‘Thicke of the Night’ Image Credit: Screenshot

YEAR: 1983-84

EPISODES: 49

A year before he became known as the dad from Growing Pains , Alan Thicke was tapped to headline a late show after hosting a daytime talk show in Canada. A way-too-long 90-minute format got lost in syndication, but by the time they retooled it to 60 minutes, it was too late. Thicke, who died in 2016, once said the show was “ahead of its time — it should have been on in 2084, when all of us are dead.”

‘The Late Show Staring Joan Rivers’ Image Credit: 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection

YEAR: 1986-87

EPISODES: 331

The funnywoman was Johnny Carson’s longtime Tonight Show fill-in host, but in 1986, after suffering various slights by NBC, she struck out on her own. Ratings started

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