Word: cavett
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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STILL TRYING to cash in on the audience Johnny Carson attracts. ABC has put a new witty and charming host in the time slot opposite Carson. At first glance, the new Dick Cavett show seems to be just another Tonight Show imitation-like the Jocy Bishop show it replaced. But Dick Cavett's approach is somewhat different from Carson's. Unlike the often-famous Carson, Cavett encourages serious conversation on his show-Vietnam has been a key topic on several nights-and this alone may indicate that his show is not going to be another slick late-night confection...
Very much unlike Carson, Cavett allows his guests to speak for quite a long time-some as long as twenty minutes-so that they can express their views in depth. The content of each person's comments is highlighted by the fact that there are never more than four guests on each night, in contrast to the five or six who crowd the Carson stage on any given night...
...Although Cavett insists that his guests represent all political viewpoints, it is clear that most of the people on his show take a critical stance toward America. Last week, for instance, his guests included: Townsend H?opes, whose book. The Limits of Intervention, discusses the mistakes the government made which got us into Vietnam: Harvard's own George Wald and columnist Jimmy Breslin, both of whom have been outspoken (in different ways) about America's faults: and Jonathan Miller, one of whose topics was myths Americans have created about themselves. The only guest who came close to balancing...
...MOST serious fault of Cavett's show, unfortunately, is Cavett himself. He is charming-like Carson, boyishly charming-but he seems disappointingly simple-minded on his show. He may have gone to Yale, but he listens smilingly to what his guests say with an apparent naivete reminiscent of Carson's apparent naivete. He acts as if he is positively unaware of the meaning of what anyone is saying...
...phone rings at the Post. "Hey, man," says Von Hoffman gleefully. "The Today show just called and the Dick Cavett Show wants me. I'm getting famouser, and I can be just as cheap a celebrity as everyone else. Believe me, if I can do it, there isn't a kid in America who can't." And he laughs...