The Dick Cavett Show

I remember being a kid and how ABC, which was our “channel 2,” never came in clearly. The picture was snowy, but I still recall catching glimpses of The Dick Cavett Show. Of course, I also remember Johnny Carson—he and Cavett were the two big talk show hosts of the time. While it might be sacrilegious to say, I always favored Cavett over Carson. Even as a kid, Cavett seemed more interesting.

The Dick Cavett Show on ABC was a smart alternative to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Cavett frequently booked intellectuals and gave them time for extended, in-depth conversations. You truly got to know his guests—he took more than 10 minutes, unlike the rushed format of today. There were no distractions, no flashy sets, just meaningful conversations. That was the key: Cavett didn’t just interview his guests… he had real conversations with them. No gimmicky skits, just an authentic exchange.

Cavett had his critics. Some called him a snob, a name-dropper, or too controversial. All three were true—and I loved it. Yes, he went to Yale, and yes, he dropped names. But honestly, if I’d spent time with people like Groucho Marx, I’d name-drop too. Cavett’s guest list was legendary: John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and so many more. He embraced the counterculture, but he also joked about the counterculture, staying balanced in his approach. In modern times, Conan O’Brien and David Letterman came closest to that spirit…and Charlie Rose as far as having conversations. 

One of Cavett’s trademarks was his unique mix of guests. Where else would you see Janis Joplin, Raquel Welch, and Gloria Swanson sharing the same stage? His early 1970s ABC show was the pinnacle of his career. When he booked a rare or special guest, he often dedicated the entire episode to them. Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn each had an entire show to themselves. Can you imagine that happening today? Is it because today’s stars aren’t as compelling, or has the audience’s attention span shrunk too much to appreciate such depth?

Cavett also thrived on risk. He hosted Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal, who famously clashed, and another episode featured Salvador Dalí, Lillian Gish, and Satchel Paige. These combinations were bold, and they worked. Even Johnny Carson admitted that Cavett was the only talk show host who could’ve seriously challenged him, though ABC’s third-place standing in the network race kept Cavett from overtaking Carson’s dominance.

This isn’t a knock on Johnny at all—his show set the blueprint for today’s talk shows. But Cavett offered something different: a smarter, more thoughtful experience. Watching his episodes now feels like opening a time capsule. While some moments are tied to their time, much of it remains timeless. Hearing from legends like Marlon Brando and Katharine Hepburn, who rarely did talk shows, is especially fascinating.

It wasn’t one of those “Hi, my name is Miss/Mr. So-and-So, my favorite color is blue, and goodbye until next time I have something to promote” situations. With Dick Cavett, you really got to know the person. He had a knack for drawing out something truly interesting. My favorite interview is the one with George Harrison. It didn’t seem promising at first—George wasn’t particularly eager to be on any show at the time—but Dick managed to get him to open up. You could see Cavett’s relief when George finally warmed up. This interview, which came right after John and Yoko’s appearance, turned out to be one of George’s best.

Here are some YouTube comments for these older talk shows:

I’m amazed when I go back and watch interviews from older talk shows, because it’s more quiet and the celebrity hosts and celebrity guests actually engage in authentic conversation with pure respect.

Jimmy Fallon should watch this video. No stupid laughing constantly, no sound effects and no fake laughter from the host. Just a meaningful conversation

Man no wonder podcasts have taken over. This interview was far more interesting and informative than any late night tv interview we get these days.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

46 thoughts on “The Dick Cavett Show”

    1. I have them on DVDs…one of the best collections I ever got. You really get to know people much more with him. Back then though the audience had a larger attention span. Glad you enjoyed them Jim!

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  3. I have seen a number of clips of his shows and I used to watch occasionally when it aired on PBS. He was a brilliant guy and had a unique ability no doubt. That Vidal VS Mailer is priceless. Janet Flanner got some zingers in there as well as she was more than an intellectual match for them all.

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    1. Yes she was! My favorite one other than the Harrison one is when Gloria Swanson, Janis Joplin, and Raquel Welch was on there. What a mix! He could mix people well. Thanks for reading Randy.

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    1. Oh yea…like the band Men At Work….I should ahve liked them…they weren’t heavy in that big production I didn’t like in the 80s…but I just never connected with them…so I get it

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  5. at that time, up here in the GREAT white north we couldn’t watch either live…I don’t think any of my friends had cable until into the 70s or later…but I was aware of Cavett and Carson, I always felt Carson was for older people, more 1950s than the 1960s…….I think the first time I caught Cavett was on a Woody Allen movie?…..but in hindsight he was of the time…..the saddest story – I don’t know if it was absolutely true – but that no one showed up for Carson’s funeral…thinking about all those that got their start on that era of the Tonight Show..

