's still on.

He and Hartmann are my favorites, although for different reasons.

[LWolf]

25. I can't.

I don't watch talk shows. Or listen to them on the radio. Not that it's never happened; I was in the house when my ex did. I could name some hosts, because my ex watched/listened, or because they constantly show up in thread titles at DU. Most of those names? I have no clue who they are or what they've been talking about on what program...because I don't care.

[OilemFirchen]

26. Understood.

So that's one for Dick Cavett, by proxy.

[LWolf]

31. Who's Dick Cavett? nt

[OilemFirchen]

37. Notwithstanding Watergate...

Here:

[LWolf]

40. Okay.

Now I know what he looks like; I still didn't watch, since I don't watch talk shows, lol.

I know I got information about Watergate from the tv at the time; I don't think it was from talk shows, though. My mom never watched them, either. Most of what I got about Watergate came from my 8th grade social studies teacher, who shut the whole curriculum down and spent the entire year on that one current event.

The good old days when high-stakes testing didn't drive what we spent time on in class.

[OilemFirchen]

55. Not to derail this thread by going all serious...

but it's likely that we wouldn't have been as attentive to Watergate had it not been for Cavett. There's a Secrets of the Dead (strange placement, indeed) devoted to the subject.

[LWolf]

115. Maybe.

As an 8th grader at the time, I'm not sure I am part of that "we." I know my mom was paying attention, because we talked about it daily, yet I also know she wasn't watching Dick Cavett.

It might be more accurate to say, if we have to be serious, that Cavett kept the greater conversation fed. Which, in that case, was a good thing.

One of the reasons, though, that I don't watch talk shows is that they not only feed the conversation, but direct it, and I prefer not to be directed.

[OilemFirchen]

118. He clearly increased the public's attention - probably substantially so...

by introducing all of the major players - including WH operatives - to an audience who might otherwise have been politically indifferent, watching his show for celebrity interviews.

There's a reason Nixon singled him out:

[valerief]

75. Here he is with Bette Davis.

[LWolf]

116. A talk show host, lol.

I got that.

[TheNutcracker]

27. Keith Olbermann, David Letterman, Art Bell

[Warpy]

28. "That Was the Week That Was," or TW3, occasionally hosted by Ned Sherrin

Flew completely over the heads of most people, unfortunately, so it wasn't on nearly long enough.

Cavett had the best of the celebrity interview shows.

[wryter2000]

39. Hosted by David Frost, I believe

Yes, I'm that old.

[Warpy]

43. Also by Sherrin

who was the more memorable of the two.

Frost went on to a blander career. I don't think Sherrin ever mellowed.

[gordianot]

29. I know it may sound corny but Mike Douglas.

His guest list from the 60's was incredible and he had them on for a week. By the end of the week anything was possible he made his guests feel comfortable and it was like you got to know them. I still watch interviews on YouTube.

[zappaman]

36. Yeah, I loved that show!!!

I remember he had a silver haired Moe from The Three Stooges on and it made this kid sooooo happy!

[gordianot]

46. That one is on YouTube.

I saw the Stooges in a Circus Act in the early 60's I would take that ticket over any Rock Star and I have seen many of the Greats.

[zappaman]

48. It must have been that awful Curly Joe at the time? n/t

[gordianot]

65. No sadly Curly Joe was long gone.

His brother Moe spoke of him in the Mike Douglas interview. The studios took them for a cleaning but the stooges act made them wealthy in the end with a resurgent career. Moe got the last laugh.

[zappaman]

74. Greatest comedy team ever! IMO

[csziggy]

69. Mike Douglas was the first I thought of and the first I watched

The first "serious" talk show I watched was Phil Donahue. Dick Cavett was and still is good, but back in the day he was too serious for a high school. I did watch some of his shows about Watergate.

[brewens]

102. I had recently gotten the David Bowie "Diamond Dogs" album and not too long after

that, some big band singer type guy did his version of "1984" from that album. He sucked but I had to hand it to him for trying to be cutting edge. I wish I could remember who that was on Mikes show.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

30. I won't 'forget' to include Dick Cavett, but I'll still choose

Garrison Keillor, who spent most of his show talking, since it was on the radio

[randys1]

32. Thom, Jon, Johnny, Randi, Ari, Matsimela Mapfumo (Mark Thompson), and many more I guess

[valerief]

34. I was a little too young to appreciate Jack Paar or Steve Allen. nt

[OilemFirchen]

44. Oh hell. Jack Paar.

Never mind.

Waiter? Could you lock this thread please?

