When Late Night started, we taped
several test show which were only shown around campus.
The First Show
April 15, 1988
Mike makes a hand gesture to
the audience
This was the start of the TCU Late
Night Era.
The first show was very sketchy. It
consist of a very simple set. A desk with two chairs, and a black
window frame in the back. We also used a door which was part of an
existing set that was left over from a TV project. We had live a band,
and Paul Waffer. There were no real guests on this show, only
students that were role playing. The show started with a monolog, and
then Mike talked to Paul about his weekend. There was a short sketch
with Mike playing one on one with two of TCU's basketball players
where Mike wins single-handedly. This later became known as Super
Mike. There was a Top Ten List and a Campus Quiz. Mike interviewed
Sherie-Gar (Terry Gar), Brynt Gumball (Brian Gumble), and the Campus
Newspaper Cartoonist, Todd Camp (also our head writer). There was
even a bit with toe truck driver named James the Drifter, who was
played by a student named Cliff Thompson. This was all taped in front
of an audience of about 20 students. The show was about 1 hour
long.
Mike removes Brynt Gumball's watch
The crew consisted of:
Producer - Andy Swift
Director - Christy Adair
Technical Director - John
Ryan
Floor Director - Christine
Johnson
P.R. Director - Khris Kesling
Head Writer - Todd Camp
After the first
show was taped, we showed it to the student body at a special showing
in the Student Center. The reaction was overwhelming, so we had two
encore showings for the students.
Everyone
had TCU Late Night Mania. We had a Campus Events Fair, where students
could sign up for special organizations around campus. We setup a
Late Night organization and had many students sign up. We had
students sigh up to be writers, set designers, and technitions. Late
Night was getting campus recognition. We even had write ups in the
campus paper.
The second show was taped in Tager
TV Studios, which was television facility designed to do business
presentations in. It was not a real studio, but the Radio/TV/Film
Dept would not let us tape the show in the main studio because they
had TV projects setup. That is why we called it the Shoe Box Show.
The second show was tapped during parents weekend, so the audience
consist of mostly parents. We managed to squeeze Paul and the band in
the studio. This show had no real guests except TCU's mascot, The
Horn Frog. Mike interviewed a mock Pat Sajak and Vanna White, and
there was a special appearance from the King (Elvis ?). There was
also a Super Mike segment which consist of Mike taking on the Mile
Relay Team (The Flying Frogs). This show was shorter than the first
and only lasted about 30 minutes. Since the studio was so small, some
of the audience members had to watch the taping from another room
which had television monitors of the show.
Mike and Paul talk to Kent about
the Shoe Box Studio.
Mike puts on the Horn Frog
head.
After the second show, Late Night
became even more popular. We designed a new set which was supposed to
be a backdrop of Dallas. It was better than just the window frame.
Our writer came up with better material, and we even designed a T -
Shirt.
The third show
was called the Christmas Special. It was taped infront of an audience
of about 100 students. This show was about an hour long and on it
Mike interviewed his Sociology Professor, Rudolf The Red Nose
Reindeer, George Washington, and Oprah (Actually a Drama Student who played Oprah). There was also an appearance
from Santa (A Larry Bud Mailman take off), a bit where Mike went to
visit the T- Shirt man, a Top Ten List and a Christmas Quiz. There
was also a special segment where Mike introduced a new line of
Christmas toys. The show ended with a pizza being delivered to the
studio.
This show was our biggest hit. It
was because of this show that we air nationally to over 42 states. We
even talked to the people from David Letterman's show, about doing a
possible parody skit for his viewer mail.
Then came the proposal. We had a
contact at KTVT, which was a Mini Superstation, in the
Dallas/Fortworth area. It reached over 42 states through it's cable
subscribers. KTVT saw the Christmas Special and loved it. We worked
out a proposal with them to produce seven 30 minute shows, which were
to air on Sundays at 11:00pm. There were a lot of preparations that
needed to be made before we signed a contract.
First we needed to incorporate
ourselves, so we would not have any legal problems. We hired an
Entertainment Lawyer to establish our company. We also had to find
sponsors, so we could pay for the shows. We decided to setup a
special problems class, so students that were involved could get
class credit.
