October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

This broadcast featured a visit to Elysium Fields Institute Camp for nudists.

The Tomorrow Show was a late-night talk show hosted by brash newsman Tom Snyder which aired at 1:00 AM following The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Mondays through Thursdays (or, to be more exact, early morning Tuesdays through Fridays).

In a studio devoid of all glitz the often chain-smoking host interviewed some of the most famous and interesting people of the 20th century (and just as many fools). Snyder never seemed to fear coming off as corny or even factually inept, which led to some great questions. He could also be sweet one moment and relentlessly probing the next.

Topics covered ranged from nudism (including a remote pickup at a California nudist colony) to discussions with draft dodgers living in Canada, to all aspects of changing American lifestyles with a panel of psychologists.

Tomorrow was originally produced in Los Angeles, where Snyder worked as an anchorman on the local KNBC-TV news.

When the show first aired there was no studio audience at the taping, a situation that changed in less than four months. After an audience had been added, Snyder would often invite its members to ask questions of his guests.

When his local news anchor duties shifted to New York in December 1974, The Tomorrow Show went with him broadcasting his first Tomorrow show from New York on December 2nd.

On June 6,1977, Tom and the show returned to California, only to come back again to again broadcast from New York, beginning June 18, 1979, when Snyder became host of the newsmagazine Prime Time Sunday premiering  June 24, 1979, Changing its title and time slot to Prime Time Saturday in December 1979 and concluding as a series a little more than a year when it began,  on July 5 1980. 

On September 16, 1980 The Tomorrow Show expanded from an hour to 90 minutes, as part of a general restructuring of NBC’s late-night lineup. With an extra half-hour to fill, the Tomorrow staff was expanded and two new on-air personalities were added, Nancy Friday and Rona Barrett, and contemporary musical guests performed on most telecasts.

In February 1982, NBC replaced the show with Late Night with David Letterman.

Although eventually best known for hosting writers, authors, film directors, actors, musicians, etc. for in-depth conversations, on most nights during its first year on the air Tomorrow assumed the framing of a news program with newsmagazine-type generalized panel discussions focused around a single social/lifestyle issue or otherwise interesting topic. These included illegitimate children, UFO sightings, suicide, male prostitution, pickup artists, child abuse, race and intelligence, film censorship, bisexuality, witchcraft, Vietnamese orphans fathered by U.S. soldiers, consumerism, lives of single persons, exorcism, police brutality, transsexuals, Bermuda Triangle, gambling, Catholicism in U.S. society, professional team sports, teenage alcoholism, weekly newspapers, trucking, rape, ageing, crime, divorce, cosmetic surgery, etc. as well as on-location shows featuring Snyder's reportages from the Elysium Fields Institute nudist colony in Topanga, California and Tennessee State Penitentiary. It also hosted somewhat unusual and atypical guests for the corporate-owned nationally-televised U.S. network talk-shows such as sixteen-year-old spiritual leader Guru Maharaj Ji, authoritative Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, Playgirl editor Marin Milan, actress Sue Lyon who had just married an imprisoned convict, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana David Duke, etc. According to Tomorrow associate producer Sonny Fox, the decision to often go after the unconventional, even bordering on bizarre, content was made in part due to the 1 a.m. time slot—with the show's producers feeling that the audience staying up that late would be receptive to a slightly odd subject matter; the decision also had to do with the strict guidelines set by Carson's Tonight Show whose host and producers wanted to ensure that newly-launched Tomorrow had no overlap with their show, limiting its showbiz-adjacent pool of guests to those Carson was not interested in hosting.    

NOTE:
  Wiping, is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and kinescopes, were erased and reused, or destroyed. Although the practice was once very common, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, wiping programing was for the most part discontinued after1980 by all three networks (CBS -1972,  ABC - 1978, NBC- 1980). 

Prior to 1978 a great percentage of Tomorrow Shows were wiped by NBC. Currently extant are only forty three 1973-1977 broadcasts  which are archived by  NBC and Getty. A few dozen bootleg copies have been uploaded to you tube. And there have been three DVD collections of musical guests distributed commercially by The Shout Factory. The rest representing The Tomorrow Show's first  four plus years of broadcasting have been erased, and no longer exit in any broadcast form.  

