Tom Snyder

Unscripted and unplugged, late-night talk show host Tom Snyder never tried to get any of his guests to cry on camera. Nor did he ever feign empathy or back away from an argument. If anything, the chain-smoking host of "Tomorrow" (NBC, 1973-1982) and "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder" (CBS, 1995-99) thrived on sparring verbally with his guests, who ran the gamut from Howard Cosell to Jimmy Hoffa to John Lennon. For the night owls and insomniacs who tuned into Snyder's network talk shows, the rewards were broadcast television at its most intimate and unpredictable. When Snyder told "Tomorrow" viewers to "fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and then watch the pictures now, as they fly through the air," they might see Muhammad Ali telling Snyder, "If I had a lower IQ, I could enjoy this interview." Or be treated to the spectacle of Wendy O. Williams, lead singer of the 1980s-era punk rock group The Plasmatics, blowing up a car onstage. Whether he interviewed heads of state or just plain head cases, like Charles Manson, Snyder did not shrink from expressing his opinions - nor bursting into his signature guffaw, which Dan Aykroyd imitated to merciless perfection on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) throughout his run on the late night sketch comedy.