THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9505310010
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
TODAY I will let you in on a secret known only to insomniacs. Two o'clock in the morning is a great time to watch television.
At that hour, WTKR runs Tom Snyder's ``Late, Late Show,'' CNN puts on reruns of ``Larry King Live,'' E! Entertainment Television goes with Howard Stern, WGNT airs the Jon Stewart talk show and, every once in a while, WAVY slips in Greg Kinnear. If you want a change of pace at 2 a.m., there's Pat Robertson of ``The 700 Club'' on The Family Channel.
Stern last week gave us Tiny Tim and a transsexual who wasn't ashamed to show the scars of her sex-change operation.
Snyder chatted with a gent who says he schmoozes with aliens.
Stewart re-lived the finale of ``Melrose Place'' with the rich girl who stole Billy from Alison.
Two hours past midnight. It's a channel surfer's nirvana.
Snyder on CBS has changed for the better of late. When he first signed to follow David Letterman, Snyder seemed tentative and uncomfortable. His questions were Nerf balls tossed to his guests.
Now he's bringing spears to work. He let one fly the other night against his boss, Letterman, who heads up the company (Worldwide Pants) which produces Snyder's show.
Snyder asked Letterman how it felt to be thrashed by critics who didn't appreciate his work as host of the Academy Awards telecast. Snyder also wanted to know how Letterman is reacting to buzz in the press that his ``Late Show'' is slipping.
Letterman said he is cool with all of that. You learn from mistakes, he said.
The other night, Snyder speared Andy Rooney of ``60 Minutes,'' asking why he was picking on poor Connie Chung.
Welcome to the let-it-all-hang-out world of talk TV, Tom.
Snyder and Stewart, more than two generations removed from each other, have something in common. They don't care for their time slots in this, America's 40th largest TV market. Snyder wants to follow Letterman at 12:35 and Stewart was happier when Channel 27 ran his show at 10 p.m.
But Stewart, the William and Mary alumnus (Class of 1984), isn't griping too much.
He said he'll valiantly battle the infomercials that compete with him at 2 a.m., and he will win.
The casual Stewart - he looks like he strolled out of a frat house to do his show - is the second hippest man on TV next to Dennis Miller. Stewart was a big hit on MTV with a mix of one-liners about President Clinton, O.J. Simpson and the pope, among others, interviews with people who have at least one tattoo, and music that only metalheads like Beavis and Butt-head could love.
The truth is, Jon Stewart is too hip for WGNT's viewers.
He's heard that before. Stewart said he won't change. ``Why should I give people what they can get elsewhere on television? I want to broaden the scope of television. If people like it, they like it. If they don't, they don't.''
Stewart's syndicators will take a look at the May ratings, and then decide if ``The Jon Stewart Show'' is worth saving. Stewart said he never considered playing it safe - staying with MTV instead of giving it a go in syndication.
``MTV was great, but it was Triple A television in terms of doing a talk show. I wanted something that was major league. I prefer to be on a network, as opposed to syndication where shows are stripped in at all hours of the day and night. But that didn't happen. In syndication, I'm happy doing an hour-long talk show five nights a week. I have no illusions. I know this business is built on quicksand.''
Speaking of quicksand, there could be some shifting and moving at the 2 o'clock hour soon. New owners take control of WTKR on June 19, and it wouldn't surprise me if they move Snyder to 12:35.
Stewart's talk show might be history by then. But for the moment, 2 a.m. is one of TV's finest hours. Enjoy. by CNB