Older video and audio formats were both much more expensive (relative to the amount of material that could be stored) and took up much more storage space than modern digital video or audio files, making their retention more costly, and there was more incentive to recycle the media for reuse. A 2" quadraplex one hour video tape weighed 13 pounds and cost $500 in 1960 which is the equivalent of $5,000 today.       

NOTE: 

Snyder was one of a kind in TV
Daily News
PUBLISHED: August 1, 2007 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 29, 2017 at 2:16 a.m.
Categories: News

THE soothing strains of Bob Dylan’s “Lay, Lady, Lay” softly opened the show. The camera panned up from a teddy bear to the face of Tom Snyder sitting in a dimly lit studio.

No band, no monologue, no studio audience, no sidekick, no nothing. “Tomorrow” was a sort of late-night afterthought for insomniacs.

In the pre-cable landscape of 1973, 1 a.m. was not even considered a viable time slot. The only other viewing options at that time of night were a test pattern, a late, late movie and possibly a “McCloud” rerun. “Tomorrow” was the equivalent of the graveyard shift for a radio DJ – informal, even a little experimental.


Tom Snyder was perfect for it. Not a slick bone in his body. Snyder was smart, funny, a bit profane, good looking but nothing crazy. He smoked, he tended to babble, and he laughed a little too loud at his own jokes. “Tomorrow” was the first and only show I ever saw in which you could actually hear the crew laughing at the jokes.

And it kind of worked. Snyder would usually open the show with a laid-back chat about whatever was on his mind, and then he would bring on a guest and talk at length. And I mean at length. None of this eight minutes, plug your (book, movie, TV show, album), then move down the couch. No, people actually talked to Tom Snyder.

The show could never happen today; it was made for a different attention span. The dead-end time slot allowed for guests who were downright weird.


Weirdest among them, though not by much, was Snyder’s interview with cult killer Charles Manson. At times Snyder got visibly angry at Manson’s rants and admonished, “Get off the space shuttle, Charlie!”

Tom Snyder interviewed everyone from John Lennon to Larry Flynt. When mainstream shows shied away from the emerging punk-rock craze, Snyder fearlessly talked with Johnny Rotten, The Clash and Wendy O. Williams. (O. Williams even exploded a TV set and destroyed a car on the show.)

Snyder’s distinctive laugh and mannerisms led to Dan Ackroyd’s brilliant impersonation of him. When Snyder saw his mirror image in jest, he howled with laughter.
                                   
NOTE: This November 20, 1973 air check is the oldest complete surviving example (broadcast in any form) of a Tomorrow Show). There does exist a five minute audio air check from the pilot program, never broadcast, which is contained in the ATA archives.                                         

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

 Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.  An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder.  

  This broadcast was taped in Southeast Asia Viet Nam. It is  joined in progress and features a visit to an American-run orphanage, caring for 50 babies, in Saigon run by Diane and Tom Palmary...Mike Nikkei who runs an organization searching for 1,300 American MIA soldiers...Robert Channers who runs a children's services in Viet Nam providing adoptions of South Vietnamese children for U.S. parents, and Dick Hughes, living in Vietnam since the 1960's providing programs such as "Shoe Shine Foundation" "Training Centers" for Honda motor scooter repairs, and "Homes for Young Men," to those young Vietnamese who have no formal education, and are relegated to living by begging in the streets.   
                     

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 
A second broadcast about Old Time Radio. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.             

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980. 

Governor Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan are guests. Many  topics are discussed with Tom Snyder, including how the GOP will be run in the future, Nancy's influence on her husband not to run for a third term as Governor of California, her thoughts on a presidential run, the Nelson Rockefeller affair, their current relationship with Pat and Richard Nixon, coping with expectations, controversy over one year not paying any State income tax, memories of calling football games on the radio, fear of flying, and views on current types of motion pictures being produced today as opposed to those films made during the Golden Age of Motion Pictures. 

Complete with commercials including a spot related to the NBC fall line-up of game shows on the network and James Garner on the gasoline shortage.             

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

This broadcast featured a discussion on the record industry. 

Broadcast from a recording studio in the heart of Los Angeles, Tom's guests are Jerry Morse co-founder with Herb Alpert of A&M Records, Ben Fong-Torres, senior editor and reporter of Rolling Stones magazine, David Crosby,  member musician of Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, and a representative  publicist and public trustee of the Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Awards).  

