| ABC's Wide World of Entertainment | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Variety |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Paramount Television Columbia Pictures Television Time Life Television 20th Century Fox Television |
| Camera setup | 89 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | American Broadcasting Company |
| Release | January 8, 1973 (1973-1-8) – June 14, 1976 (1976-6-14) |
ABC's Wide World of Entertainment is alate night television block of programs created by theABC television network. It premiered on January 8, 1973, and ended three years later.[1] The title was based on the long-running broadcastABC's Wide World of Sports; there was also anABC's Wide World of Mystery broadcast from 1973 to 1978.
Unable to find a single talk show to compete withNBC's highly successfulThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the network aired a collection of comedy specials, documentaries, mystery movies, music concerts and talk shows with a variety of hosts.[2] Included in the broadcasts wereThe Dick Cavett Show,Jack Paar Tonite,Good Night America (anews magazine hosted byGeraldo Rivera), the live concert seriesIn Concert, the UK-originated anthology seriesThriller, andComedy News (a parody ofEyewitness News with an ensemble cast of comedians and satirists includingKenneth Mars,Marian Mercer,Robert Klein,Mort Sahl andDick Gregory).[3] Initially, Paar, Cavett, comedy specials and mystery movies were each given one week per month.
Two nights of music concerts, broadcast every other Friday on weeks where specials or movies were broadcast, completed the monthly schedule.[4] The 1975 and 1976 editions ofDick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve were also broadcast as "Wide World Specials".[5]
Monty Python's Flying Circus, the British comedy sketch television series, taped its last episode in December 1974 and was syndicated to Americanpublic broadcasting soon after. On October 3, 1975, ABC aired the first of two edited compilations of sketches from the series as one of itsWide World of Entertainment comedy specials. The Python group represented byTerry Gilliam, the group's only American-born member,sued ABC forcopyright infringement.[6]
On the March 6, 1975, edition ofGood Night America, Rivera had as his guestsassassination of John F. Kennedy researchersRobert J. Groden andDick Gregory, who presented the first-ever network television showing of theZapruder film. The public's response and outrage to that television showing quickly led to the forming of the Hart-Schweiker investigation, contributed to theChurch Committee Investigation on Intelligence Activities by the United States, and resulted in theUnited States House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation.[7]
The comedy and variety specials proved unpopular and, along with most talk shows, were dropped by the summer of 1974. They were replaced with reruns oftelevision films and the programming block was re-titledABC Late Night on January 12, 1976. In addition to movies (which were seen under theABC Movie of the Week banner), the network aired a variety of prime-time series reruns includingPolice Woman,Mannix,Starsky & Hutch,Soap,Barney Miller,Charlie's Angels andFantasy Island, with the only first-run programming a series of specials hosted by Geraldo Rivera and the sketch comedy seriesFridays. However, not all programs were carried by all affiliates.ABC Late Night ended on October 22, 1982, being replaced with the talk showThe Last Word on October 26.The Last Word last aired on April 22, 1983, replaced the following Monday byOne On One hosted byThe Last Word host Greg Jackson.One On One was canceled in July 1983, leaving ABC without regular late-night network programming—aside fromNightline and a short-lived block in the fall of 1986 featuring a revival of theDick Cavett Show alternating with an interview show hosted byJimmy Breslin—until January 6, 1992, whenWorld News Now was launched.