[valerief]

62. Hmm, I've just read Paar was homophobic. Didn't know that.

Disappointing. I read Joseph Cotten was, too.

Oh, well, I still like this quote.
Poor people have more fun than rich people, they say; and I notice it's the rich people who keep saying it.--Jack Paar

[OilemFirchen]

89. Cavett wrote this for Paar:

"Here they are, Jayne Mansfield."

[Mass]

35. John Oliver, by far.

[tabbycat31]

38. I had to look up who Dick Cavett was

This thread was the first I ever heard of him.

[pinboy3niner]

114. It was Cavett who said of Sarah Palin, "She doesn't seem to have a first language."

[Botany]

41. Mike Huckabee

He is one groovy cat

[blogslut]

42. Tom Snyder

It's not just any fellow who can win a battle of wills with Charles Manson.

Oh, and Dick Cavett.

[840high]

52. Good choices.

[RandiFan1290]

45. Dick Cavett

and Neil Rogers

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

49. Steve Allen

Smock, Smock

[WinkyDink]

135. I met him at a book-signing decades ago. I asked him to add "Smock! Smock!" and he did!

[Cal Carpenter]

50. Peter Werbe

Blew my mind. Ruined my innocence, lol. I was very young.

eta: assuming radio counts?

[Lochloosa]

51. Walter Cronkite would approve of Dick Cavett

[OilemFirchen]

58. Well played. (n/t)

[notadmblnd]

54. Alan Funt

[5X]

56. rush limpuke

for sheer lack of intellect and lack of wit, but adversely influenced us all.

[kestrel91316]

59. Phil Donahue

[diabeticman]

60. Bill Moyers, Keith Olberman

[ChiciB1]

68. OMG, For Got About Moyers!

Absolutely one of the very, very best! And so intelligent. When I do research I always try to compare what he says concerning so many issues. He just wasn't on the regular line of day time TV. PBS, before IT CHANGED!

[cherokeeprogressive]

61. Can't. Tried... and can't.

[ChiciB1]

63. Phil Donahue...

I always loved watching him, but Dick Cavett was pretty good too. But, Phil has a personality that was infectious and he was who he said he was. His show was animated and inviting and I really hated that he got canceled! I was very young and believed I could write enough letters to get him back on, but even with my friends helping me... we lost!

[otohara]

64. Stephen Colbert

he's wicked funny smart - good man!

[valerief]

73. He's a genius! And he'll be the first one to tell you that.

[FSogol]

67. Groucho Marx.

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read. -Groucho

[Scootaloo]

70. Talk show host with intellect and wit?

Well... i have a completely useless crush on Ellen DeGeneres, but i can't say she's heavily influenced my life at all.

Oh. I kind of miss the Arsenio Hall show.

[nashville_brook]

72. Sam Seder.

[Skittles]

76. not talk show hosts per se, but Dear Abby and Ann Landers

I learned a lot from them

if I had to pick a real talk show host I would say Jon Stewart

[Brigid]

77. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Keith Olbermann.

[TxVietVet]

78. Thom Hartmann

Hands down. Smartest guy on the radio.

[DesertFlower]

79. phil donahue.

[Kilgore]

81. Barth Gimble & Jerry Hubbard

They were quite a team.

Their deep wisdom shaped my young mind.

Kilgore

[PFunk]

83. 5 for me.

Phil Donahue, Keith Olbermann, Bob Kincade (at times) Tavis Smiley and Mike Malloy

[kelliekat44]

84. Phil Donahue. nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

85. The first name that came to my mine before I opened this thread is Dick Cavett, of course

But this is dating oneself as much as asking someone to complete this phrase and name who said it:

"I will gladly pay you Tuesday for............."

[FarPoint]

86. None other than Phil Donahue...

He taught me to ask questions and explore options.

[JustAnotherGen]

87. Maury

[liberal_at_heart]

90. Bill Moyers, Dylan Ratigan, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert.

[Adsos Letter]

91. Other than Dick Cavett?

Ray Taliaferro, late night host on KGO radio until CUMULUS bought the station, switched to an all news format, and unceremoniously fired their slate of very popular talk show hosts.

A progressive liberal, Taliaferro had an acerbic wit as well as a razor sharp mind. If you were going to argue with him you really needed to have your act together before you called in.

The hatchet job CUMULUS did on KGO was a major hit to public discussion in the SF Bay Area.

[spy69]

92. And a one, and a two.......

Keith Olbermann by far in a modern context. Anyone who would lose their job as a matter of principle while hounding the Right is OK by me. Locally, Dennis Wholey and Mitch Albom provide a spark of light in the Republican darkness.