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    1. Yea I think I might have heard that myself…I’m not sure if it was true or not.
      Oh we didn’t get cable until the 80s…but this was on one of our three networks we got at the time. Did you guys get Walter Cronkite on CBS?

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    1. Oh yes…Christian….that is the BEST interview of George I think I’ve ever seen. He talks about heroin addiction and other things…when you get a chance watch it.

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    1. Yea some called him a snob or name dropper…don’t care….he had conversations rather than the modern quick interview…plus his tastes in guests were great.

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  10. YAY Geo first! I see what you mean about in-depth interviewing. Dick got a little flippant along the way and that was irritating! I will try to come back and watch the others. Not sure if you know that once in awhile Colbert does those in-depth interviews (he did one with Barbra Streisand and one of the big directors forgot who. Colbert is excellent at it but for the most part they corral the late night talk show hosts into a format that people are comfortable with but often don’t get much out of. Jon Stewart has in-depth also but he’s only on one night a week. Wasn’t Cavett daytime TV?

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    1. Jon Stewart I’ve seen do it…Charlie Rose…is he still on? Hell is he still alive?
      Cavett said he was scared to death with George. George was not known to open up and talk much and someone told Cavett to warn him about George. Of course he opened up and it was great. It’s my favorite interview with him. I put him on here because of you…plus I like it as well. John was on there as well.

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      5. Ooh! I bet it is totally unavailable 😦 I know I watched some doc where Ravi was teaching George “that instrument” forgot the name dang you know the one. Sitar? I wonder if that was it. Totally can’t remember. Or maybe I just dreamed it…

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  11. Pingback: The Dick Cavett Show – MobsterTiger

  12. Max, another great post. During high school, late 60s, I would watch Carson with my father. He and I, in front of the tv, sometimes sharing a scotch. If Carson was dull, we would switch to Cavett. Some of the best interviews to be had. I remember the day after Woodstock and Cavett had some of the acts on his show performing live, that was a game changer. Joni Mitchell missed Woodstock and you could see the angst in her face as the other folks talked of the ethereal experience. Cavett smacked her around for missing out on such an event. Carson was my parents generation, Cavett was the 60s teens guy. Fallon and the others are insufferable to watch compared to Cavett and Carson. Who knew that tv would turn into what we have today. At least we have Youtube to watch the classic good stuff. Remember Joey Bishop? He had a good show for a while. The forerunner to all of them was Steve Allen and Ernie Kovaks.

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    1. I missed Joey Bishop…I’ll look some of his shows up. I have seen Ernie Kovacs and Steve Allen before…both I really like…especially Kovaks.
      I was too young to really know what was going on but later I saw….he had guests that Carson would NEVER have. I liked Carson but Cavett’s conversations won me over later on when I had access to both.

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  13. I liked the Dick Cavett Show, it was broadcast in the UK in the early 70’s for a while is my memory of it (though he might have done a UK version, I’m not sure), while we never got Johnny Carson and other famous chatshow hosts Cavett was better known and seemed a bit more cool and contemporary than the rest.

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    1. He was more cool…I totally agree with you. He would evenly hand it out to both sides of the political spectrum…that is why I liked him. He was fair.

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  14. I liked that Cavett was such a nerd and sometimes played that up. When he had the Jefferson Airplane on the day after Woodstock he was almost painfully unhip…but Grace Slick sang “up against the wall motherfucker” on national TV; while Mick Jagger sang “let’s spend some time together” on Ed Sullivan because spending the night was too salacious.

    And Harrison talking about his own composing: “It’s not really music you know”. (Comparing himself to orchestral/classical composers.)

    I had to go find the YouTube of his performance with Gary Wright. His tone and phrasing on slide is unmistakeable. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard someone comping in the background on slide for so long.

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    1. Why I liked him at an early age I don’t know…but something clicked…he was a nerd you are right. Then he dated Janis Joplin for a while…that must have been an eye opener for him.
      That is my favorite Harrison interview by far.

      Thanks…I forgot about Wright playing and George backing him up on that show.

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  15. sounds like it would have been well worth watching most of the time. You raise a few very good questions. For one, I’d answer that our attention spans now as a population are that of a hyper caffeinated weasel. Most people couldn’t sit and watch a full hour interview (even if it was 45 minutes after the opening and with commercials deducted) with anyone . That’s not the Tik Tok way. And as to stars, hmm, got me thinking, I don’t know that Marlon Brando or Katherine H were THAT big – they were stars indeed and well-known, but to me not sort of John Wayne/MArilyn Monroe level icons that people have on t-shirts – but anyway, today there don’t seem to be that many high level stars. Those that perhaps are, are aging and might be yesterday’s news – Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep. Same goes for music – Taylor Swift is a household name, granted, but after her, who? Most of the pop or hiphop stars have careers lasting three or four years. Where’s the new Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton, let alone Beatles that will have careers in decades and be literally instantly-recognizable?
    The only person doing anything remotely close to what you’re talking about, as far as I know, is DAvid Letterman on his Netflix show, where he more or less does talk to one guest for the hour and goes deeper than ‘hey, let’s role that clip of the funny puke scene from your new movie’. Most of the ones he’s done on that platform have been interesting, as was his U2 interview/documentary.

