Septemberbaby

Tom Snyder of 'Tomorrow Show' dies at 71


SAN FRANCISCO - Talk show host Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television, has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71.

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia, said his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz.

Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC's "The Tomorrow Show." Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s, then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night. He gained more fame when Dan Ackroyd lampooned him in the early days of Saturday Night Live.

In 1972, Snyder left news to host "The Tomorrow Show," which followed "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

His catch phrase for the show was: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air." Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.

In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder" on CBS. The program followed David Letterman's "Late Show" until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

"When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence," he wrote then. "Now, my doctors say it's treatable!"

wendersfan

Aw, man. I used to watch The Tomorrow Show every night when I was a kid.

RIP, Tom.

LorenzoL

RIP Tom.

JasonF

What a shame. I was too young to watch him on The Tomorrow Show, but I remember when he did the Late Late Show on CBS after Letterman -- great stuff. They broke the mold when they made Snyder -- he was a broadcasting great.

Shipwreck

I used to love his show when I was a kid and would watch it during the summer when I could stay up that late. He was very funny and an old school broadcaster. He would have interviews that never went anywhere and, since it was 1 o'clock in the morning when no one was watching, he would just give up and laugh it off. My favorite was when one of his guests didn't show up and he interviewed a cab driver. And the interview with Patti Smith (of the Patti Smith Group) who just hacked and coughed during the interview. When it was over Snyder just railed against her.

UAIOE

I watched Tom occasionally on "Late Late Show" and really really liked him on there.

I also picked up a few dirty jokes from his show and I still use them to this day.

RIP Tom.

bigjim25

I always remember that episode where Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on his show and left early after Tom kept on another guest longer than he should have and took part of Waylon's time up.

Jimmy James

Here's one last colortini for you, Tom.

Just Lurking

I remember staying up way too late to watch him as a kid.

Lokimok

West Coasters might want to tune into The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson tonight. Craig opened the show a la Tom & then devoted the last 5 minutes to clips of Tom when he hosted the show. I'd almost forgotten how funny he could be & it was neat to hear the live audience react to the clips. A pleasure to spend a few more minutes with my old pal Tom.

cracksky

All right, sir.

Giantrobo

Yeah I figured Craig would do something for Tom

My favorite memory of Tom was his interview with KISS.


"Mr Gene Simmons is the Bass(fish) player...er uhm I mean Bass player."


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shanester

I liked his new show. He had Dennis Miller on a few times those were funny interviews

Shipwreck

I know what you mean. He told a story about going to a bar and ordering a beer called a Greasy Dick. He said, "So you go in and ask for a Greasy Dick. And sometimes you got one and sometimes you didn't ... because they were sold out."

Also, he once introduced a guest this way (and I still laugh about it) "He walks! He talks! He crawls on his belly like a reptile!"

B5Erik

Lokimok

CBS has put up the Late Late Show clip if anyone wants to watch
http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/comedy/

JasonF

Lately, I've been poking around on YouTube watching Tom interview musicians. Giantrob linked to the KISS interview above, and here's Tom with the Clash:

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How come nobody's doing anything like this any more? Wouldn't you love to see some modern day Tom Snyder having a ten-minute conversation with Arcade Fire or the Killers or Jay-Z or whoever it is you listen to?

Sonny Corinthos

So did I. RIP Tom.

TGM

He has been, for the last 3 months.

rfduncan

One would THINK that some show on MTV would do that (like TRL?), but I'm sure that the younger viewing audience wouldn't give a rat's ass about seeing that. Every other news outlet would avoid the concept for fear of being accused of "dumbing down" the news even more than it already is when in fact it would be much more interesting than the likes of "The best (and worst) Halloween treats".