The Wilton North Report

"The Wilton North Report" was the Fox Broadcasting Company's second attempt at a regular late night show, replacing "The Late Show".

As first conceived, Wilton North's opening segment, which was planned to be its signature segment, would review the day's news, using actual footage, and comment on it in a funny, hard-hitting fashion. [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton01.html] Shows that follow a similar premise today include Comedy Central staple "The Daily Show" and the CBC-produced "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". However, less than a week before the show was to debut, producer Barry Sand cut that opening segment. [Hofstede, David: "What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History", page 79. VNU, Inc., 2004]

Behind the scenes, creative differences occurred between the show's hosts (Phil Cowan and Paul Robins, morning drive-time deejays from Sacramento with no television experience), Sand, and the writers. Cowan and Robins thought the writers' material was too sophisticated for mass audiences; Sand, a former producer for "Late Night with David Letterman", wanted Cowan and Robins to stop sounding so shrill. Also, the writers were never comfortable writing for Cowan and Robins, who insisted on changing the material and then demanding writer credits afterwards. [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton02.html]

Even naming the show in the first place was difficult. For example, Fox wasn't thrilled with "Nightcap," a take on the name of the ABC late-night newsmagazine "Nightline". So the writers came up with a couple of hundred more possible names. One writer, Lane Sarasohn, noting that the show was taped in the Wilton North Building, submitted "The Wilton North Report" because it sounded like The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton01.html]

"The Wilton North Report" was cancelled after four weeks. Sand, Cowan and Robins would never work in television again.

References

External links

* [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton01.html Part 1 of Paul Krassner's February 14, 1988 Los Angeles Times article on the Wilton North Report]
* [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton02.html Part 2 of Paul Krassner's February 14, 1988 Los Angeles Times article on the Wilton North Report]
* [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton03.html Part 3 of Paul Krassner's February 14, 1988 Los Angeles Times article on the Wilton North Report]
* [http://www.lanesarasohn.com/tvwriter/wilton04.html Part 4 of Paul Krassner's February 14, 1988 Los Angeles Times article on the Wilton North Report]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092482/ The Wilton North Report entry on the Internet Movie Database]