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    1. Dave you gave me a new phrase! “hyper caffeinated weasel”…perfect!
      Star levels have gone down. At the time Dave…Brando was huge…mainly because he just won an award and sent a native American girl to either accept or deny the award as a protest. It didn’t go over well. Katherine H….I think she would be a DeNiro type person now. Not in her prime but still famous.
      It’s the mix I like…I mean come on…Janis, Swanson, and Welch? That is awesome!

      I need to watch the Letterman show then…I didn’t know that…I’ll check it out.
      The set as well…was a plain white set…so you would actually listen. That makes a difference as well.
      Yep…there are no stars like that anymore. I think also because of social media…they are more known as regular people now because of the constant X posts or whatever. Back then you didn’t see the stars as much.

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      1. yeah, when everyone’s a star, is anyone really a star? I mean even the ones that star in the big bonanza superhero movies seem to come and go and aren’t exactly household names – not like even in the ’80s or ’90s when everyone knew Hanks, Denzel, TV stars like Cosby (many now wish they didn’t), Mary Tyler Moore a bit before and so on.
        Letterman still has a bit of his usual jokesterism on the new show but for the most part he plays it straight and gets to know the people much more than he ever would have had a chance on his network show or Fallon would now.
        My buddy David Marsden always talks about ‘free form radio’ (I know others do too), basically playing anything you feel like that sounds good, regardless of play lists and programmers genres. I have often thought a talk show like that would be good. You could do what you’re talking about, have one guest on and do a serious hour interview with them, or you could have a musical act and let them basically play a whole concert instead of one four minute song, or have five or six stars on together… anything. Hell, even bring on a couple of people from outside – the gal at the convenience store, the valet parking guy , have them on for ten minutes and find out what makes them interesting (obviously a LITTLE pre-screening would be beneficial there). People wouldn’t know what to expect. It wouldn’t be a ratings HIT but these days, with so many channels and streaming services, it wouldn’t have to be. You might have 100 000 loyal viewers who watched each and every episode and it could be a success

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      2. I agree…a YouTube show should do that. Get everyday people in and let them have their 15 minutes as well. If you mixed the famous guests with the everyday people…you might get better ratings than you think.
        You are right…everyone is a star now…it’s not special anymore.
        I do love the free form idea and those days…just play what you like and other people will most likely like it as well.

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  16. Thanks for the great tapes! Now that I’ve watched them all, they are a great selection! Mailer was clearly an ass and maybe not the intellectual giant he wants to be, while Cavett wisely sat back and let it happen. Harrison was quick-witted. Brando both subverted the genre and moved it forward. About ½ hour in it gets pretty deep about the nature of acting and the roles we play while calling it our self. And since I my Viet Nam history class just talked of the 101st Airborne yesterday, that casts Jimi Hendrix in a different light. And his description of his rendition of the national anthem – “I’m an American, so I played it…It wasn’t unorthodox.”

    It struck me that Cavett sits in a chair with his guests rather than hiding behind a desk like most talk show hosts. It adds a vulnerability and an equality. It becomes a conversation, not an interview that he necessarily controls.

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  17. To me, Cavett allowed us to get to know more of the real person behind the celebrity. My grandma watched Carson every night in bed, so many nights I would fall asleep listening to his voice and theme song! But, as I got older, I would sit and watch Cavett. Great post and videos picks, Max!

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  18. I remember Cavett being on occasionally at the time at my house, but being so young at the time, I wouldn’t have grasped much. I’ve since watched a lot on YouTube and his later shows. Have considered getting the DVDS several times. I’ve heard him referred to as arrogant (my late ex-brother-in-law), but I think he is just himself: intelligent, witty, nerdy and not afraid to be. My mother never liked Johnny Carson for some reason. I think it was his personality, so I only saw him if I was at my aunt and uncle’s house. I remember Joey Bishop having a show vaguely, as someone mentioned.

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    1. Like you said…Cavett was just Cavett. He was a name dropper but I would be as well.
      Carson said that Cavett was the only talk show host he was afraid of as far as ratings…but Cavett was on ABC so they couldn’t compete.
      The key to him was they had conversations instead of interviews.

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