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.             

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. This was the final program broadcast from Burbank, California. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.  

 On this final program marking the "Tomorrow" show's final airing from Burbank, California, after its debut thirteen and half months ago (October 15, 1973), it moves to a New York City studio, with its producer and director Joel Tator. 

Snyder's guest is Johnny Carson, host of "The Tonight Show," with which "Tomorrow" shares a soundstage. Carson discusses many topics, among others: his apprehension about succeeding famed host Jack Paar, October 1, 1962, and his projection that he will move on from the Tonight Show in possibly five years. 

At the end of the broadcast Tom Snyder thanks his behind the scenes crew and during credits roll we hear the complete Beatles rendition of "The Long and Winding Road."

Includes commercials.                             

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. This broadcast featured a discussion about the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.

Allard Lowenstein, former N.Y.S. congressman discusses his current doubts that Sirhan Sirhan was the lone assassin of Senator Robert Kennedy. Lowenstein, himself, was assassinated on March 14, 1980...the last former or current United States congressman, to date, to be murdered. 

NOTE: This was the 250th broadcast of THE TOMORROW SHOW.            

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.

"Mugging" - Its effect on the victim as well as the perpetrator  is the theme of the show.
 Tom Synder states that in New York City there is a victim of a crime on any given day effecting one in 35 people living in NYC.  
Guests include Jim Willwerth, author of "Jones: Portrait of A Mugger."  Also appearing is  psychotherapist, Louise Cooper. In the studio Snyder discusses mugging techniques with two muggers Bobby Smith, and Raymond Johnson. Via a remote unit in Bryant Park two third street crime detectives discuss the use of decoys to catch muggers in the act.          

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

This broadcast features a discussion on how to give a Hollywood party. 

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980. 

Originally, telecast in late January 1974,  Tom Snyder plays host, on location, to four different party entrepreneur  experts in their field.
Edie Steinmetz known as the "Dove Lady," provides doves at parities. 

Harry Finely is discusses the variety of elaborate flowers
used at a Hollywood Party which can cost up to $30,000...as seen at the wedding of Kathy and Dean Martin. Other celebrities Harry has had as clients include Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and  Kirk Douglas. 

Phil Scully known as the "Chef To The Stars" discusses with Tom, a personal friend, the "Queen Mary Buffet," and mentions  favorite foods requested by  past clients, Barbra Streisand, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Elizabeth Taylor. 

Marcia  Lehr joins Tom discussing her exquisite elaborate invitations she creates by hand and silk screen. Her clients include Del Webb, Buddy Hackett, Berry Gordy, and Sammy Davis Jr.
  
And Bernie Richards rounds out the party who provides music for all festive occasions. He mentions to Snyder a number of funny anecdotes he has experienced and the types of music currently requested today. 

Commercials included in this program. They include Dick Van Dyke and  Bill Cosby speaking for the Red Cross, Vikki Carr for Christmas Seals, and Johnny Carson discussing the importance of doctor checkups for high blood pressure. 

NOTE: One of the earliest original TOMORROW SHOW complete broadcasts extant in any broadcast form, originally televised, January 1974.
.                                       

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982.
 
This program is a repeat of the live broadcast aired the night of the 26th Emmy Awards, May 28, 1974. 
Tom Snyder introduces the show telling his audience that the show is a repeat, and that when it was aired live he did not know that there would be surprises unknown to him (Flip Wilson presents the Emmy Award to Snyder who won earlier that night for Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement). Wilson states that Tom Snyder is a "People Star."  

This broadcast featured many anecdotal remembrances related to live television and personal experiences in the past by its four guests, Steve Allen, John Rich, Ralph Edwards and Buffalo Bob Smith. Each gives their opinion if the Golden Age of Television was superior to television of today. 

Also discussed are the Emmy Awards presented earlier that evening, which ran long resulting in the Tomorrow Show airing live beginning at 1:30am. All on the panel including Tom Snyder considered the Emmy Awards broadcast boring, each stating their reasons. 

One of the outstanding examples of why The Tomorrow Show hosted by Tom Snyder was so popular to late night audiences of the time.

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.

