With all of these deaths today, where to start?

I'll start with Tom Snyder. Snyder was the host of the "Tomorrow" show on NBC during the seventies and if you were a night owl in those days, you were bound to watch his show. The format was great, it was smart TV, and the show remains one of my favorites. Just Tom, a guest and none of the trappings of the more traditional late night talk shows like Carson. Toward the end of his run on NBC, he had more musical guests on, which you can get on DVD (Iggy is there, too). U2 in 1981. Elvis Costello was another one who stood out. And the John Lydon guest spot remains a classic when Snyder told him, "It’s unfortunate that we are all out of step except for you."

What an intro he had,

“Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

Isn't that cool?

You could not help but notice four things off the bat while watching his show. One was that cigarette. You used to see the smoke just covering the set at times. His laugh, which was out of control most of the time, allowing for parody. He had a disarming habit of leaning towards his guest when he asked a question that might not be normally asked of a guest. And he would lose his train of thought every once in a while and then joke about it.

Sure he bounced around after "Tomorrow" on the radio, then CNBC and finally CBS. But the old shows remain the best. He's no Carson Daly and that's a good thing.

U2 on "Tomorrow"-1981

My God, are they young.



Meal of Links

The world of film lost a giant today with the passing of Ingmar Bergman. If Turner runs a retrospective, watch a bit of art.

The sponge is back! And the spongeworthy along with them.

Anthony Bourdain is back with "No Reservations" tonight on the Travel Channel. Must Eat TV.

Exercise Yard

Another loss today was that of Bill Walsh. The architect of the West Coast Offense was a true football genius. What else did he do? He was the first to recognize the importance of the left tackle on offense in his quest to stop Lawrence Taylor. Was a promoter of diversity on his coaching staff. He started to script plays at the beginning of each game. Thank God, Paul Brown, in one of his dumbest moves, named Tiger Johnson as his successor on the Cincinnati Bengals, instead of the heir apparent, Walsh. Who knows what would have happened to the Browns in those days?

All you need to do is look at the QBs that Walsh worked with to realize his genius. I'm not talking Joe Montana or Steve Young with the 49ers or Dan Fouts with the Chargers. Look at some of the quarterbacks he used early in his career or when Montana or Young were hurt and what they did in those seasons. My God, he had Virgil Carter at Cincinnati, a 62% passer in 1972. In 1979, Steve Deberg threw for 3600 yards for the 49ers for a team that won 2 games. Jeff Kemp, a guy run out of LA two years earlier, was a 60% passer in 1986 with Montana hurt. That is amazing.

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