Link (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/073107dnglsnyder.c63442fd.html)

SAN FRANCISCO - Talk show host Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television, has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71.

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia, said his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz.

Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC's "The Tomorrow Show." Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s, then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night. He gained more fame when Dan Ackroyd lampooned him in the early days of Saturday Night Live.

In 1972, Snyder left news to host "The Tomorrow Show," which followed "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

His catch phrase for the show was: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air." Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.

In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder" on CBS. The program followed David Letterman's "Late Show" until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

"When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence," he wrote then. "Now, my doctors say it's treatable!"

:rip:

To a great TV personality!

The Tomorrow Show pre-dates me (although I have seen clips of appearances by John Lennon, the original Saturday Night Live cast and "Weird Al" Yankovic), but I remember his version of The Late Late Show and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070730/ap_on_en_tv/obit_snyder_10 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070730/ap_on_en_tv/obit_snyder_10)

Tom Snyder of 'Tomorrow Show' dies at 71

1 hour, 12 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television and an inspiration for Dan Aykroyd on "Saturday Night Live," has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71.

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The Associated Press on Monday.

Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC's "The Tomorrow Show." Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s, then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

"He loved the broadcast business," said Marciarose Shestack, who co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1960s. "He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at all a typical newscaster."

In 1972, Snyder left news to host "The Tomorrow Show," which followed "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

His catch phrase for the show was: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air." Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.

He gained more fame when Ackroyd lampooned him in the early days of "Saturday Night Live."

In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder" on CBS. The program followed David Letterman's "Late Show" until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

"When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence," he wrote then. "Now, my doctors say it's treatable!"

Horowicz met Snyder in 1982 and worked with him at WABC in New York before producing the "Tom Snyder" television show.

"He was a great guy and very talented," Horowicz said.

(This version CORRECTS spelling of Aykroyd.)

Yahoo! News/AP-July 30, 2007


Snyder also worked as a news anchor at KTLA Channel 5 in the 1960s, KNBC Channel 4 in the 1970s and at KABC-TV Channel 7 in the 1980s.




The Tomorrow Show pre-dates me (although I have seen clips of appearances by John Lennon, the original Saturday Night Live cast and "Weird Al" Yankovic), but I remember his version of The Late Late Show and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Tomorrow Show on NBC ran from October 15, 1973 to January 28, 1982 and aired at around 1:00am after The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson when Johnny's show lasted 90 minutes until 1980 when it was shortened to 60 minutes while Tomorrow expanded to 90 minutes and aired a half-hour earlier at 12:30am.

The Tomorrow Show was easily my favorite talk show in the day...I never much cared for Carson, but, Id often watch him while waiting for Tom. Tomorrow often featured really weird and quirky guests that wouldnt have been likely to be invited by a show with an earlier time-slot. The one that comes readilly to mind is also the weirdest, litterally a man who had kept his mother's body in his basement freezer after her death! He was some kind of a spiritualist and claimed that he had to keep her in the freezer a certaihn amount of time, until the day he would bring her back to life......somehow!
( I know, it sounds like im making this up but, Im sure someone else remembers this particular show, it was just too creepy to forget! )

Rest in Peace Tom

Wow, this is such a shock. I used to watch the Late Late show once in a while when he was the host, I even taped his final episode. :( R.I.P. Tom.

I was so sad to hear of his passing. He was my favorite late night host and I still miss his show. I didn't see the Tomorrow Show, but I used to watch the Late Show in college and that's how I discovered him.

RIP, Tom. You are missed.

Very sad...he seemed like a nice guy. I remember the Tomorrow Show although I barely ever watched it. R.I.P. Tom. :(

he was one of my all time fave talk show hosts i use to watch the tomorrow show on nights when i didnt have school the next day and esp in the summertime he was always quite entertaining even if the guest was a bore tom always seemed so excited about interviewing said guest that he made almost any interview worth watching even in later years on the late late show he hadn;t lost his magic so long tom thanks for all the great times we had watching you we will miss you

Oddly enough, 3 people associated with NBC have died in the last 2 days, Tom Snyder, Bill Walsh and I just found out about another.

Eric Wishnie (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/30/ap3968117.html)

Oddly enough, 3 people associated with NBC have died in the last 2 days, Tom Snyder, Bill Walsh and I just found out about another.

Eric Wishnie (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/30/ap3968117.html)

That's real tragic, but if you're talking about people associated with NBC that have passed away this year, so far, and I'm not sure if you'll include network promo announcers, that number would be four. Here's the link:

http://www.voicehunter.com/chuck.htm

That's real tragic, but if you're talking about people associated with NBC that have passed away this year, so far, and I'm not sure if you'll include network promo announcers, that number would be four. Here's the link:

http://www.voicehunter.com/chuck.htm


Thanks, Dynomite. :wave:

I was shocked when I seen the news early this morning and heard the news of Tom's death.

I loved his show. He was awesome. He had some great guests. I also liked when Dan Akroyd imitated him on Saturday Night Live. :rofl: He did Tom so well. I laugh just thinking abt it.

REST IN PEACE TOM AND THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

I'd forgotten about Ackroyd's impression!

Ingmar Bergman also passed away today. So I guess the three are Bergman, Snyder, and Bill Walsh.

Truly a shame. TS was a great television personality taken far too soon. When he had his colortini site up I'd e-mail him occasionally and he was always very polite and would e-mail me back, which to this day I still think is cool because not too many big names would take the time to respond to e-mails. I even had his AIM name and made sure to e-mail him to wish him well when he closed down his site almost 2 years ago to the date. He was a good man and he will be missed.

R.I.P. TS

He was a class act and a real smooth character. I always watched his show. RIP T. Snyder.

yes Tom was a Class Act