The Joey Bishop Show (talk show)

For the NBC/CBS sitcom of the same name, see The Joey Bishop Show (TV series).

The Joey Bishop Show
Bishop with guest Danny Thomas and sidekick Regis Philbin, 1967
GenreTalk show
Presented byJoey Bishop
Regis Philbin (sidekick)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes640
Production
ProducersErnest Chambers
Myles Harmon
Production locations
Running time90 mins.
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseApril 17, 1967 (1967-04-17)[1] –
December 26, 1969 (1969-12-26)[1]
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Joey Bishop Show is an American talk show that had its first broadcast on ABC on April 17, 1967,[2] hosted by Joey Bishop and featuring Regis Philbin in his first ongoing role with national television exposure, as Bishop's sidekick/announcer. Created to challenge The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the show lasted 33 months, with the last show airing on December 26, 1969.

Bishop was part of the legendary 1960s entertainment phenomenon "the Rat Pack", and other members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford occasionally appeared on his show, sometimes as unbilled surprises, though Frank Sinatra never did.

Famously, sidekick/announcer Regis Philbin walked off the program as a result of the continuous drubbing he had been receiving from critics, stating that the network never wanted him and he feared that he was injuring the series,[3] but he soon returned. This proved to be one of the few installments of the series to top The Tonight Show in the ratings. In 2011, Philbin revealed that Bishop had conceived the walk-off as a stunt.[4]

The show was created to challenge The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which Bishop frequently guest hosted in its early seasons. Unable to attract high ratings, the show was cancelled after two seasons.[5] The program was shown five nights a week, Monday through Friday, with Carson as competition on NBC and, briefly, The Las Vegas Show hosted by Bill Dana on the short-lived U/United Network, and Merv Griffin also hosting a talk show on CBS, all in the same time slot, from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am. Jack Paar appeared on one of the early broadcasts as a kind of co-host as a favor to Bishop.[6]

The show ended on December 26, 1969, with Bishop leaving after his monologue, declaring that this was the last show. Philbin was left to finish the final episode. The time slot was filled by The Dick Cavett Show.[7] Within two years, Bishop was once again a regular guest host on The Tonight Show.

  1. ^ a b Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (October 16, 2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Severo, Richard (October 19, 2007). "Joey Bishop, 'Rat Pack' Comic, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  3. ^ Tracy, Kathleen (December 2000). Regis!: The Unauthorized Biography. ECW Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-55022-439-9. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  4. ^ Ho, Rodney (November 16, 2011). "Regis Philbin: this isn't the last you've seen of me!". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011.
  5. ^ "Joey Bishop Dead At 89". Showbuzz. CBS. October 18, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  6. ^ Philbin, Regis (November 15, 2011). How I Got This Way. HarperCollins. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-06-210977-4. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Tracy, Kathleen (December 2000). Regis!: The Unauthorized Biography. ECW Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-55022-439-9. Retrieved September 13, 2011.