[Sedona]

95. Neil Rogers

with an honorable mention to Randi Rhodes

[arcane1]

96. Cosmo Kramer on the old Mike Douglas set

[Tom Ripley]

97. Oscar Levant

no one could beat him for wit. No one.

[Beringia]

98. Martin Short

just because I love everything he does.

2nd, would be Ted Koppel or Dick Cavett

[Snotcicles]

99. Charles Grodin. nt

[Arugula Latte]

100. Johnny Carson. He was a big part of my childhood and teenhood.

I used to watch with my parents sometimes. Everybody in our family liked him, and he brought us together.

[Art_from_Ark]

109. Another vote for Johnny

I especially loved the Carnac the Magnificent skits.

[In_The_Wind]

113. Johnny Carson was my favorite talk show host.

I think his brand of laughter helped my night's sleep to sweeter dreams.

[brewens]

101. Here's Merve in an unforgettable spot and he jokingly tries to pawn it off on Dick!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

103. Bill Moyers

[JDPriestly]

104. Thom Hartmann.

It's not just his politics. It's his social activism, the non-political causes he supports and his spiritual views that have influenced me. I'm not sure he is what you would call a talk-show host. But he is the one. All round a really great person in my view.

[stage left]

105. Phil Donahue

Now that I think, he's probably a good part of the reason I'm a liberal.

[choie]

106. Mike Malloy...

Phil Donahue, Bob Kincaid, Sam Seder and Stephen Colbert and Long John Nebel...

[TransitJohn]

107. Wow.

If television personalities heavily influence one's life, then one has big, big problems.

[OilemFirchen]

120. What would those be, Doc?

Perhaps this will be my breakthrough moment!

[TransitJohn]

126. Watching too much fucking television?

[TeamPooka]

108. Johnny Carson.

[Art_from_Ark]

110. Art Linkletter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Linkletter

[eShirl]

111. Sheer intellect and wit? Heavily influenced my life?

Nobody fits that description.

[mfcorey1]

112. Phil Donahue and Rachel Maddow.

[JHB]

117. Answer to part 1 of your question: Dick Cavett

Answer to part 2 of your question: Dick Cavett

[msanthrope]

121. Dick Cavett. Someone's gotta make you happy. nt

[FrodosPet]

122. George Carlin has guest hosted "The Tonight Show". Does that count?

Because his sheer intellect and wit heavily influenced MY life more than any full time talk show host.

[Avalux]

127. Bill Moyers, Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart.

Keith really helped me get through the Bush years. One thing all three of them have in common - honesty, and not being afraid to speak their mind regardless.

[Sienna86]

128. Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow

Both are exceptionally bright.

[Stardust]

129. Randi Rhodes

and Dick Cavett, natch!

[Go Vols]

130. Tom Snyder

[OutNow]

132. William F. Buckley - no - really

His show, Firing Line, was different and more in depth than any other show in the 1960s and 70s. He would have leftist and liberal guests on every week and would allow them the time to explain their positions. Of he would disagree with them and use his wit to counter their arguments, but there was never any yelling or cutting off the dialogue. I learned more about US foreign policy during these weekly debates than anywhere else.

Even as a teenager I almost never agreed with Buckley, but I watched his TV show every week on PBS.

[kentauros]

133. Otis Maclay

Local guy. Got me involved in public radio for a while

https://www.facebook.com/otis.maclay

[WinkyDink]

134. Steve Allen. He "heavily influenced" my own sense of wit and humor. Smock! Smock!

[GeorgeGist]

137. Steverino

[Separation]

138. Phil Hendrie

I believe he introduced me to satire. Way ahead of his time, before the onion, duffel blog, etc.

[lindysalsagal]

139. Craig Fergeson.

Going off air by january. Catch him now. One in a million.

[Ampersand Unicode]

143. Anybody know what his plans are afterward?

I think being on network reined him in too much. He should be on HBO like Maher is where he can be fully uncensored and just let the kilt fly where it may.

[lindysalsagal]

144. You can already see the show: Celebrity Name Game

SFL-TV weeknights. Not half as good as his old show. But it's what he wanted.

[applegrove]

140. Barbara Frum on CBC Radio 'As It Happens' and CBC Tv's 'The Journal'

[Ampersand Unicode]

141. Surprised nobody mentioned these two

The original Tom Tomorrow and the one and only King Howard.

[bigwillq]

142. None that I can think of (nt)