May 22, 1950…The Start Of Late Night TV…Almost

The man circled in this photo is Don “Creesh” Hornsby. NBC’s Pat Weaver choose Hornsby to host network television’s first late night show called “Broadway Open House”. The show was scheduled to debut at 11 PM, on May 22, 1950 from NBC Studio 6B.

In the book “Fight For Tonight,” by Ronald L. Smith, he writes: “Hornsby was the ‘wild and crazy’ man of his day, a cross between Steve Martin and Pee-Wee Herman. He had a penchant for put-on humor and odd slapstick stunts. His antics included magic, piano playing, squirting customers with dry ice and shouting “Creesh!” as he magically pulled brassieres out of women’s blouses, or cranked up a machine on stage that spewed potato chips.”

Hornsby’s local daytime TV show in California had a kind of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse set. There was a lot of thrift-shop garbage strewn around and in moments of hysteria, Hornsby would start talking to a large prop grandfather’s clock – which would talk back.

Bob Hope was a fan of the wild comedian, calling him “a bright new talent, a guy who is going to have a big future.” I think Hope is the person that told Pat Weaver about him, after Pat mentioned he wanted to do a late show. NBC signed him to a five-year contract in April of ’50.

Everything was going well for young Creesh. He was 26, moving to New York with his wife and kids, getting ready for his debut as the host of a late night TV show, but sadly, here is the May 22, 1950 headline from Variety: “Don ‘Creesh’ Hornsby Dies of Polio Attack On Eve of TV Preem.”

The premiere of the show was postponed a week, until May 29th. Guest hosts were called in, and for the first few months, Dumont’s Morey Amsterdam hosted “Broadway Open House” Monday through Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday handled by Jerry Lester.

Lester had recently walked off Dumont’s “Cavalcade Of Stars” over a pay dispute. He had hosted the show in it’s second year, but when he left, a comedian that was totally new to television took over. Lester’s replacement was Jackie Gleason.

Had Don Hornsby have lived, who knows how he may have shaped the future of late nights? To bad we never had the chance to find out. -Bobby Ellerbee

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