NOTE: Originally broadcast Live on May 28, 1974. After its re-run the tape was not used again and is considered lost.                                        

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

On this TOMORROW SHOW broadcast, Tom Snyder interviews filmmaker producer/director and prolific actor Orson Welles. Welles discusses and relates many anecdotes including why he no longer lives in the United States; his outsider status with regard to the Hollywood establishment; why he is hated by some people; his career as a film director; the effect his panic-inducing radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" in 1938 had on his ratings; the events that occurred that evening and the consequences of the broadcast; his experiences on radio; his career as an actor; why he demanded so much control over his movies; his lack of great wealth; his personal religious philosophy; his views on the future of humanity; his ideas about life after death; his relationship with Houdini; his childhood; his regrets; and what he does for fun. 

NOTE: This broadcast is complete. Complete interview recorded without inclusion of commercials. This broadcast followed the 47th annual Academy Awards aired live from 10pm EST to 12:50am (April 9), pre-empting The Tonight Show and pushing back the beginning of The Tomorrow Show this evening, beginning at approximately !2:50am. One minute after the introduction of Orson Welles by Tom Snyder a network audible BEEP is heard indicating 1:00am EST. 

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.   


NOTE: Occasionally, THE TOMORROW SHOW would broadcast LIVE, as this program was, telecast at 12:50 am, April 9, 1975, following the Academy Awards presentation on NBC. 

Host: Tom Snyder                                                                                                                  

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

On this TOMORROW SHOW broadcast, Tom Snyder interviews filmmaker producer/director and prolific actor Orson Welles. Welles discusses and relates many anecdotes including why he no longer lives in the United States; his outsider status with regard to the Hollywood establishment; why he is hated by some people; his career as a film director; the effect his panic-inducing radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" in 1938 had on his ratings; the events that occurred that evening and the consequences of the broadcast; his experiences on radio; his career as an actor; why he demanded so much control over his movies; his lack of great wealth; his personal religious philosophy; his views on the future of humanity; his ideas about life after death; his relationship with Houdini; his childhood; his regrets; and what he does for fun. 

NOTE: This broadcast is not complete. Joined in progress, with introduction of Orson Welles. Complete interview recorded without inclusion of commercials. This broadcast followed the 47th annual Academy Awards aired live from 10pm EST to 12:50am (April 9), pre-empting The Tonight Show and pushing back the beginning of The Tomorrow Show this evening, beginning at approximately !2:50am. One minute after the introduction of Orson Welles by Tom Snyder a network audible BEEP is heard indicating 1:00am EST. 

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.   


NOTE: Occasionally, THE TOMORROW SHOW would broadcast LIVE, as this program was, telecast at 12:50 am, April 9, 1975, following the Academy Awards presentation on NBC. 

Host: Tom Snyder                                                                                                     

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.   

Guest John Lennon discusses his fight to become a United States citizen with host Tom Snyder.

Host: Tom Snyder                       

October 15, 1973-January 28, 1982. 

This was the "Independence Day Special Program," a six hour salute to the Fourth of July, telecast live July 4th .from 1am to 7am EST. 

THIS ARCHIVED AUDIO AIR CHECK IS INCOMPLETE COVERING three hours, 1:30AM TO 4:30AM with original commercials.  

Locales range from London to Las Vegas and with topics spanning politics, health,  ecology, the economy and the arts. This ambitious program is mostly concerned with examining the state of the Nation today and according to producer Joel Tator, "where it's heading in the near future." 

Scheduled at 3 A.M., American traditions are examined. In Atlanta we look at preparations for the city's Independence Day parade; and in Baltimore at 4 A.M., a reenactment of the British shelling of Fort McHenry in 1814, when Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" which, in 1931, became the national anthem. 

From New York, host Tom Snyder is scheduled to interview tourists in Las Vegas, young people at Harvard and a family of expatriates in London. 

Studio guests include Jimmy Breslin, Wernher von Braun, and others.
 
NOTE:
There is a slight broadcast buzz on this audio air check. Otherwise  the audio plays back very audibly. 

An hour-long talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. Network television's first entry into late-late-night programming on weeknights Monday thru Thursday, usually broadcasting on tape 1 AM to 2 AM. "Tomorrow" was expanded to 90 minutes on September 16, 1980.