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''The CBS Late Movie'' is a CBS television series (later known as ''CBS Late Night'') during the 1970s and 1980s. The program ran in most American television markets from 11:30 p.m. (EST) until 2:30 a.m. or later, on weeknights. A single announcer (in the early years, CBS staff announcer Norm Stevens) voiced the introduction and commercial bumpers for each program, but there was no host per se, or closing credits besides those of the night's presentation. (The bumpers announcing the stars of the movie notably rotated names, two or three at a time, so more of the players would be mentioned.) The program was launched following the cancellation of ''The Merv Griffin Show'', CBS's late-night talk show from 1969 to 1972. The show went on to have a long run in first-run syndication following CBS's cancellation. ''The CBS Late Movie'' theme music was "So Old, So Young" by Morton Stevens, which also served as the theme music for CBS's prime-time movies until 1978.〔(Dead Pictures: "ALL NIGHT TELEVISION: THE PICTURES IN MY HEAD", December 31, 2011. )〕 A memorable aspect to the show's commercial breaks was the frequent appearance of public service announcements, from the Ad Council and other organizations, that often dealt with "mature" topics such as venereal disease, sexual and violent crimes, and abuse of hard drugs. Announcements also ran in much greater proportion than during prime time, with commercial breaks lasting longer; it was not uncommon for the second portion of the show to start at 12:05AM or 12:40AM. The ''CBS Late Night'' block, however, was not always cleared by every affiliate of the network; in several markets, the block was either delayed by one hour from its regularly-scheduled time (most notably in the Central and Mountain time zones), picked up by a local independent station (including those that later affiliated with the Fox television network), or not seen at all in certain cities. Those stations that did not carry ''CBS Late Night'' instead broadcast movies from their own libraries and/or their own lineup of off-network syndicated sitcoms, drama reruns and first-run syndication products. A large factor in the programming decisions of many CBS affiliates electing not to clear ''CBS Late Night'' (or delaying it) was due to head-to-head competition with NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', and later entering the 1980s, ABC News' ''Nightline''. It was not until 1993, when the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' debuted, that CBS' late night programming (excluding ''Nightwatch/Up to the Minute'') was cleared across the entire network. ==Background== Until 1969, CBS programming had never ventured into the late hours. However, three years earlier, many of its affiliates, which were running old movies after nightly local newscasts, took notice of the dwindling stock of new films available for acquisition. In fact, a 1966 poll of CBS affiliates revealed that approximately 80% of local outlets were demanding the network "supply a late evening entertainment show Mondays through Fridays" to fill the growing void in newer films.〔Adams, Val. "CBS Considers Late Night Show: Shortage of Films May Spur Competition for 'Tonight'." ''New York Times''. (July 18, 1966): p. 55.〕 Thus, CBS tentatively targeted the spring of 1968 as the premiere date for a new network late-night series. But CBS spokesmen admitted they "did not know whether its show would be similar to others, but it () hopeful of devising something different" from the usual talk format exemplified by Johnny Carson's ''Tonight Show'' on NBC or Joey Bishop, who was about to bring his own brand of chat to ABC audiences.〔Adams, Val. "CBS to Develop 11:30 P.M. Entertainment Series." ''New York Times''. (January 12, 1967): p. 79.〕 In 1967, at its annual convention, CBS met with 750 affiliate executives and told them the network could provide a Carson-style late-night program by the following spring—but only if 85% of station-owners would commit to airing it. Otherwise, the financing required for such a production would prove cost-prohibitive. No official poll was taken among the executives, however, and this may have been due to the fact that in 1966, when a similar offer was dangled before affiliates, only 70% of CBS stations desired a late-evening talk show.〔Gent, George. "Channel 5 to Televise a Heart Operation June 25." ''New York Times''. (June 8, 1967): p. 95.〕 Yet in 1969, this is just what was offered to them—in the person of Merv Griffin. But despite his success as a syndicated TV phenomenon, Griffin's CBS ratings could never compete with Johnny Carson's consistently high audience numbers. And thus, in pulling the plug on Griffin in early 1972, CBS committed its late-night programming to classic feature films as well as the debut of more recent theatrical fare. This move proved an effective ploy because two months after ''The CBS Late Movie'' premiered, the Nielsen ratings recorded that it had drawn better audience numbers than ''The Tonight Show''.〔Gent, George. "CBS doubles late-night audience." ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times''. (April 23, 1972): Section H, p. 5.〕 One CBS executive had a simple explanation for this sudden (though short-lived) good fortune: "People just like to watch movies." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The CBS Late Movie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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