LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER, THE {HARRY ANDERSON; PETE EARLEY} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of late-night talk shows hosted by Tom Snyder. This episode's guests include actor/magician Harry Anderson and Washington Post reporter and author Pete Earley.
Snyder opens the program by commenting on an Esquire magazine cover examining "male vanity" and the differences between the sexes. The first guest, Anderson, then joins Snyder and discusses his role in the television remake of the classic 1950 film "Harvey," to be aired at an undetermined date (it aired July 18, 1999); his many years of commuting from Seattle to Burbank to film "Night Court," and his recent purchase of a Pasadena home designed by brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene; his teenage daughter Eva's college visits; why his kids' teen lives are significantly different from his own adolescence in the 1960s; his background in street performance and learning how to hold an audience's attention; influence from other performers, including Robin Williams; and why New York City streets are a "sadder place" now than in the past.
Snyder and Anderson take listener calls, leading to a discussion of the following topics: his unusual path to his acting career, including how a magic trick played on television producer and creator Les Charles led to his small role on "Cheers," which then led to "Night Court"; his memorable 1985 appearance on "Saturday Night Live" during which he seemingly "ate" a guinea pig, leading to outrage from viewers; the history of "geek shows," or sideshows featuring tricks and other oddities; a clip from his 1987 special "Harry Anderson's Sideshow," in which he interviews a "freak," played by "Night Court" co-star John Astin, who is reluctant to discuss his noticeable third leg; his habit of collecting toys and other unique handmade items; and his 1991 book "Harry Anderson's Games You Can't Lose: Guide for Suckers" and why everyone should learn a few basic sleight-of-hand tricks. He then performs a card trick on Snyder, admitting that he is out of practice, and then playing a rendition of "Ode to Joy" on a recorder.
Next, Earley joins Snyder via satellite to discuss his new book, "Confessions of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames," which profiles disgraced CIA officer Aldrich Ames, eventually imprisoned for espionage with the Soviets. Earley comments on Ames' early work with the "top defectors" and his work in recruiting Russian spies; his affair with Colombian national María del Rosario Casas Dupuy, which prompted him to turn traitor for financial reasons; his involvement in the deaths of several CIA operatives whose names he revealed to the Russians; the surprising revelation that the KGB still intends to pay him $2 million, while the U.S. government does not appear poised to assist the families of his indirect victims; and how the CIA uncovered his actions by "following the money."
Snyder and Earley take listeners calls, leading to a discussion of the following topics: whether all of the names of the undercover agents involved in the case will eventually be revealed; and Earley's conversations with the "nasty" and domineering Rosario Casas Dupuy, who has been imprisoned for assisting Ames and who conspired to craft an allegedly false story about her innocence and suffering as a battered wife. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: 12:35 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:40:29
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 117652
- GENRE: Talk/Interview
- SUBJECT HEADING: Talk/Interview; Actors; Magicians; Spies
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1995-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Tom Snyder … Host
- Harry Anderson … Guest
- Pete Earley … Guest
- Aldrich Ames
- Eva Anderson
- John Astin
- Les Charles
- María del Rosario Casas Dupuy
- Charles Sumner Greene
- Henry Mather Greene
- Robin Williams