The New Season: O, Pioneers

Their faces may have changed — the word "pioneer" has a tendency to do that — but the voices of the panelists on PBS’ “Pioneer of Television” remain as familiar as those of your own parents. “Aren’t there some more words in the thesaurus than 'pioneers'?” Dick Cavett asked plaintively as we sat in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton. “I expected us to enter in covered wagons.”

Cavett, Tim Conway, Betty White, Ed McMahon and Tony Orlando sat in amiable, silver-tinged testimony to a Golden Age, dropping phrases and names like “live television” and “Steve Allen” and “David Suskind,”  which conjured black-and-white images, often blurry at the edges but burned into the cultural imagination nonetheless. (Phyllis Diller was supposed to be in attendance but couldn't come because of a "very serious health issue" that occurred Monday.)

Not surprisingly, the pioneers are not totally thrilled with the state of their medium these days. In the midst of a kvetch about the cluttered formatting of news shows — "sometimes there’s nine images on the screen telling you that none of them deserves your attention" — Cavett rhapsodized about the guests that once appeared together on Suskind's talk show: "Dorothy Parker, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote." Today, a reporter remarked, it would be Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and K-Fed, "I’m not familiar with their names," Cavett deadpanned. "I’m new to your country."

“When you see Steve and Merv … ” Conway added, his voice trailing away into nostalgia. “Everyone is so cruel nowadays. If someone investigated my private life I’d be in San Quentin for life,” he added, the comic kicking back in. “We passed through that era, well, without getting caught, I guess.”

Orlando,  who remembers when he was canceled with a 32 ratings share, allowed that the competition of 500 to 800 channels creates a competitive arena that brings about better shows. But, he says, there was once a support system between entertainers that isn’t there. “Doing a 'Tonight Show,' I remember Sammy Davis Jr. told me that two shows made him throw up: the Oscars and the ‘Tonight Show.’ After I went on, I remember this man, [he patted McMahon on the knee] coming up and saying, ‘You did very well, and your career is going to go forward.’ That’s not there anymore; there’s too much bickering, too much irreverent comedy. The nation,” said the man behind the yellow ribbon, “has a harder heart.”

The same could not be said of the panelists, as they interrupted each other like cousins on a front porch and gave Cavett a lot of guff for monopolizing much of the hour. But he was forgiven because he spoke mostly of Johnny Carson. "Didn’t want to beat Johnny, didn’t think I could, but I really didn’t want to. Because there was no one like him.”

“And how we all miss him,” White said.

— Mary McNamara