Topic: Mike Douglas, 81

[BeAStooge]

OBITUARY

Talk show host Mike Douglas has died at age 81. His obituary from the L.A. Times can be linked above.

Mike greeted Moe Howard as a guest on his show, five times during 1973 - 1974...

8-Jun-73 - w/ Ted Knight
11-Sep-73 - w/ Soupy Sales, Laurence Harvey, Ronald J. Fields
29-Nov-73 - w/ Julie Newmar, Roger Miller, Norman Mailer
21-Dec-73 - w/ Richard Lamparski, Leonard Nimoy
19-Sep-74 - w/ Jon Voight, Donny & Marie Osmond

[shemps#1]

My favorite Mike Douglas episode was during the week when John and Yoko were co-hosting and they had one of the Chicago Seven, I believe Abby Hoffman on. Hoffman started going on about Nixon and Douglas cut to a commercial abruptly, lol.

[Jamison]

Douglas's show had a singular format. It was syndicated Monday through Friday and there would be a "co-host" who appeared all five days. Of course John Lennon/Yoko Ono were the most prominent, but I remember people like Richard Pryor (who stayed relatively clean when his grandmother showed up and fried chicken!), Tony Bennett, Zsa Zsa Gabor, etc. Douglas also featured rock groups when other mainstream programs wouldn't.

[kinderscenen]

Wow--I thought he was older than 81. Perhaps he seemed old to me back in the day because anyone over 25 seems old to a 5 year old.  My mother never failed to watch this show, and always mentioned that her favorites were when Moe would make an appearance.  Unfortunately, I think the only memories I have of his show are of seeing Leo Sayer perform "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and the Smokey Robinson-less Miracles singing "Love Machine". 

[falsealarms]

I didn't hear this until I came here, but sad news for sure. I've seen 2 or 3 of those 5 appearences, but would love to see the others, especially the last one.

[Pilsner Panther]

I must be suffering from Middle-Aged Memory; I could have sworn that the Mike Douglas Show ran later than 1982. I would have said that it went off the air in the mid-to-late 80's, but obviously, I'm wrong.

I never watched the show steadily, only once in a while, but what I liked about Mr. Douglas was that he had such a wide range of guests, and he didn't mind putting on musical acts that probably weren't to his taste at all (Kiss!?). From Kay Kyser to Kiss, that's a really long stretch musically!

He also deserves major kudos for having Moe on reguarly in his later years— without those live appearances, Moe might have become just another of those "Whatever happened to him?" actors, to the public.



I can't help but wonder what that ultra-serious literary man Norman Mailer must have thought when he found himself sharing the Green Room with Moe and Soupy Sales...

[Bruckman]

I can't help but wonder what that ultra-serious literary man Norman Mailer must have thought when he found himself sharing the Green Room with Moe and Soupy Sales...

Dunno, but just imagining Mailer getting eyepoked or hit in the kisser with a pie seems, somehow, deserved. Come to think of it, Mailer would've made a perfect Stooge - short, NY accent, scowling mug, fond of buxom blondes AND physical violence! Pils, this is your cue to photoshop us a pic of Mailer in a typical Stoogian scene.

Hard to believe Douglas was 81. Guess when you're out of the spotlight a long time (and like Pils it's a little daunting to realize he's been off the air over 20 years) you don't age in peoples' memories.

[Robbie883]

I was sorry to hear Mike Douglas passed away the other day. Although I have never seen his tv show in full, I've seen clips of Moe on the show and it looked to be entertaining.